Not over yet

I write to take exception with the article by Daniel Franklin and A.G. Newmyer III ("Is Grover Over?" March). The authors claim that the "No-New-Taxes" stance is losing in the states, yet they draw their conclusions by conveniently omitting trends that counter their argument.

While Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels's proposal to raise taxes took many by surprise, the House of Representatives quickly rebuked him by passing a no-tax-increase budget. Beyond Indiana, the authors indicate that the pro-taxpayer movement is losing steam. Wrong: For the past three years, taxpayers have clearly rejected tax increases at the polls, in Virginia, Alabama, Oregon, California, Seattle, Vermont, and Washington State. In the 2004 primary elections, taxpayers ousted a significant number of tax hikers, in North Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nevada, and other states.

The article correctly states that the right now moves to Virginia but exaggerates the goals of the pro-taxpayer movement. Defeating only one or two of the tax hikers would send a clear enough message. In fact, taxpayers have already scored two victories: Sen. Ken Stolle was denied a chance for higher office, and Del. James Dillard folded under pressure and resigned.

The current number of signers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is not 1,200 but 1,247, and more than 90 percent of them kept their commitment last year. This year, too, tax increases have already been defeated. Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi shored up support for his "No-New-Taxes" position in the state Senate, and a Pledge signer single-handedly killed a tax increase. Lawmakers in Kentucky took to heart the concerns of taxpayer groups, and a previously flawed and tax increase-laden budget now looks revenue neutral.

The pro-taxpayer movement in the States may not be quite as far along as the movement at the national level. Pledge signers in Congress (currently 222 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 46 senators, and President Bush) have made sure that no tax increase has been passed in a decade and have secured four tax cuts in four years. Yet the movement in the States is clearly going in the right direction. The number of Pledge signers has increased from 773 in 1997 to 1,247 today, an increase of more than 60 percent. Mind you, Rome wasn't built in a day, either.

Grover Norquist

President, Americans for Tax Reform

COPYRIGHT 2005 Washington Monthly Company
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning