By: Chuck Muth
Citizen Outreach
“Man is not free unless government is limited. As government expands, liberty contracts.” – Ronald Reagan
Dear Beaten Up, Beaten Down, Beaten Senseless Nevada Taxpayer,
If there’s one thing we learned from the BILLION DOLLARS worth of tax hikes the Nevada Legislature stuck us with in 2009, it’s that it’s not enough to just elect more Republicans…
We need to elect better ones as well.
That every Democrat in the Legislature voted for the 2009 “Mother of All Tax Hikes” – the largest in state history – comes as no surprise. After all, that’s what Democrats do. It’s their nature.
But Republicans?
The sad part is that there was absolutely no reason for a single Republican in the state Assembly to vote for a single dollar in higher taxes.
You see, Democrats pulled out all the stops to attain a veto-proof majority in the 2008 elections. They clubbed the GOP’s candidates like baby seals and got the 2/3 super-majority they desperately wanted.
So why in the world would any Republican assembly member reward the Democrats’ efforts to make them extinct by giving them the aid-and-comfort of a bi-partisan vote on the most potent political issue of the entire 2009 session?
Not only was voting for tax hikes in the middle of a recession, as one gaming executive put it, “pyschotic” – but it took away the ability of Republicans to draw a clear contrast for voters in 2010 between the party of tax hikers vs. the party of taxpayer champions.
Which do you think voters would reward in 2010?
And yet, seven terribly misguided GOP assembly members gave the Democrats exactly the cover they wanted and needed going into the 2010 election cycle – including the Assembly Minority Leader, the Assistant Minority Leader and the Minority Whip – by voting for millions of dollars worth of higher taxes.
When your “leadership” team is leading you off a cliff, isn’t it time to get some new leaders?
But the Assembly Republicans who wandered off the GOP’s no-new-taxes reservation during the 2009 session weren’t the worst. Being in the super-minority as they were, they were helpless to block the Democrats even if they they’d mounted a united opposition.
But in the state Senate….well, that was another story altogether.
Although the Democrats regained the majority in 2008, they did not win a super-majority.
So in order to pass a billion dollars worth of higher taxes this last session, they needed the votes of at least two Republican senators.
In other words, it was absolutely, positively in the power of Republicans in the state Senate to block the BILLION DOLLARS worth of tax hikes from ever even making it to the Gov. Jim Gibbons’ desk – let alone into your wallets.
They just chose not to.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio – who during his primary race last summer “guaranteed” that he was “not going to raise taxes” – had it in his sole power to kill the tax hikes.
Instead, he and four other Republican senators joined the Democrats in passing the largest cumulative tax hike in Nevada’s history.
Not surprisingly, each and every one of those senators also voted for the previous largest tax hike in Nevada’s history back in 2003.
And get this…
Not one of the Republicans who voted for the tax hikes had signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge!
What does that tell you about candidates who refuse to sign the Pledge?
All of this brings us to three political realities:
1.) You can’t change public policies unless you change public officials. Legislators bent on expanding government’s role in our lives and wallets can’t be persuaded to leave us alone. You can’t reason with them; you can’t negotiate with them; you have to defeat them.
2.) Majorities get to lead. As long as Democrats are in the majority, government will continue to expand and liberty will continue to contract. Bad legislation and tax hikes will move forward, while efforts to reform and shrink government will never see the light of day.
3.) It’s not enough to simply elect more Republicans; we need to elect better ones, as well.
Republicans who voted for tax hikes this year need to be challenged and defeated in GOP primaries next year.
Of course, not all Republicans are bad. But it’s like Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform says: “Republicans who vote for tax hikes are like rat heads in Coke bottles. They ruin the entire brand.”
Or as Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Glenn Cook wrote in the middle of this year’s tax battle: “Republicans aren’t supposed to support tax increases. They win elections championing lower taxes, and they lose elections when they go the other way.”
The only way Republicans are ever going to become the majority party in the Nevada Legislature and be in a position to advance a responsible, fiscally-conservative policy agenda is to first “thin the herd” of RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) who are ruining the party’s brand.
In short, it’s time for Republicans to be Republicans.
That’s why Citizen Outreach PAC is immediately launching Operation RINO Hunt – an effort targeting Republican state legislators who voted for tax hikes and other bad bills this year.
The project’s objective is to recruit, train, adivise and otherwise assist credible GOP challenger candidates in Republican primaries next year.
And yes, there is a Taxpayer Protection Pledge litmus test for potential challenger candidates.
They don’t sign, we don’t help them. Period.
Now some folks will, understandably, ask, “Why are you going after Republicans who voted to raise taxes? Why not go after the Democrats?”
Fair enough question. And here’s the answer:
We expect Democrats to vote for higher taxes.
We expect better out of Republicans!
So we need to clean up and out the GOP’s house first before we can even start to worry about the opposition.
If we keep electing the same “rathead” Republicans, Republican will remain in the minority and your taxes will keep going up. It’s just that simple.
So won’t you please join Operation RINO Hunt by making the largest donation you can afford today…$20, $25, $50, $75, $100 or more.
Believe you me, if we don’t start right NOW to replace tax hikers with tax fighters, it’s going to cost every one of us a lot more in the long run.
So please, click here right now to make your most generous online donation to Operation RINO Hunt so we can get this project off the ground quickly….and before it’s too late.
Or if you prefer to send a check or money order contribution, please mail to:
Citizen Outreach PAC
5841 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 230-226
Las Vegas, NV 89142.
In the days, weeks and months ahead, I will keep you posted on exactly which candidates we’re opposing…exactly which candidates we’re supporting….and why.
Sincerely yours,
Chuck Muth
President
P.S. Some of the taxes approved this year will be expiring next year. A lot of pressure will be brought to bear on legislators next year to not only extend them, but to make them permanent.
Please help support Operation RINO Hunt so that we can replace tax-hiking Republicans with tax-fighting Republicans who will vote against continuing them. Please support Operation RINO Hunt with a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more TODAY.
P.P.S. As a special token of our appreciation…for every donation of $50 or more we’ll send you a FREE “NO RINOs” t-shirt. Don’t worry about giving us your size right now. We’ll get that when we call to personally thank you for your support.”
