Campaign "Ploy"?...

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There is a story in the Harrisonburg “Daily News Record” about Scott Sayre signing the pledge not to raise taxes if elected to the 24th District Senate seat. This issue has been reported several times by the local press and has become commonplace for Conservative Republicans to sign this pledge. I don’t know of a Democrat that has signed this pledge but that pretty much tells you of the main plank to that party’s platform and I don’t expect a “Pledge” from that party anytime soon…

It is interesting to see the comments coming out about this pledge and even from within the local Republican candidates. Sayre has stated: "Taxes are a necessary part of funding for the core services we desire from our government, including public safety," Sayre said in a statement released to the news media. But "higher taxes," Sayre said on Thursday, "don’t mean better government."

It is good to hear somebody say that more, or bigger government, is not always a better thing. Sayre has pointed out that the “Virginia Budget has doubled over the past ten years” but that does not mean they are doing a better job then as before…

The budget has been allowed to grow because of increased tax revenues coming into the Virginia treasury from a strong economy. A State budget that has doubled over a ten year period has come from weak politicians, some from the GOP side, who could not resist spending more of our money. Even with a growing economy recovering from the Clinton recession, the Virginia elected allowed Democratic Governor Mark Warner to push thru a raise in taxes on the Virginia workers. This resulted in a surplus that grew to more then $1 Billion that the Virginia elected could not even agree on how to spend for they have so many “Pet” projects to fund…

Bigger is Better???

Unfortunately not all from the “Rightside” see this the same way.
G.O.P. Senator Hanger said: "It sounds good on the surface," Hanger said of the pledge. "A lot of well-intentioned people have signed it. It’s more or less a campaign ploy right now and people understand that."

Campaign Ploy?

What does it say about a government that has doubled it’s budget over a ten year period and still wants more of your money? The recent Bush tax cuts allowed us to keep more of our earned money to spend as we saw best and that resulted in increased investment and a very strong economy. This strong economy resulted in much more tax revenue coming into all states treasuries and thus allowed runaway politicians to spend more of our tax money. And yet they claim they need to raise our taxes even more for their programs. In doubling the Virginia budget over the past ten years you are telling us there is no waste or inefficient programs that need to be cut before wanting to raise our taxes again?

Most Virginia taxpayers run their households on a budget and have learned to cut waste where possible to use that money in more productive and efficient programs. Maybe our State government could use a “Budget” like we all use and responsible representatives who look to use “Our” money the best way possible.

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