More than a decade ago Gov. Fife Symington proposed eliminating the state income tax. While that goal was not accomplished, the consistent downward pressure on individual taxes resulted in a booming economy and increased revenue for the state.
Siimilar federal tax cuts by John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush contributed to substantial economic growth for our nation. In fact, Janet Napolitano has been the beneficiary of federal tax policy, which has led to job growth nationally and in Arizona.
Unfortunately, she does not understand these simple economic principles.
When she was running for office four years ago she hoped to create new sales taxes and eliminate tax credits — two ways to raise taxes without sounding like you are raising taxes.
Fortunately for Arizona, her polices were never followed.
Meanwhile, she opposed every across the board tax cut proposed by the legislature. This year, she was willing to allow $100 million in “targeted” tax cuts — meaning she wanted to pick and choose who should get tax relief. And she was insistent on one thing — no individual income tax rate cuts.
Instead, the legislature forced her to accept $500 million in tax cuts, including a 10 percent income tax rate cut. Now she is taking credit for these tax cuts that she opposed.
I have proposed another 10 percent next year, and the next, and beyond. Saturday’s Republic wrote a story analyzing the proposed cuts.
Here is what you need to know for this election: Janet Napolitano will continue to oppose tax cuts and grow the size of Arizona government to the point where she will be forced to seek tax increases to balance the budget.
I will push for lower taxes and more efficient government.
