This just in from Grover Norquest at Americans for Tax Reform…
For Taxpayers, The Choice Between Niello and Gaines Is Clear
By Grover Norquist President, Americans for Tax Reform
As the campaign season enters its final 36 hours, the contests at the top of the ticket are understandably garnering the bulk of attention from the media and the public. Yet it is a state senate in race northern California whose outcome will be the most telling in terms of the direction of the Republican Party in the Golden State and the nation.
Ted Gaines has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, continuing the same commitment that Dave Cox made to his constituents to vote against any and all efforts to raise taxes. His opponent, Roger Niello, refuses to make this same important commitment to voters in the first senate district.
California Republicans are well served, especially this election cycle and in this state, by branding themselves as the party that will not raise your taxes. My question for Roger Niello – “if you can’t rule out higher taxes in California, where can you?”
Californians suffer under one of the nation’s most hostile business tax climates and employers have fled the state in droves as a result. It is well-documented that lawmakers in Sacramento continue to increase spending unsustainably and that the state does not live within its means as taxpayers must.
In fact, Californians toiled over 239 days this year just to pay for the cost of their bloated government. Roger Niello’s refusal to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge indicates that he does not recognize the reality that the state has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
It is said that a weapon on the wall in the first act will likely be used before the play’s end. And we have already seen what happens when Roger Niello leaves higher taxes on the table and it is not good for California taxpayers. Niello is famous for being the only Republican Assemblyman that would not sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Not surprisingly, he joined with Democrats last year in voting for the largest state tax increase in U.S. history, in the middle of a recession no less.
In light of this, and the fact that congress has raised federal taxes by over $350 billion in just the past two years, taxpayers are rightfully looking for candidates who will protect their pocketbook and beat back the rapid expansion of government. The clear fact for voters in the first senate district is that Ted Gaines is the only candidate who won’t pile on with further job-killing tax increases at the state level.
