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AZ GOP uses poll question to defend stance on increasing taxes

“Cutting my taxes, securing our border. That’s my AZ GOP.”
–Bumpersticker

(Well, one out of two is still half a loaf…)

In a news release today, the Arizona Republican Party used a Kenski/HighGround poll question to suggest that its stance in favor of a (temporary) tax increase is popular with voters:

http://www.azgop.org/news.asp?artid=87&z=2

Sharp readers will notice that the Kenski/HighGround poll question did not break down the amount of the tax increase into per-family or per-household figures.

In our AFP Arizona poll, when we let respondents know that the increase would be over $300 per household, we got very different results. 62 percent of respondents in Phoenix were opposed to the tax, and 64 percent in Glendale. Opposition to tax increases crossed party lines, with 47 percent of self-identified “strong Democrats” in Phoenix opposed, and 52 percent in Glendale.

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/032609-afp-arizona-releases-poll-results-likely-voters-oppose-tax-increases

And then there’s another poll from Rasmussen, showing 65 percent of respondents opposed to a tax hike. Reporter Howie Fisher summarizes the dueling polls here:

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/137363

Near the end, Fisher cites the AZ GOP spokesman:

Brett Mecum, the party’s executive director, admitted that the survey included several other alternatives to making up the $1 billion shortfall. But GOP Mecum refused to make the results of that public, saying the only information the party wants out — at least right now — is that there is support for Brewer’s plan.

Tax Hike to Cause 14,400 Lost Jobs as State’s Economic Output Falls by $1.2 Billion

To close the state’s budget deficit Governor Jan Brewer has proposed a $1 billion tax increase. New findings announced today show that if the State of Arizona were to implement a $1 billion sales tax increase, 14,400 private jobs would be lost.

These new findings are the result of economic modeling conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. The Goldwater Institute asked Beacon Hill to examine the impact of a $1 billion sales tax increase on employment, state economic output, and incomes.

Beacon Hill found that a $1 billion sales tax increase would cause the state to lose 14,400 private sector jobs; the state’s real economic output would decline by $1.2 billion; and Arizonans would see their total after-tax income, already hit hard by recession, fall by $760 million, or almost $300 per household on average.

In addition to the $1 billion tax increase proposed by the governor, Arizona property owners face a tax increase in July when the state equalization tax comes back on the books. Lawmakers and the governor could decide to permanently repeal this tax. In the event that lawmakers choose not to repeal it, and even if it becomes the only tax increase to go into effect this year, almost 4,000 private jobs and $385 million in after-tax income will be lost.

“The Beacon Hill Institute has an excellent reputation for modeling the real effects of tax changes,” said economist Dr. Byron Schlomach, Director of the Goldwater Institute’s Center for Economic Prosperity. “These numbers show that these tax increases will hurt our economic recovery by putting more Arizonans out of work.”

Rasmussen poll: 65% oppose Rep. Governor Brewer’s tax hike

Do you favor or oppose a temporary tax increase to help stem the state budget shortfall?

22% Favor
65% Oppose
13% Not sure

Read the rest of the poll here. The East Valley Tribune analyzed here why the poll results came out differently than a state GOP poll.

Shadegg to Geithner: Really, Mr. Secretary? Which is it?

Shadegg: “Secretary Geithner continued his bizarre and puzzling conduct this week, making flatly contradictory statements about the dollar in a span of only 24 hours. This weakens confidence not only in him, but in the currency he is entrusted to protect.”

WASHINGTON – Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) issued the following statement after Treasury Secretary Geithner expressed openness on Wednesday to moving away from the dollar as the world’s reserve currency after categorically rejecting the idea on Tuesday in sworn testimony before the House Financial Services Committee:

“Beginning with his tax difficulties, and continuing through the puzzling narrative of when and what he knew about the AIG bonuses, Treasury Secretary Geithner has done little to inspire the confidence of the American people.  Oddly, Secretary Geithner continued his bizarre and puzzling conduct this week, making flatly contradictory statements about the dollar in a span of only 24 hours. This weakens confidence not only in him, but in the currency he is entrusted to protect.

“On Tuesday, Secretary Geithner testified before the House Financial Services Committee that he ‘categorically renounces,’ recent proposals from China and others to shift away from the dollar as the world’s reserve currency [see hearing transcript below].  The next morning in New York , speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations, he was asked about the same proposals and said he is ‘quite open,’ to them [see press report below].”

“Really, Mr. Secretary? Is it too much to ask that your position remain unchanged over a 24 hour period?”

###

Excerpt from Secretary Geithner’s March 24^th testimony before the Financial Services Committee at approximately 11:30am:

http://gop.gov/resources/library/members/az/03/World-Currency-Question-3-24.wmv

Representative Bachmann: We’ve seen both China, Russia, and Kazakhstan, make calls for an international monetary conversion to an international monetary standard as soon as the G20, and I’m wondering would you categorically renounce the United States moving away from the dollar and going to a global currency as suggested this morning by China and also by Russia, Mr. Secretary?

Secretary Geithner: I would, yes.

As reported in the Washington Times:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/26/geithner-gaffe-on-dollar-roils-stock-bond-markets/

“An unguarded comment by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on Wednesday set off a sudden drop in the dollar and contributed to a chain of market-rocking events that included a setback in the stock market and a sharp uptick in interest rates.

“Mr. Geithner appeared to lend his support to a proposal by China’s central bank governor to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency with a basket of currencies that would be managed by the International Monetary Fund. In an appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday morning, Mr. Geithner raised eyebrows by saying that ‘we’re actually quite open to that’…”

April 15th Tea Party Protests Must Demand Geithner Resignation

The April 15^th Tea Party protests are ramping up to send a powerful message to Congress and President Obama about the government’s runaway spending and bailouts. The first Tea Party protests this year caused a ripple throughout the media and Congress, as support for Obama and Democrats simultaneously began to erode. Obama’s approval rating dropped from 64% in February to 59% this month, according to the Pew Research Center. His disapproval rating increased from 17% to 26%. Obama’s approval ratings are barely higher than G.W. Bush or Clinton at this same time in their first terms, with 56% and 53% approval ratings respectively. Ronald Reagan’s approval rating was higher than Obama’s, at 60%.

Obama’s edge among independents has completely disappeared. According to a recent poll conducted by a Democrat polling company and its Republican counterpart, if an election were held now, 42% of likely voters would vote for a Democrat Congressional candidate, and 42% would vote for a Republican candidate. Senator Judd Gregg, who just a month ago was being considered by Obama for Commerce Secretary, warned that Obama’s current budget proposal will send the country on a path leading to a banana republic. A recent Rasmussen poll found that more people oppose his budget than support it, 46% to 41%.

There is a massive movement growing in opposition to the federal government’s bailouts. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner represents the worst of the government’s current financial excesses. So far, he refuses to step down amidst calls for his resignation, and Obama is standing by him. The April 15^th Tea Party protests present an ideal opportunity to pressure the administration into forcing Geithner to resign.

There are three reasons why Geithner must go. The first is because the economy is not improving, even as the administration continues to announce new stimulus plans. The public has failed to gain confidence in Geithner. Last year’s bailout of banking’s failed assets didn’t work. So when Geithner announced another proposed bailout of the banking industry, which would put more than $1 trillion into more failed bank assets, Wall Street took a dive.

The second two reasons Geithner must resign involve his lack of ethics. Geithner cheated on his taxes and lied about the AIG bonuses. He barely squeaked by confirmation in the Senate because of a failure to pay $34,000 in self-employment taxes while working at the International Monetary Fund from 2001 to 2004. He blamed the program TurboTax for the incredibly large “mistake,” which most people believe was another lie, earning him the nickname “Turbo Tim.”

The $165 million in retention bonuses were for executives in AIG’s Financial Products Division, the division responsible for AIG’s losses. They were signed into contract last April. Geithner claimed that he didn’t know that Congress had agreed to allow AIG to keep its retention bonuses as part of the bailout. But as head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last year, Geithner played a role in crafting the legislation to bail out AIG. His assertion was also contradicted by AIG CEO Edward Liddy, who testified that Geithner knew about the bonuses a week to ten days earlier. The Washington Post claims Geithner knew three months ago.

Someone who cannot manage his own finances without breaking the law is not someone who should be in charge of the country’s finances. The Tea Party tax protests on April 15 are going to be highly influential. If Geithner has not yet resigned, this will be a powerful opportunity to exert tremendous public pressure on Obama to ask him to step down. Geithner’s resignation should be a sub theme of the protests. Geithner’s credibility is so damaged at this point he can no longer be effective. Americans need to take this opportunity to clean out one of the worst members of Obama’s cabinet. Especially considering unlike honest Americans, Geithner didn’t bother to pay his taxes on April 15.

Governor Brewer Establishes Federal Stimulus Website

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today launched a new web site dedicated to providing information on the federal stimulus dollars made available to Arizona through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The website, www.azrecovery.gov is intended to serve as Arizona’s one-stop-shop for information on federal stimulus funding and enable citizens to track expenditures in an open, accountable and transparent manner.

“We encourage every Arizonan to participate in the monitoring, allocation and use of Arizona’s received stimulus funds and to keep track of how the Act will serve our fellow citizens and its impact upon Arizona’s future growth and success,” stated Brewer.

As required by Section 1607 of the ARRA of 2009, Governor Brewer submitted a formal letter to President Barack Obama on March 5, 2009, requesting use of funds provided by the Act and formally confirming her intent to utilize federal dollars for the State of Arizona. In the letter, Governor Brewer attests that such funds will be used to create jobs and promote economic growth in a manner that is in the best interest of the taxpayers of Arizona.

“As Governor, I am committed to serving all Arizona citizens, and particularly in these tough economic times,” stated Brewer. “My Administration is committed to utilizing stimulus funds received from the Act to create jobs, to protect our most vulnerable, and grow Arizona’s future; but also, do so without further increasing the state budget deficit.”

Arizona joins a growing number of states that have also unveiled economic recovery Web sites. Because the stimulus initiative is in its early stages, and federal agencies are still determining their rules and regulations, this site does not yet provide the entire spectrum of information that will be provided in the months to follow. Future capabilities being considered for inclusion on this site are:

· Break down of all stimulus funds released to Arizona

· Press Releases on Arizona stimulus package

· Federal ARRA Press Releases

· Interactive search services associated with stimulus data

· Interactive application for grants

Arizona’s recovery web site will update and add information as it becomes available.

CONTACT: Paul Senseman

(602) 542-1342

psenseman@az.gov

Arizona Tax Day Tea Party, April 15

What: Arizona Tax Day Tea Party
When: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 5:30 to 7:00 pm
Where: Arizona State Capitol, Senate Lawn
Who: The AZ chapter of American for Prosperity
-Allied pro-taxpayer organizations
-Hundreds of taxpayer activists from around the state
-Arizona’s best legislators

Why: We need to protest (and stop!) the tax increases proposed by big-spending politicians at the federal, state, and local levels.
How: Please let us know you will attend by sending an email to infoAZ@afphq.org.

More details to come, including information about AFP Arizona’s 2009 Day at the Capitolevent, which will take place at the Capitol from noon to 5pm on April 15th, before the Tax Day Tea Party. The Day at the Capitol event will feature training for grassroots taxpayer activists, policy panel discussions, and interaction with state legislators.

Thank you for taking a stand to defend American prosperity!

And please forward this announcement to your friends and family in Arizona.

For Liberty,

–Tom

Tom Jenney
State Director
Americans for Prosperity

Arizona Republican Party Chair Randy Pullen: Enjoys Fishing and Raising Taxes

by Patrick Gleason

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen has posted what he calls “A Modest Response to Americans for Tax Reform,” on the official blog of the state party, which addresses a letter that ATR sent to all Arizona lawmakers last week urging them to oppose Governor Jan Brewer’s proposal for a multi-billion dollar tax hike. In his response, Pullen explains why he thinks it’s a good idea, in the middle of a a recession, to impose the largest tax increase in state history on Arizona taxpayers.

What the chairman fails to address in his retort is just who, exactly, he thinks isn’t paying enough. Not only does this tax increase do nothing to address the fundamental and structural problems with the state budget, but it is the worst thing to do when Arizona families are experiencing such a severe economic downturn.

What about the underemployed single mom who is just trying to keep the job she has, keep gasoline in her car and keep food on her kids’ table.

Randy doesn’t think she’s paying enough? Randy just wants to raise her taxes and go fishing.

What about seniors and those approaching retirement who have seen their savings decimated over the past year. Some may never recover sufficiently to enjoy the savings that they built and planned to use.

Randy just wants to raise their taxes and play on his boat.

And what about the small businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open in this slowing economy, just trying to keep employees on payroll and afford health care?

Randy just wants to raise their taxes and go fishing.

If Randy was more interested in supporting Arizona taxpayers, Arizona working families and Arizona’s future, he would at least seek counsel of someone who could explain to him that at times of recession, the answer is to conceive of policies that encourage growth and economic development, not suffocate it.

Arizona lawmakers don’t need to look very far for a demonstration in why raising taxes in the current economic climate is a bad idea. California just enacted the largest tax increase in their state’s history last month. Yet, not even four weeks later, the California legislature’s budget analyst has stated that those tax hikes will miss their revenue projections by $8 billion. This is a perfect example of what Napolitano, and now Brewer and Pullen, failed to understand – the behavior and actions of people and employers responds to adjustments in tax rates.

If Brewer and Pullen are successful in enacting their proposal – companies like Intel that have fled the hostile tax climate of California for Arizona – in the future will just skip over the Grand Canyon State on their way to ribbon cutting ceremonies in Texas.

Let’s be clear, raising taxes is not governing. Tax hikes are the preferred policy of those that abdicate responsibility in governing.

In his response to ATR, Pullen justifies the burden of Brewer’s multi-billion dollar tax hike by claiming that the net effect will be that Arizonans will give back “20% of their tax rebate from Obama.” While Obama, Pelosi, and Reid must be just tickled pink to know that state officials are using their legislative monstrosity, the stimulus bill, as justification to further raise taxes at the state level, what Pullen fails to recognize is that this money that Obama is dropping from the sky is not free money. Point of fact, Obama and the feds can’t give anything other than what they have already stolen from Arizona taxpayers.

The only gift Randy and the AZ Republican Party are giving to anyone is a perfect lesson on how not to brand your party.

Americans for Tax Reform is, and will continue, working with lawmakers on crafting a budget that does not raise taxes on hard working Arizona families who already spend 194 days out the year, well over half the year, just to pay for the cost of their government. Apparently Governor Jan Brewer and Chairman Randy Pullen think that’s not enough.

Click here for a pdf copy of the original letter that ATR sent to all Arizona legislators.

How YOU TOO Can Benefit From the Foreclosure Bailout!

In his first two months as president, Obama has announced more federal government spending than was spent from the beginning of the country until now. A day after signing his first $787 billion stimulus bill bailout, Obama announced his next bailout, $75 billion for an estimated nine million homeowners. Under the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, which begins March 4, 2009, eligible homeowners can get their home loan interest rates lowered until their mortgage payments are no more than 31 percent of their income, and that new rate will then be good for five years. Additionally, after five years of making reduced payments, those homeowners will then receive up to an additional $5000 reduction in their payments. So how does the average American get in on this Democrat-legalized scam? No longer even making a pretense of helping the poor, Obama’s bailouts are going to corporations and the upper middle class who can afford to buy homes.

Obama said the bailout would apply to “families who have played by the rules and acted responsibly.” What exactly does this mean? This contradicts what the liberal San Francisco Chronicle admitted about the foreclosure bailout in an editorial, saying “some people who don’t ‘deserve’ to be helped” will be helped, and the “Housing plan must help the undeserving.” But if we’re to honor what Obama said, then any homeowner who qualifies in this time of economic downturn should also utilize the bailout.

According to a FAQ posted on the White House website, it is not necessary to be behind on mortgage payments in order to be eligible for the refi bailout, qualifying factors also include “a significant increase in expenses” or “an interest rate that will reset to an unaffordable level.” What the former means is that a family with a home mortgage could purchase a brand-new large, luxurious SUV, “significantly increasing” their expenses – and effectively get the brand-new SUV for free. For example, if a family bought a $200,000 home in 2005 at a 15% interest rate, and purchasing a new SUV added a new monthly payment that combined with their mortgage payment to equal significantly higher payments than 31% of their income, they could get their mortgage interest rate lowered to 2%, or whatever it took to get below the 31% threshold. If lowered to 2%, they would save $107,765.40 in interest payments over the next five years, enough to buy a fully loaded 2009 Cadillac Escalade.

Families that financed their homes with ARM loans, which begin with a low-interest rate that balloons in a few years into a high interest rate, are also entitled to a lower rate under Obama’s plan. Responsible homeowners who chose a fixed-rate mortgage from the beginning get no such relief – unless they go buy a pricey new SUV or otherwise “significantly increase” their expenses.

Homeowners who owe more on their house than it’s worth (up to 105%) and homeowners who have taken out a second mortgage on top of that are generally eligible for the bailout. The program is targeted at mortgagors whose loans are currently held with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, but many lenders are open to providing this screaming good deal if you call and just ask.

Obama asserted that the bailout will not apply to speculative investors, but that’s not accurate, since homeowners who bought multiple duplexes which they do not live in are eligible for a bailout of all the units as long as they label one unit their residence.

The homeowners who will be helped out by the bill aren’t really poor people – poor people generally live in apartments, they do not own houses and condos. The bailout applies to home mortgages worth up to $417,000 and up to $625,500 in “high-risk areas.” (I live in “high-risk” Arizona, I could have bought 6 times as much house as I did and be entitled now to the same mortgage payments – all I can do now to benefit from it is buy a pricey SUV or “significantly increase” my living expenses like adding on a new wing to my home) It will help out homeowners who took on too much debt, or who “cashed out” thousands more than their original loan, putting them “underwater.” What Obama won’t tell you is that the vast majority of subprime loans went for refinancing, not initial home purchases. A lot of folks got too greedy and refinanced with an ARM loan or some other kind of loan too good to be true for their income and spending habits.

The fundamental problem with the foreclosure bailout is it encourages and perpetuates the type of behavior that contributed to the recession in the first place – enabling people to buy homes they cannot afford. Someone who bought a $400,000 home, refinanced it with a subprime loan in order to get cash back, putting them underwater, then bought a luxurious new SUV, should not be entitled to a free $100,000 bailout from the rest of us. What is going to happen to their $400,000 house in five years when the low interest rate provided by the bailout expires? South Carolina’s Republican Governor Mark Sanford says the bill rewards irresponsible behavior, since “95% of folks are playing by the rules and struggling, but are still paying their mortgages.” Minnesota’s Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty questioned the government’s involvement at all in private mortgage contracts.

Obama’s solution to give more money to those who spent beyond their means is irresponsible. It was government that helped trigger the foreclosure crisis by creating the government-run entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and having them provide loans to risky homebuyers. They were at the heart of the subprime loan crisis, behind half of the subprime loans that ended up in default.

Since government artificially created the glut of risky loans, it does not make any sense to have government continue to prop them up – they didn’t work and it’s better to write them off as a failed experiment. Both homeowners and lenders are at fault for the foreclosure crisis, and neither should be rewarded.

Tom Jenney of Americans for Prosperity describes government stimulus plans as the economic equivalent of crystal meth. Clint Bolick of the Goldwater Institute describes Obamanomics this way: “I buy a yacht that I can’t afford. I default on the loan. The bill is sent to my children and future grandchildren (and to yours). The best part: I get to keep sailing.”

Obama isn’t doing anyone any good by glossing over the fact that certain homeowners bought homes they could not afford, and lenders provided mortgages to people they knew were highly risky. The notion that Americans are entitled to own their own homes sounds good in theory, but it is not a constitutional right. Americans enjoy some of the highest living standards in the world. Running water, electricity, air conditioning, heat, and multiple bedrooms come standard in the crummiest of American apartments. Relative to other nations, Americans live high on the hog in an average apartment.

Abraham Lincoln could only have dreamed of the modern conveniences we enjoy today. Obama may claim Lincoln is his role model, but Lincoln was a rugged individual who would have never praised dependency on the government. Lincoln once said, “Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.” Some are warning today that the bailouts could lead to massive protests and violence. They already have provoked phenomenal nationwide teaparty protests across the nation. Let’s hope Lincoln isn’t right.

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