Monday, January 15, 2007
Taxaholics Anonymous
by Cal Skinner, former Illinois State Representative and 2002 Libertarian Party candidate for Governor
Step 1. Go home.
Step 2. Talk to the people who elected you...better yet, listen to them.
Step 3. Ask whether any of them has had a 2% “revenue reduction” (cut in take-home pay) since last year, as the State of Illinois has.
Step 4. Ask those who have seen their household income decrease by 2% how they coped. Did they go out to dinner less often? Skip a vacation?
Step 5. Find businessmen who have cut their expenditures by 5% or more during this recession. (Hint: There are a lot of them, including many local media companies.) Ask those businessmen how they managed to stay in business with slightly less income than last year. Heed their advice and make similar cuts in the state budget.
Step 6. Practice saying to union officials, “If we have to give your members a 3.75% pay raise next year and you refuse to re-negotiate, which 3.75% of your members do you want us to lay off?”
Step 7. Write or type 100 times, “I know it’s easier to raise taxes than cut expenditures because the tax eaters are organized and the taxpayers aren’t, BUT THAT’S NO EXCUSE FOR RAISING TAXES!”
Step 8. Try to find someone who can make a rational explanation of how cigarette smokers or cable TV subscribers caused the recession.
Step 9. Go to a local Rotary Club meeting and see whether any of the tax increases you are proposing meet Rotary’s Four-Way Test, especially the question, “Is it fair to all concerned?”
Step 10. Make a sign saying, “Please tell me what tax you want me to raise in Springfield.” Stand next to it in a supermarket for three hours. Get the message!
Step 11. Go on a radio or cable television call-in program and listen to the callers. (Don’t advertise your appearance in advance so the special interests can flood the show.)
Step 12. Go back to Springfield and vote “NO!” If you can not achieve Step 12, go back to Springfield as vote “Present.” That’s the chicken’s way of voting “No,” and it will do.
Step 1. Go home.
Step 2. Talk to the people who elected you...better yet, listen to them.
Step 3. Ask whether any of them has had a 2% “revenue reduction” (cut in take-home pay) since last year, as the State of Illinois has.
Step 4. Ask those who have seen their household income decrease by 2% how they coped. Did they go out to dinner less often? Skip a vacation?
Step 5. Find businessmen who have cut their expenditures by 5% or more during this recession. (Hint: There are a lot of them, including many local media companies.) Ask those businessmen how they managed to stay in business with slightly less income than last year. Heed their advice and make similar cuts in the state budget.
Step 6. Practice saying to union officials, “If we have to give your members a 3.75% pay raise next year and you refuse to re-negotiate, which 3.75% of your members do you want us to lay off?”
Step 7. Write or type 100 times, “I know it’s easier to raise taxes than cut expenditures because the tax eaters are organized and the taxpayers aren’t, BUT THAT’S NO EXCUSE FOR RAISING TAXES!”
Step 8. Try to find someone who can make a rational explanation of how cigarette smokers or cable TV subscribers caused the recession.
Step 9. Go to a local Rotary Club meeting and see whether any of the tax increases you are proposing meet Rotary’s Four-Way Test, especially the question, “Is it fair to all concerned?”
Step 10. Make a sign saying, “Please tell me what tax you want me to raise in Springfield.” Stand next to it in a supermarket for three hours. Get the message!
Step 11. Go on a radio or cable television call-in program and listen to the callers. (Don’t advertise your appearance in advance so the special interests can flood the show.)
Step 12. Go back to Springfield and vote “NO!” If you can not achieve Step 12, go back to Springfield as vote “Present.” That’s the chicken’s way of voting “No,” and it will do.
# posted by Cal Skinner : 8:13 AM
