Apr 04 2009
Legislative Counsel says majority vote plan is legal
The Legislative Counsel sent a letter that says the majority vote plan is legal. The majority vote plan is a plan to raise taxes that rests on the premise that they can lower taxes, raise fees, and lower fees and raise taxes without a two-thirds vote so long as the raising and lowering is tax neutral - meaning they cannot increase the percentage of taxes people pay. Shocking. The Constitution can be avoided by simply keeping things level.
However, this is a blow to Republicans in the state legislature. Republicans don’t want taxes raised. Most people who pay taxes don’t want taxes raised any more. Now the Democrats feel like they are free to do as they will, simply because legislative counsel told them it is okay. Even more disappointing is the fact that Democrats feel that, in this instance, they only have to go by the wording of the Constitution, not the meaning.
If something offends a Democrat’s notion of equality - like not allowing homosexual couples to marry - then it is against the equality guarantees in the Constitution. This is true even if the Constitution doesn’t say so explicitly - but the guarantee is implied. However, when they want to raise taxes, even though the Constitution says that you cannot do so without a two-thirds vote, they are going t use a loop-hole and say that they can with a majority vote.
This is hypocrisy at its best.
