Liberals forget that government’s money comes from our pockets

My opinion column printed in today’s Free Lance-Star:

TED HONTZ in his March 11 response to Del. Mark Cole [“‘No new taxes’? How about ‘no new progress’ on budget mess?”] offers the same tax-and-spend mantra against conservatives who dare stand behind Virginia’s working families and against tax hikes.

Mr. Hontz poses several questions, all of which run to the tune of where Republicans intend to fund a variety of public programs without a tax increase.

The real question is how we intend to fund these programs, but who do tax-and-spend liberals intend to bleed for this funding?

Yet another question for tax-and-spend liberals: At what point will the taxpayers of Virginia have paid enough? Over the past five years, the state budget has increased by nearly 50 percent, and this year Virginia taxpayers are being asked to foot an additional bill for a $4 billion tax increase.

And to what ends? Have the taxpayers of Virginia seen a 50 percent increase in the quality of our roads? Our schools? Teacher salaries?

The short answer to the litany of complaints of tax-and-spend bureaucrats is the pay stub of the average Virginia household. Today, nearly 40 percent of our income is spent on taxes. How much more should our working families bleed in order to feed bureaucratic mediocrity?

Take for instance the outrageous 13 percent tax hike being proposed in Spotsylvania County. Proponents of tax hikes in Spotsylvania County will argue that the 13 percent tax hike is a necessary investment. To which one may reasonably ask: What returns can we expect to see?

Will taxpayers see a 13 percent increase in the quality of public services? Should we expect and demand a 13 percent increase in test scores? Will teachers see a 13 percent increase in pay? Can taxpayers expect a 13 percent decrease in their commuting time thanks to county planning?

The answers to these questions are clearly in the negative.

Not only are there unanswered questions as to whether or not tax increases translate into better services, there is the additional problem of the impact these taxes have on the Virginia taxpayer.

For instance, how exactly where would tax-and-spend liberals have our working families cut their budgets? Cut back on food? On clothing? Health insurance? The mortgage? Del. Cole is correct in every sense of the word when he argues that every local and state tax hike is a pay cut for our families.

But there is much more to the conservative argument against taxes that bothers the politicians in Richmond and the bureaucrats at our local courthouse.

Take, for example, the issue of vouchers for schoolchildren. It costs Spotsylvania County more than $10,000 a year to put one child through school. When tuition for private institutions is half the cost, our position on school choice should come as a no-brainer.

Take another look at school construction. The final cost for the construction of Spotsylvania High School was $37 million, while the final cost for Massaponax High School climbed just shy of $50 million. Why the $13 million discrepancy? What’s more, where is the accountability for the fleecing of taxpayers?

Let’s take a hard look at teachers’ salaries, another sensitive topic. This year, the Spotsylvania School Board is requesting an 11 percent increase from last year’s budget. Will our teachers see an 11 percent raise? Will students see an 11 percent increase in the quality of our education? Will the public school system work 11 percent more effectively?

It is not the well-to-do who will cringe at the $4 billion tax hike proposed by state Sen. John Chichester, R-Stafford, or the proposed 13 percent property-tax hike in Spotsylvania. It is the grandmother on a pension who will be forced out of her home. It is the young family who can’t absorb the hidden costs of property taxes on their mortgage.

It takes a special hardness of heart on the part of liberal tax-and-spenders to demand that these people either be forced out of their homes, or prevented from ever owning homes.

But if the rhetorical questions don’t offer pause, the statistics are even more damning. According to the U.S. Department of Education, total tax dollars spent nationwide on elementary- and secondary-school education under the Bush administration rose by more than 47 percent over the past five years–from $336 million to $540 million, an increase unimaginable under former administrations.

Clearly public education is not struggling to make ends meet. Rather, the problem lies in big government’s insatiable appetite for the hard-earned paychecks of working families.

There is a false logic at play, suggesting increases in spending are consummate with better results, and the taxpayers of Virginia know this.

That is why previous tax referenda were struck down with force in both Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and precisely why tax-and-spend liberals are so afraid to bring the $4 billion Chichester tax hike to the people for a vote.

Make no mistake: Taxpayers on both the state and local level are keeping a close eye on their elected officials.

The taxpayers of Spotsylvania County and Virginia work hard enough for their own families; they should not be expected to subsidize mediocrity at the state or local level.

SHAUN KENNEY is the Fredericksburg-area vice chairman of the 1st District Republican Committee.