Update on the No Tax Increase Pledge

Today has not seen any new Republicans pledge to their constituents that they will not vote for a budget that includes any tax increases or any fee increases that aren’t directly related to the cost of delivering the service.

To date, there are nine Republican representatives who are willing to take tax increases completely off of the table.  They are:

Rep. Vukmir
Rep. LeMahieu
Rep. Lothian
Rep. Pridemore
Rep. Lasee
Rep. Zipperer
Rep. Nass
Rep. Kramer
Rep. Nygren

Please take the time to let these great people know that you support their efforts to keep our tax burden from getting even heavier. 

I did, however, receive two rejections.  The first was from Rep. Ott.  The second rejection, which brings me great shame, is my own representative, Rep. Strachota.  I would like to thank both of these representatives for taking the time to explain their reasoning for not signing the pledge.  At least they have shown more respect for the taxpayers than those representatives who have so far chosen to keep their reasoning to themselves. 

Basically, their reasoning is pretty much the same.  Both Ott and Strachota tout their conservatism and opposition to tax increases, but seem to leave enough wiggle room just in case they might think it will be necessary to vote for one.  I disagree with both of them, but respect their viewpoints.  I have put both of their full responses in the extended entry of this post so you can read their full positions.  

Read the rest