| From the "I told you so" department, we get this from the Helena Independent Record as the emergency special session and budget crisis in Montana finally concluded this week:
"House [Republicans] stripped out components [of the final budget] that would crack down on out-of-state businesses and individuals not paying their legal share of Montana taxes."
There has been a lot of coverage of this budget showdown, but as I've been saying, when you cut through it all, it was easy to see that the Montana Republican Party was ultimately going to make its last stand on the issue of basic tax enforcement, and that making such a stand in defense of tax cheats and out-of-state corporations is one of the purest forms of class warfare. |
| I say that, because when Republican legislators go to bat for the army of lobbyists that converges on the Capitol in Helena and work to make sure out-of-state corporations don't have to pay the taxes they owe, it means the tax burden gets that much higher on middle class Montana residents.
And we see that Montana Republican leaders are more than OK with that. Here's the Associated Press's earlier coverage of the GOP move to stop tax enforcement:
"A plan from Gov. Brian Schweitzer's administration to close so-called tax loopholes fell apart amid stiff opposition from Republicans taking with it tax relief for renters and business equipment. Republicans cut the initiative from the tax cut package, sacrificing along with it tax credits for renters and a credit for homeowners tied to a growing surplus...The issue was at the center of debate that led to the special session lasting five days, instead of the three days many had hoped for. Democrats alleged that Republicans were bending to the desire of out-of-state corporations that aren't paying the taxes they owe the state of Montana. Republicans countered that the enforcement measures would subject honest taxpayers to more audits and investigation. House Speaker Scott Sales sent a clear signal to Democrats on Tuesday that the 'revenue enhancements' would not get through the House. 'Hell no,' he told Senate President Mike Cooney after Cooney asked him in a morning meeting to reconsider the issue. 'I'm not raising taxes on someone to cut taxes for someone else,' Sales said."
Two issues with this. First, the Montana Republican Party, which prides itself on a supposed commitment to fiscal discipline, has now gone on record in support of fiscal irresponsibility. Refusing to "raise taxes on someone to cut taxes for someone else" - while continuing to push for more tax cuts and opposing plans to strengthen tax enforcement - is the definition of fiscal irresponsibility. Besides, Democrats weren't proposing raising taxes - they were proposing forcing tax evaders to pay the taxes they already owe.
Second, is exactly who the GOP is going to bat for here. We now have the Republicans on record saying they are willing to sacrifice tax cuts for Montana small business (the business equipment tax cut, which was killed) in order to make sure large, out-of-state corporations don't have to pay their fair share of Montana taxes.
Thankfully, with their final move to kill tax enforcement and thus sacrifice tax cuts for Montana small businesses, we can all see just how intensely committed to the class war these Montana Republican legislators really are. As Gov. Brian Schweitzer said, "The fourth branch of government in this building are lobbyists. Under pressure from these lobbyists 24/7 we end up not getting the best legislation."
Luckily, we have a governor and Democratic House and Senate caucus that was willing to face them down. Though GOP tactics prevented progressives from passing the tax enforcement package into law, we were able to hold the line on almost everything else. As the Billings Gazette reports, "there wasn't much the governor didn't get" as Democrats' "square deal with Montanans emerged from the contentious special session Tuesday largely unscathed." That's good news, and shows we can fight back against the class war. |
