Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Monzel opposes Trash Tax Hike

Chris Monzel has gone too far this time. Last month he opposed a big property tax hike for city homeowners and party leaders did nothing to stop him. Now in November he is opposing a big Trash Tax increase! This madness must stop. It is completely unacceptable for a Republican to oppose a big new tax hike in two consecutive months. If he or anyone from his staff attends today's COAST press conference opposing the trash tax, we will be more upset than we've been in weeks.

In times like these sacrifice must be made. But not by the government. It is the citizens who should make do with less so the government can have more. City government needs that money more than its citizens. Without a big tax increase, how can the city continue to give millions of dollars to The Freedom Center? How can they afford to push City Manager's Milton Dohoney's salary to over $200,000/year? The man has to eat.

This tax increase would cost city residents over $200 per year, and businesses $240/year. That's nothing. We think it's a small price to pay to make sure Cincinnati's government can spend everything it wants.

Chris Monzel must be prohibited from opposing any further tax increases for city homeowners. Party leaders must step in and enforce discipline. For two consecutive months Monzel has opposed a tax increase and nothing has been done about it. Imagine what could happen if Monzel goes 3, 4, or 5 consecutive months opposing a brand new tax hike. It's time for the Republican Party to support the Trash Tax and make sure anyone who does otherwise is properly disciplined for their disobedience.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Our 100th post

Fellow tax hikers, we at Republicans for Higher Taxes are delighted to celebrate our 100th post since we started this site last year. This has not just been a powerful blog, it has been the coming together of the Republicans for Higher Taxes Movement that has existed in our area for many years, but not yet come together as one. We have brought everyone together under one intellectual roof and organized to make sure that our Republican Party is the party of higher taxes.

We dedicate this post to you, our loyal readers. We take you back through memory lane of the greatest posts our site has ever written. And we ask for your vote. We want all of our loyal tax hikers to tell us, what was your favorite post from Republicans for Higher Taxes. Is it:

A) Our inaugural post. The post that started it all. Where we served warning to the anti-taxers that we would be fighting them.

B) Bill Seitz, 2007 Tax Hiker of the Year. One of our most profound postings ever. Not only did we honor Bill Seitz for all his efforts to raise taxes, but we created our legendary Tax Hiker of the Year Award, which is perhaps what we are most known for.

C) Condemning Chris Monzel for opposing tax increases. With this post we served notice that we will be here to condemn Chris Monzel's efforts to oppose tax increases for Cincinnati homeowners and taxpayers, and publicly reprimanded him for opposing the Sales Tax increase that nearly 60% of city voters voted against.

D) Bob Taft's press release. We joined our tax-hiking Commissioners and Sheriff in condemning COAST for writing a press release that claimed our great former Governor Bob Taft had endorsed Issue 27.

E) Pat DeWine - Enemy of the Treasury. Here we exposed Pat DeWine for being the tax-cutter he is, and made sure everyone knows how hard he works to keep our taxes down. We can't imagine how DeWine ever recovered from such criticism.

F) Prostitution in Sharonville. Our work to compliment Virgil Lovitt for his job creation in Sharonville. By turning Sharonville into Hamilton County's prostitution capital, ole' Virg created good, high paying jobs for his town, and we were so happy to be able to point out this accomplishment to the voters.

G) Virgil Lovitt - 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year. Our most-read and most influential post ever. When Lovitt was competing to get the Republican nomination for State Rep, we unleashed this post which gave him the momentum needed to secure the win. This post was also used in campaign ads in the fall election.

H) Favorite Virgil Lovitt tax hike. Generated numerous responses! A reader favorite.

I) Mustache Power. We discovered the power of the 'stache in local politics.

J) Governor Bob Taft's Endorsements. We feel so fortunate to have our great former Governor here on staff. He is a great ally, a world class tax hiker, and a wonderful writer.

Give us your vote! We hope you have enjoyed our trip down memory lane. So many great posts to choose from, we felt bad having to leave some other great ones out. We want to know what posts you have enjoyed the most.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Save Sean Donovan's job

Hamilton County budget news just gets worse and worse. Now we have discovered that the county administration is recommending that our great Sheriff Simon Leis eliminate his Chief Deputy position, which would mean the loss of our loyal friend and ally Sean Donovan. We must not let this happen. We must unite to save Donovan's job.

Imagine a world where Simon Leis had to get his own coffee. Imagine a world where Simon Leis had to drive his own car. Imagine Si Leis having to show up to events by himself. Imagine what would happen if Simon Leis had to shine his own shoes, pick out his own clothes, and kiss his own ass.

It is more clear than ever why we need to tax our way out of this problem. When you are facing a revenue shortage, the solution is to generate more revenue which means raising taxes. Why don't our leaders get it? Fellow tax hikers - we need you to contact our County Commissioners and explain to them the importance of raising taxes so we can preserve Sean Donovan's important job.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hamilton County needs higher taxes now

Recent news articles (such as here, here, and here) have revealed the serious financial problems of our own Hamilton County. Just because Todd Portune has been a Commissioner for 8 years, and been President of the Board for the last 2, does not mean we blame him for this in any way. Sadly our Commissioners are talking about making major spending cuts. This is not necessary.

More than ever, we need tax increases now. We must tax our way out of this problem. If the county commissioners raise taxes now they wouldn't have to make any spending cuts. We expect the citizens would go along with this. Everyone understands that David Pepper and Todd Portune need this money more than the residents do.

We suggest one of the two following tactics to raise taxes:

1) With the support of Virgil Lovitt, immediately implement a Sales Tax increase themselves, without allowing the citizens to vote on it. The Commissioners have the authority to do this.

2) Close down the Queensgate jail. By eliminating hundreds of jail spaces, this will create the public pressure necessary to pass a Jail Tax that we can use to build a new jail and divert money to the operating budget!

These solutions would work. This is no time to cut spending or control costs. Residents must understand that they must do with less so the government can have more.

We almost forgot - we condemn Pat DeWine for his refusal to support tax increases. He should know what all of us here know, that raising taxes is the only acceptable solution to addressing projected budget shortfalls.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Election Reaction

On the federal level we are overwhelmed with feelings of hope and change. We were so ecstatic to see tax-hikers Jean Schmidt and Barack Obama elected by our great people. Together, they can continue the mission to raise taxes. With Obama in the White House and solid pro-tax majorities (including Schmidt) in both Houses, we are due for some massive tax increases and we think it's great! This election proves that tax-hikers of both parties are the future of this country.

Let us say some more fine words about Jean Schmidt. We are very impressed by her 45% showing in this safe Republican district. This should send a message to everyone that we love Jean and her seat is safe for as long as she wants it. Her record of raising taxes, spending increases, and landslide victories is one we all can be proud of.

On the state and local levels, some progress was made for our cause. It was great to see our man Bill Seitz get elected easily, for example, but ultimately we are still feeling depressed over the crushing defeat of Virgil Lovitt. We worked so hard to make sure everyone knew of his great tax-and-spend record.

This loss represents a significant setback to our movement. Having a great tax-hiker like Lovitt advocating for us in Columbus, and using the job as a stepping stone to run for County Commissioner, would have been great for our side. We are also afraid that our anti-tax enemies will use Virg's loss as an example of why we shouldn't run tax-and-spend Republicans in swing districts.

In spite of Virg's loss, Republicans for Higher Taxes will still be going strong. Once we get over our depression we will celebrate all of our wins Tuesday night. We will continue fighting for higher taxes and higher spending, both of which we expect much more of from the federal government. We will also continue fighting to make sure the Republican Party remains the party of higher taxes and higher spending. Tax us more!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Still going strong

Dear fellow tax hikers,

We have not gone away. We have been mourning the loss of Virgil Lovitt, whose big defeat represents a terrible setback to our tax-and-spend movement. We worked very hard for the last 2 months to make sure voters understood what a great pro-tax Republican Virg is, and his loss has hit us hard. We will resurface this weekend with our analysis of this Tuesday's elections and where we go from here.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Endorsement wrapup

State Representative, 28th District - Virgil Lovitt! Everything we stand for, Virg stands for. He's led the way for higher property taxes, higher sales taxes, and 50% higher income taxes. He supported Bob Taft's 3rd Frontier program and Todd Portune's re-election. What more could we possibly ask for? Lovitt has the potential to be the greatest tax hiker ever. That is why we awarded him our 2008 Tax Hiker of the Year and strongly endorse his election to the Ohio House.

President - Barack Hussein Obama. The only thing standing between us and higher taxes is a John McCain victory. An Obama win means we can achieve significant tax increases and even bigger spending binges than Bush has given us. That is too much to pass up.

Congress, 1st District - No endorsement. Congressman Steve Chabot has been a strong supporter of middle class tax cuts and has vigorously opposed wasteful government spending. This is unacceptable to us. Until Chabot raises taxes and spends freely, he will not have our support.

Congress, 2nd District - Jean Schmidt. Wonderful endorsement written at the link by Excelsior/TNP. Schmidt has been our go-to girl for higher taxes and higher spending for many years. She strongly supported Bob Taft's tax increases and Bush's Bailout for Billionaires. We are not embarrassed by her reprimands from the Ohio Elections Commission or frequent criticisms of her behavior. As long as she keeps taking our money, we will keep endorsing her.

County Commissioner - Todd Portune. Portune has led the fight for higher taxes and higher spending. Todd stood with us when we wanted higher taxes for the comprehensive safety plan and for Mike Brown and the Reds, so now we stand with him.

State Senator - 8th District - Bill Seitz. Seitz is another great tax hiker. He has supported every tax hike out there, including all of Bob Taft's tax increases. For this we are enthusiastic supporters of his election.

Issue 2 (State of Ohio), Increased Debt - Vote Yes. This would allow the State of Ohio to go $400 million further into debt. This would be great, because not only would tax dollars be required to pay back that money, we would need more tax dollars to pay back the interest.

Issue 6 (State of Ohio), Gambling Monopoly - Vote Yes. This will amend Ohio's Constitution to grant a casino monopoly to one individual. This is totally in line with our goals of bigger government and decreased competition.

Issue 7 (Cincinnati), to ban Red Light Cameras - Vote No. This Charter Amendment would effectively ban red light cameras. We support red light cameras. Even though studies have shown they don't improve safety, it's not about safety. The cameras would raise a ton of money for the government and make it much easier for the government to track our every movements. More money, more tracking of individuals, who could vote against that?

Issue 48 (multi-county), Great Oaks levy renewal - Vote Yes. This is the only opportunity for all county residents to vote on their property taxes. If this vote fails, our county property taxes would go down and we can't allow that to happen! Vote yes to preserve our property taxes.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

No vote for Steve Chabot

Republicans for Higher Taxes refuses to support Steve Chabot for Congress. Chabot is perhaps this nation's worst Congressman on our pet issues of raising taxes and raise spending due to his refusal to support tax increases and big spending hikes.

Chabot has voted against all tax increases that we are aware of and strongly supported the tax breaks that middle class families enjoy today. He voted against George Bush's Bailout Bill for Wall Street Billionaires. He opposed George Bush's massive Medicare expansion. He opposes Barack Obama's tax increases and is often a pest to our allies with his opposition to many earmarks.

For this Chabot has earned support from the National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). Shockingly, Chabot has the highest lifetime ranking from CAGW of any current member of Congress. This is unacceptable. Until Chabot starts wasting government money, he will not be eligible for our support.

Our incoming President Barack Obama needs Congressmen who will implement his agenda of higher taxes and spending. Chabot's opposition to Democratic tax increases and Republican spending binges make him an unacceptable choice to serve in Congress.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt for Congress

- by Excelsior/TNP

Some things are worth waiting for, such as our endorsement for Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. In that race, we wholeheartedly give our endorsement to our great Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt has been a great supporter of higher taxes.

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt supported Bob Taft's Sales Tax hike. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt supported Bob Taft's Gas Tax hike, raising Ohio's Gas Tax by 27%. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt wrote the bill that allowed Hamilton County to more than double its hotel tax, a tax that Virgil Lovitt naturally endorsed.

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's tax hiking prowess didn't stop there. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, a Clermont County resident, stood with Sheriff Simon Leis to endorse last year's proposed Sales Tax increase for Hamilton County. And most recently, Congresswoman Jean Schmidt voted to support George Bush's Bailout Bill for Wall Street Billionaires.

And Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's legislative skills are beyond doubt.

When Barack Obama becomes President, he will need supporters in the House to implement his tax increase plans. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt has proven her skills as an accomplished tax raiser. Because of her superb tax-hiking record, we stand 100% behind Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's re-election to Congress.