Get ready, the Senate wants a tax increase

The TEA party protesters will have their best chance yet to stop unwarranted taxing and spending. The Kansas Legislature is under a deadline this week to balance the budget and the state Senate signaled yesterday that it intends to balance it through tax increases. It's so bad even the "mainstream media" is putting "revenue enhancements" in quotation marks.

"Moderate" Republicans along with Democrats passed a budget balancing bill that institutes an across the board cut of 2.75% but doesn't balance the budget. Instead they plan to raise taxes on Kansas businesses already hurting and probably cause even more job losses in the private sector. Of course, they have no problem with this because public jobs are still growing, and that's where we should be giving our undivided attention, right?

Senate leadership also wants to allow tax cheats to pay their late bills in order to close the gap. This is a tax increase on everyone. Paying late without penalties is a tax cut in essence because the full amount owed to the state isn't being paid. Those who suffer are responsible citizens who paid on time. Why should I pay my taxes if I can pay a year or two later and use the money I would have given to the state for something else? Why have tax deadlines if we have no intention of enforcing them?

Senate leadership wants to talk about "shared sacrifice." What leadership doesn't understand, and citizens are going to have to explain, is that taxpayers and businesses have been "sharing" the sacrifice for a very long time already. While the number of public jobs increased by 1.9% the past year, the number of private sector jobs decreased by 1.9%. The private sector has been "sharing" quite a bit more than the public sector already. After increasing spending by 48% over four years, it's time the public welfare sector do its part and stop pushing the bill off onto Kansas taxpayers.

Here's how Senator's voted on the Masterson amendment that would have balanced the budget without a tax increase. Click on the Senator's name for information on how to contact them.