GOP measure would expand sales tax

People used to tell me the big difference between the Democrats and the Republicans was that, while both parties raised taxes, only the Republicans lied about it.

Lately it's become truer than ever that Republican politicians support raising taxes - even as they deny it more and more. Mike Huckabee has made his plan to shift the tax burden to the poor by establishing a huge national sales tax one of the centerpieces of his campaign. This has reinvigorated right-wing state lawmakers to push for higher sales taxes at the state level.

Keep in mind that usually their proposals are explicitly designed to generate no more revenue than the current system. So it isn't as if they need the tax. This proves the whole purpose of the tax is to punish the poor.

In Arizona, State Rep. Rick Murphy (R, of course), wants to force a referendumb to replace the state income tax with an expanded sales tax. Unlike other supporters of this reverse Robin Hood plan, Murphy practically admits his sales tax expansion is a regressive tax (after denying it).

Murphy's dumb law would even tax goods and services that aren't taxed now. For instance, Arizona decided years ago that food is exempt from the sales tax. But Murphy would tax food.

How punitive do you have to be to tax food just so more financially secure Arizonans don't have to pay as much taxes?

If there is a referendumb, the only chance it has of passing is if the suburbs outvote the cities and poor rural counties again.

(And yes, the wingnuts have already freeped comment sections of other sites with their mandatory hate speech against the poor.)

(Source: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/107147)