Hello FPIW Defenders!

Thank you for your outpouring of support to stand against tax increases this Legislative Session. Again and again you have stood firm to protect families. To cite one example, we joined other citizens and help set a new record when more than 43,000 people registered CON against tripling the Property Tax from 1% to 3% or more:

We are truly grateful to partner with you against out-of-control taxation. It’s excessive. It’s a burden. It’s an overreach into our pockets. And it profoundly impacts the practical everyday lives of thousands of families across Washington.

Tax Mania

The reality is this: With dominate majorities in both chambers, Democrats in the Legislature have passed the largest tax increase in the history of Washington State. If implemented, you will pay thousands of dollars more each year. Rep. Jim Walsh (R), the Chairman of the WAGOP, states: “The current Democrat proposals add about $15 billion in new taxes.”

No doubt many families will be severely hurt for everyday basic items and payments. Some will be pushed to leave the state. For all the details, you can see a sample of all the taxes in this short video from the House GOP. The taxes include:

• Tripling the property tax
• Imposing a “wealth tax”
• Raising the business and occupation (B&O) tax by 50%
• And taxes on many other things, such as capital gains, estates, “sins” (like soda), and utilities.

Gas, groceries, housing will all be more expensive – and this is on top of the major “tax” of inflation. Think about the young couple trying to start a family and find a home. Think about the thousands of elderly people on a fixed income.

To give another example, Democrats want to increase the gasoline tax by another 6 cents (Senate) or 9 cents (House):

 

Overall, it was a staggering $76 billion budget from Democrats in the House. Hold on to your wallet!

In contrast, please note that the Republicans proposed a budget with no tax increases.

The Leak

We warned people about this “tax mania” coming. Remember the news leak from last Christmas? Democrats accidentally leaked their strategy to demonize the wealthy — that is, job creators — as “villains.”

Now four months later, we see that leak turned out to be very true.

Even mayors from cities across Washington united to say, “No more taxes,” and major job creators such as Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, Nordstrom, the Mariners, and many others rallied together to corporately sign a strongly worded letter demanding such taxes stop. (See the full letter.)

To his credit, even Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) has said that the excessive taxation from Democrats is too much. “Actions speak louder than words,” and we shall see if he acts in accord with what he says, or if he still allows billions to be taken from us.

Reckless Spending

“Tax heavy” and “grow the government” are two twin ideas that animate Democrats in Olympia. As a result, we have the high taxation mentioned above, as well as a current $15 billion deficit from reckless spending. Even the Seattle Times gets it:

Refuting Heavy Taxes

In reply to these Democrats, we can make these points:

• Companies will simply leave Washington for low-tax states, such as Idaho, Texas, and Florida — and the jobs for ordinary citizens will disappear, too. That’s not supporting people. That’s simply taking more money out of the economy to fatten an already bloated government. (See the report from the Heritage Foundation: “If You Tax Them, They Will Run.”)

• Dennis Prager highlights many moral problems with such high taxation, and two of them include these points: It undercuts neighbor-love: “Why give generously to my neighbor in need when the government will take care of them?” And it devalues work: “Why work hard when the government will simply take my money?”

For more insights and talking points, here is a PragerU video:

Washington, Not “Taxington”

We want our beloved Washington to support families and businesses. We do not want to live in “Taxington,” as one meme puts it. We want the Evergreen State, not the “Evergreed State.”

We agree that at some point such excessive taxation becomes nothing more than what the frugal former President Calvin Coolidge called “legalized larceny” — that is, like the theft of personal property. The greed of government must stop, and with our faithful FPIW Defender Team, we will be diligent on the front lines to protect families.

Thank you again for all you have done to stand against tax bill after tax bill. One other business tax (B&O) is available for you to register against, and if you wish to take additional action against taxes, you can email directly Democratic legislators in your area to share your concerns. To find them, here is a link.

Defending the family,

Brad Payne, President
FPIW Action