To the Editor:
“Most political commentators,” Del. Plum (D-36) nebulously says [“Never Say Never,” Reston Connection, December 5-11], “would agree . . . that the no tax pledge has made it difficult . . . to get agreement on a financial plan that would reduce the deficit and help with economic recovery.” In the glaring absence of any notable achievement of Washington politicians of any stripe in ultimately curbing the profligate spending of our tax money in recent years, the no-tax pledge at least tried to ensure that by disallowing politicians more of our money, they would be unable to spend it.
“Elected officials do not like to raise taxes,” Delegate Plum (Democrat) hilariously intones. When you have picked yourself up off the floor, you might wonder how he reconciles this with the current administration’s vindictive (because economically futile) predilection for taxing the “rich” and new “stimulus” spending.
“We will face some difficult choices,” Delegate Plum cautions. Truly said. It’s just that for higher-tax advocates of Delegate Plum’s ilk these “choices” seldom seem to include any reductions in out-of-control public spending (defense excepted). “We should never say never to possible solutions when meeting the needs of our community,” he says. But “our community” will eternally have unmet “needs”. We may be sure that Delegate Plum will never remove from the table the “choice” of hiking our taxes and tolls to pay for them.
Harry Locock
Reston