Comments on: Gibbons: Sandoval’s anti-tax stance in doubt

By: Steve Sebelius

Steve Sebelius — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 17:33:51 +0000

Scandalmonger, John: Good questions, both. Gibbons DID include a tax increase (the hotel room tax) in his budget. And while this is a violation of the no-tax pledge he signed, he has always added a (verbal, not written) post-script: If a tax increase is voted upon and approved by the people, he will not stand in their way.

Is that consistent with the anti-tax pledge he signed? No. It is reasonable and even democratic? Yes. And is it consistent with his statement that HE will not raise taxes? Well, yes it is. That’s likely why he allowed that tax to become law without his signature; so he could honestly say he’d never raised taxes.

Some may say it’s hair-splitting, and perhaps it is. My good friend Chuck Muth will say he broke his written pledge, which contains no exemption for taxes voted upon and approved by the people, and Chuck is absolutely correct. But trust me when I say, the anti-tax rhetoric that Gibbons was using in 2003 is exactly the same as what he’s saying now, and that kind of consistency is what I was getting at in the piece above. Thanks for the questions and the chance to expand on the point.

By: John Stevens

John Stevens — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:06:27 +0000

In his State of the State Address last week, Jim Gibbons repeated over and over and over again how he wouldn’t raise taxes without once mentioning the fact that his budget included a whopping $292 million tax hike! It’s buried in the fine print within the 2,870 pages of the governor’s “Executive Budget: 2009-2011 Biennium” proposal. This is the 3rd largest tax increase in the States history. He broke his no new tax pledge.
Chuck Muth…..

By: Nevada Scandalmonger

Nevada Scandalmonger — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:48:41 +0000

Just a little confused about the claim that “the governor is correct” about never changing his position, presumably on his anti-tax pledge.

But in January, you wrote this:

“Technically, Gibbons didn’t stand by his promise entirely — he allowed the room tax increase for casinos in Clark and Washoe counties to go into effect without his signature.”

http://slashpolitics.lvcitylife.com/2010/01/gibbons-special-session-time/

And the only reason the increase was in the budget was because Gibbons put it in there. It was a pretty sneaky tax increase to be perpetrated by a so-called anti-tax politician.

Gibbons made one promise, and he couldn’t even keep that one.

By: Shawn Wasley

Shawn Wasley — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:44:10 +0000

Gibbons is right–This is just another concrete example of how we have have no idea who this Sandoval guy is. We have no idea where he stands on taxes because he paints a new picture everyday.

And enough about fulfilling his duty as Attorney General. The AG is supposed to protect the citizens and the taxpayers. It’s our taxpayer dollars that paid his salary when he was AG, and I dont want to pay his next one.

If you people agree with me, you should check out this website. http://www.dontbetonsandoval.com
it brings up some more issues and things we just cant trust this guy about.