AFP: May 18 Arizona Ballot-- Vote NO on the Prop 100 Tax Increase

Dear Arizona Taxpayer: (Please forward this to your friends, family members, and co-workers. Some Arizonans are not even aware that there is an election taking place on May 18. Friday, May 7 is the last day to request an early ballot—details at bottom.) “This may be the worst recession Arizona has seen since the 1930s. It is a terrible time to raise taxes on workers struggling to keep their jobs, on small businesses struggling to stay open, and on families struggling to pay their mortgages and avoid bankruptcy.” That was how we began our op-ed in Sunday’s Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2010/05/02/20100502sales-tax-families-afford.html That was also a point we made in a debate on Prop 100 that is running on Cox Channel 7: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/04/28/20100428arizona-sales-tax-debate.html And here is a link to a radio debate about Prop 100: http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/201004/hn_prop100 As bad as the economy is, some of the supporters of Proposition 100 are trying to convince us that an 18 percent increase in our state sales tax burden is not a big deal. They seem to think that $400 in extra taxes per year for the average household is easily affordable. You should ask them if they would be willing to pay YOUR portion of the tax increase! We should also remember that the Prop 100 tax increase is just one of many tax increases that are coming our way. President Obama and his friends have passed massive federal tax increases to prop up the ObamaCare health “reforms,” and if Congress doesn’t act soon, the EPA will impose massive costs (i.e., taxes) on energy producers and consumers through heavy regulation of greenhouse gases. A veto by Governor Jan Brewer last September raised the typical Arizona household’s property taxes by $100 a year. (That is one of the many reasons you should get in contact with the activists at Prop 13 Arizona, who are working to put firm limits on how much you pay in property taxes: http://prop13arizona.org.) Some members of the Arizona Legislature are thinking of raising your vehicle license fees (i.e., taxes) in order to keep government workers running state parks, when those parks would be better managed by private entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, many cities and counties are moving to raise your local sales tax rates and property tax levies. To get taxpayers to vote for Prop 100, supporters have resorted to sky-is-falling rhetoric about government workers losing their jobs and reductions in services. But the truth is that total school funding would see a ten-percent reduction if voters shoot down Prop 100 on May 18. Anyone who has ever been inside a school district administration building knows that our bloated, top-heavy school system could easily handle a ten-percent reduction—if school district boards make the cuts in the right places. Prop 100 supporters are also threatening us with reductions to public safety, even though less than two percent of the money from Prop 100 would go to backfill the Department of Public Safety. (Ever notice how governments always threaten to cut police and firefighters whenever they want new tax increases? We’re hoping that scare tactic will backfire this time.) The threat about firefighters is an outright lie: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/032510-professional-firefighters-az-caught-lying-prop-100 Finally, we should learn from history. Arizona voters need to look carefully at the results of the Prop 301 experience before they commit to yet another tax increase that is supposedly going to help education: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/042810-prop-100-dont-get-fooled-again PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY Early ballot voting on Prop 100 has already begun. Your neighbors, and the commuters in your area, need to know that the grassroots is rising up against the fraudulent and economically damaging Prop 100 tax increase. They have to be reminded that real people would be hurt by the tax increase. The pro-100 side has ONE MILLION DOLLARS to spend on ads and mailers to try to get voters to raise taxes. Our side will be blessed to have $50,000, total. So we must depend on the grassroots to beat this tax increase. The best and cheapest way to fight Prop 100 is to make homemade signs and post them next to the pro-100 signs at busy intersections. Here is how to do it: Get large pieces of corrugated plastic, cardboard, poster paper, bed sheets, or canvas. (Any large surface will do—I used an old closet door.) Go to a discount store or a hardware store and get some cheap acrylic paint and some brushes, or some spray paint. Write very simple messages (we have some ideas below, to stimulate your creativity). Be sure to make your letters VERY BIG—brush strokes should be about two inches wide. Then, take zip ties and attach your signs to chain link fences and to stakes at busy intersections near you. Put your anti-100 signs next to the glossy, mass-produced pro-100 signs. Then be ready to make more signs, in case the activists from the pro-spending side vandalize or remove your signs. Keep your slogans simple, something like, “We are Taxed Enough Already – Vote NO on Prop 100.” This is free speech at its best. Keep it cheap. Do not spend more than $500 (you can make a lot of big signs for less than $20), so that you do not have to register as a political committee. In Scottsdale, you may need to sign up to put a city sticker on your sign—here is a guide to the rules in Scottsdale: http://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/bldgresources/counterresources/signpermitpacket/CampaignSigns.asp REMEMBER: the fate of Prop 100 is in the hands of the grassroots! If you can’t make your own yard signs, here are three options: 1) Contact the Ax the Tax committee (www.axthetaxaz.com or axthetax@cox.net) and ask them if they have yard signs. You will probably need to make a small donation (please do!). 2) In the Valley, contact activist Brandon Trichel (btbaseball@aol.com or 602-295-9647). He and a merry band of activists have been making cheap (but very nice-looking) yard/ street signs in a garage in Mesa. They are asking for a donation of one dollar per sign. 3) In Pima County, contact John Kromko with the Pima Association of Taxpayers (jkromko@dakotacom.net), and/or the Tucson First Coalition (www.tucsonfirst.org). Tucson is very strict with its sign ordinances, so please email PAT (jkromko@dakotacom.net) to let them know if you have land in or around Tucson that has good traffic flow and for a high-visibility sign. Please put “sign” in the subject line. BEST SIGN CONTEST Once you have posted a sign, take a digital picture of it, and send it to tjenney@afphq.org. Feel free to send in multiple entries. AFP Arizona will post the photos on a web page starting on May 10 (we extended the deadline), and we will ask all of our activists to vote for their favorite sign. We will award you a $100 gift certificate for your favorite store, if your sign gets the most votes. And AFP Arizona will award a second $100 gift certificate to whoever in our opinion comes up with the most succinct and powerful message, displayed in the biggest letters. REQUEST AN EARLY BALLOT TO VOTE AGAINST PROP 100! Early ballot voting has already started! The last day to request an early ballot is this Friday, May 7. Go to the AZ Secretary of State’s website and request your early/absentee ballot: Registration Site: http://www.azsos.gov/election/county.htm For Liberty , --Tom   Tom Jenney Arizona Director Americans for Prosperity www.aztaxpayers.org tjenney@afphq.org (602) 478-0146