That’s the only conclusion that I can come to after reading this eyebrow-raiser of a quote. The context: the Democrat-controlled New Hampshire legislature is bringing in a pro-income tax group called ITEP to a summit/seminar (the rhetoric keeps changing), and state W&M chair Rep Almy is upset at all the shadowy conspiracies arrayed against said group. Well, she assumes that there are shadowy conspiracies; since her side has them (Tides Foundation, Soros, ACORN), then so must the other. In the process of mangling even the popular perception of the McCarthy era, Almy tosses off this whopper:
“I have even had people emailing to yell at me for supporting a sales tax, which I have never done – I simply invited a respected state economist in to talk to us about why an income tax was bad for business, and he said we should consider a sales tax instead.”
Let me change some phrases around to highlight the absurdity of that statement:
“I have even had people emailing to yell at me for supporting eating puppies, which I have never done – I simply invited a respected state economist in to talk to us about why eating kittens was bad for business, and he said we should consider eating puppies instead.”
You don’t invite in a puppy-eater to talk to you unless you’re at least receptive to the idea of eating puppies. And if you’ve truly ‘never’ supported sales taxes, it seems just a bit odd to be this upset when people point out that your actions contradict you – particularly when your own comments don’t distinguish between your own opinions, and those of ‘a respected state economist.’ I find it difficult to believe that she didn’t notice the tacit admission in her own statement; I suspect that she did, and simply assumed that none of her opponents would be bright enough to do the same*.
On the bright side: even if she is playing conspiracy theorist, at least she hasn’t dragged in the Jews somehow. That’s something, at least.
Moe Lane
*This is a fortunately common delusion on the Other Side.
Crossposted to RedState.
Moe,
You’re omitting a critical bit of information here. There are a total of three non-NH speakers at the summit/seminar, as follows:
9-10:30 Introduction: National tax perspectives on state revenue structures
Jonathan Williams, American Legislative Exchange Council, Washington DC
Scott Hodge, The Tax Foundation, Washington DC
Jeff Lynch, Institute for Taxation & Economic Policy, Washington DC
One of these three, as you note, is a guy from Washington DC who will likely say that an income tax is a good idea. The other two are guys from Washington DC who will likely say that an income tax is a bad idea.
All three of them are, I’m sure, smart and competent guys. As with any hearing, you try to get a multitude of perspectives.
How exactly is this a conspiracy? Seems to me that Almy is bending over backwards to present all sides.