Voters will decide the fate of dozens of ballot initiatives next week. We’ve highlighted six that could have a big impact on the economy with some fearless forecasts on their chances of passing:
ARIZONA
Proposition 132 Supermajority vote to raise taxes
Requires a 60% majority popular vote for any ballot initiative that increases taxes to be approved. This bolsters protections for Arizona taxpayers against tax hikes. Close call, but more likely to pass.
CALIFORNIA
Proposition 30 income tax surcharge
This may be the most important of all the initiatives. It would impose a $5 billion income tax surcharge of 1.75% on earnings over $2 million with the money used to fund electric vehicles. This would push the top income tax rate in CA to 15% – higher than New York’s 13% top rate. The measure is such a killer for small businesses that even Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom opposes it. This measure is almost certain to lose.
ILLINOIS
Amendment 1 Enshrine forces unionism in the state constitution
This would Create a “fundamental right” to collective bargaining in the state constitution and permanently ban Right-to-Work laws (which have been enacted in 27 states). This dangerous amendment would raise costs for Illinois taxpayers and likely chase businesses out of the state. We believe this is likely to fail.
MASSACHUSETTS
Question 1 income tax surcharge on the rich
The Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980 was enacted under the Carter administration and generated some $80B in gross revenues over the next eight years before being repealed by President Reagan. U.S. crude production declined as much as 8% over the period
NEBRASKA
Initiative 433 $15 minimum wage
Would Increase the state minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026, and index it for inflation in the future. Not likely to pass in conservative Nebraska.
TENNESSEE
Constitutional Amendment 1 enshrines right to work in the state constitution
This measure would: Add the right to work – barring employers from requiring union membership as a condition of employment – to the state constitution. It is the opposite of the Illinois measure. It will likely pass.
For more information on these and other ballot initiatives that will be voted on next Tuesday go to Americans for Tax Reform or Ballotpedia websites.
We can’t exactly explain why this great investigative reporting story from the folks at The Daily Wire has stuck in our craw, but it is so maddening we can’t seem to get past it.
The headline tells much of this sordid story:
The writer is Nikole Hannah-Jones whom you may have heard of. She’s the author of the pop anti-America screed The 1619 Project. This is the historically-debunked book that posits that the American Revolution was fought to retain slavery – and America’s been a systemically racist society ever since.
In this era of wokism, Anti-America tomes become bestsellers and pay handsomely.
Fine. If people want to line up and pay $50 for this made-up nonsense, and if liberal foundations want to pay her millions of dollars to teach racism at Howard University, as WC Fields would say, “There’s a sucker born every day.”
But how in the world did anyone agree to pay her $40,000 to give a 45-minute speech at an Arlington, VA high school?
Her travel costs were maybe $100 for a 30-minute each-way Uber ride from her daytime job a few miles away at Howard University.
And how In good conscience could Nikole take a payment like this from a local nonprofit and taxpayer-funded library that is strained for resources and serves black and brown-skinned students? We thought she was on the side of minorities.
If the Arlington government has $40,000 burning a hole in its pocket, the city council better not come to the residents begging for a tax increase anytime soon.
As for Nikole, if she were a stand-up, classy person, she’d return the check so that the library can stay open for more hours. We will report back to you if she does, but don’t hold your breath.
3) Will Mitt Romney Help Keep Democrats In Charge Of The Senate?
We predict that after an early scare, free-market champion Mike Lee will be re-elected in Utah to the US Senate. But no thanks to Mitt Romney, who has remained neutral in the race between Mike Lee versus Evan McMullin, a liberal who is running as a masquerade Independent.
McMullin claims he will caucus with neither party should he win, but the Democrats are showering him with money.
Former Governor Jon Huntsman, a fellow moderate, has endorsed Lee in a TV ad. Lee supported Romney once he won the GOP primary in 2018. Romney won’t return the favor. If Lee were to improbably lose, Democrats could retain control of the Senate. And of course, the Senate would lose one of the primary voices for our Constitution in the Senate.
Why is Romney doing this? We suspect it is because Mitt knows he has a low probability of winning the GOP nomination when he is up for re-election so he might want to try this independent path himself. He was a registered independent for 20 years. With Mitt Romney, it’s always about Mitt. We suspect Utah voters are smart enough to see through this gambit.
4) Biden Rips Another Page Out Of The Jimmy Carter Energy Playbook
Well, there he goes again. Yesterday Biden went on a tirade about oil and gas company record profits – that’s what happens when you restrict supply – and so now he wants to impose a tax on their “windfall profits.”
Um, Joe, hello. You’re the one who created these high profits by restricting the supply of oil and gas companies.
This tax scheme was tried, of course, disastrously by Jimmy Carter back in 1980 during America’s previous energy crisis.
The tax raised 20% of its projected revenue, and less than half of *that* was net revenue. Worse, it caused:
an eight percent reduction in domestic oil production until the tax was repealed by Reagan
a spike in the price of oil and gas at the pump
a major increase in imported oil from OPEC nations
Other than that the policy was a complete success.
Here’s the definitive report on it from the Congressional Research Service:
Fortunately, there are only 18 US Senators on board with this terrible idea, which would require legislation. Three of them are presently running for re-election: Michael Bennet, Richard Blumenthal, and Raphael Warnock.
Barry Norris, who owns British hedge fund Argonaut Capital, has decided to make his own small contribution to fighting the ESG movement against progress.
Check out his short but fact-filled video below.
It describes how fossil fuels transformed the world, accelerated the Industrial Revolution, and have lifted billions of people out of poverty. Now environmental extremists effectively want to wall off billions of people in developing countries from joining the middle class.
