Wall Street Journal Editorial
November 10, 2016
Democratic candidates took another beating in the states on Tuesday, which is why progressives are resorting more to ballot initiatives to impose their policies. This week voters were smart enough to reject some of the worst lurches of liberal governance.
Notably, the biggest tax hikes on the ballot this fall failed. Voters in liberal Oregon routed (58% to 42%) a corporate gross receipts tax backed by unions. Businesses argued that the tax would harm low- and middle-income residents by reducing private jobs and increasing consumer prices. A similar share of voters in Washington state knocked down a putatively revenue-neutral carbon tax. Environmentalists revealed that they care more about expanding government than they do about climate when they joined manufacturers and oil refiners in opposing the tax.
An increase in the Oklahoma sales tax to 5.5% from 4.5% was rejected by nearly 60% of voters. The revenues would have funded an across-the-board $5,000 pay bump for teachers, but Sooners realized there are better ways to improve schools than more spending.
A referendum in Maine to impose a 3% surtax on household income exceeding $200,000 a year remains too close to call. The state’s median household income is $48,804, and progressives claimed the tax hike would strike only the well-to-do. If the initiative passes, don’t be surprised if high-demand professionals flee to zero-income-tax states like Florida and New Hampshire.
The biggest losers were Californians, more than 60% of whom voted to extend a 2012 income tax increase through 2030. The increase bumped the top rate on earnings above $1 million to 13.3%. Persuading the 99% to fleece the 1% wasn’t hard for progressive groups, which raised $60 million in support. Tax opponents had zilch.
The news was better on health care, as nearly 80% of Colorado voters rejected a constitutional amendment to establish a single-payer system, which would have required a $25 billion increase in payroll taxes. Bernie Sanders acolytes also lost in California, where 54% of voters rejected an initiative that sought to prohibit state agencies from paying more for prescription drugs than the lowest price paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Price controls could have restricted access to drugs for Medicaid patients while increasing costs for patients with private insurance.
The biggest disappointments of the year came in Massachusetts and Georgia, where teachers unions spent liberally to defeat school choice for poor children. In Massachusetts 62% of voters rejected an initiative backed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker that would have lifted the state’s cap on charters and helped 32,000 kids on waiting lists. In Georgia three of five voters opposed GOP Gov. Nathan Deal’s proposed constitutional amendment that would have established a statewide recovery district for failing schools a la New Orleans.
Teachers unions portrayed the initiatives as an attack by “Wall Street ideologues” on local public schools and minorities. Elizabeth Warren, the progressive heroine, rallied the left in opposition to charters that vastly outperform traditional schools. A friend of ours in the school reform movement says one reason the initiatives failed was distrust among minority groups toward Republicans, which is a tragedy for their children though not for Ms. Warren’s union campaign contributors. A progressive’s work is never done.
Disclaimer: Articles featured on Oregon Report are the creation, responsibility and opinion of the authoring individual or organization which is featured at the top of every article.