It's official: Lincoln Chafee is a candidate for governor.  If his press conference is any indication, it will be an interesting campaign.  Unlike many candidates, who often avoid getting into details, Chafee shared his plan to reduce the property tax burden.  Normally, this would be great.  Unfortunately, Linc wants to avoid raising one tax by increasing another.  

     Chafee's plan is to have a two-tiered sales tax, which would tax items that are currently exempt at a rate below the current 7% sales tax.  This would mean a tax on food, clothing, and over-the-counter medicine.  The scary part is that he's serious.  Here is his rationale for raising the sales tax:

In his own defense, Chafee said: “At least I am putting out my two-tiered sales-tax idea. I haven’t heard anybody else say how we are going to close this deficit.”

Asked what he would say to critics, he said, “It’s dishonest to say [you] are not raising taxes when you are.”

At least “you have choices on the sales tax. You can spend $50 on groceries, or you can spend $40.… You can buy the Cadillac or you can buy the Chevrolet. You have those choices. With the property tax, you don’t,” he argued. 


     Well Linc, if people can spend less on a car to avoid additional sales tax, then couldn't they also spend less on a house to avoid additional property taxes?  By the way, is it just me, or is the suggestion that people spend less on groceries a bit appalling?  If people are already avoiding brand names and buying the bare essentials, how much more can they cut out?  Spoken like someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 

     I could go on criticizing Lincoln Chafee, but the Providence journal had some great quotes that sum up my thoughts:


“A stunning move — we’ll tax the poor to fix our addiction to spending.… This is not a ‘new way forward,’ but the same old backwards path to buying union votes by raising taxes on regular Rhode Islanders.”  GOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione

“I think this is a further example of how Lincoln Chafee has lost touch with the average Rhode Islander, and quite frankly, with reality,”  Democratic Chairman Bill Lynch

“You can’t come out and run for governor and have your first words be, ‘Let’s raise taxes.’ Is this guy a nitwit?”  Tea Party member Doreen Costa


     By the way, to answer Ms. Costa's question: Yes, he is.