With apologies to the folks at PolitiFact, my curiosity got the best of me this morning while perusing the letters to the editor section of today's Tampa Bay Times. That's where longtime Hillsborough County educator and League of Women Voters member Liana Fernandez Fox takes exception to a recent ad used by the Republican Party of Florida against Judithanne McLauchlan, a Democrat challenging Jeff Brandes in the Senate District 22 race.
Regular readers of this blog may recall that McLauchlan, a USFSP poli-sci professor making her first run for office, blasted that RPOF ad as "repulsive" because it suggested that she supported a state income tax in Florida, a third-rail policy issue that could be deadly in a campaign.
However, when contacted, the Jeff Brandes people indicated (slyly, but accurately) that they were not saying that Judithanne herself supported a state income tax, but that she was an active member of a group (the League of Women Voters) that has supported such a tax. Slick as all heck, and rather misleading.
But Ms. Fox, in her letter, cites the league's position on finance and taxation and concludes, "There is absolutely no mention of supporting a state income tax."
Now before I get too deep into this, let's stipulate again once and for all that Judithanne McLauchlan has never supported such a plan, so the inference that she has is bogus.
But Liana's letter prompted me to find out whether the LWV does support a state income tax, which by my count is in effect in at least 40 other states.
According to a report called "Study and Action 2011:2013," a guide to LWV of Florida's public policy positions that came out last year, you do see this on page 21 under the title "Personal Income Tax":
The LWVF supports the adoption of a state personal income tax as one part of a balanced and equitable tax structure. (1991)
Perhaps the LWV disavows this now, but hey, it's in there.
In other news...
Have Pinellas County Republicans turned against Duke Energy and the Public Service Commission? It sure sounded like that at a press conference held by Jack Latvala and other officials at a Sonny's Bar-B-Q joint.
Are you familiar with ALEC, the conservative organization that draws up model legislation for GOP lawmakers to bring to the states (those "laboratories of democracy")? Well, the wheels appear to be falling off for ALEC after Google CEO Eric Schmidt called them "liars" regarding their stance on climate change.
Although Eric Holder announced he is stepping down as attorney general sometime soon, Kathy Castor wrote to him yesterday to ask that he investigate Florida's harsh laws that make it extremely hard for men and women who have served their prison sentences from getting the opportunity to vote.
And the Greenlight Pinellas folks brought in a transit official from Washington D.C. earlier this week to extol the virtues of a light-rail system.
