Once again, the Tucson City Council has refused to eliminate waste and cut back on non-essential services such as the Urban Fishing Program, or the subsidized yoga programs, or free rent to their downtown friends.  Their list of pet projects is never-ending.  Again, they're threatening to cut core services if we don't give them more money to throw away on local pork.  And again, they're using the same old scare tactics to pressure voters into raising taxes.

This Council would rather jeopardize the public’s safety than cut non-essential expenses out of fear of losing votes. We all know that there are millions of dollars of waste in our City budget.  It's time to cut waste.

Proponents are deceptively calling Prop 400 a "pro-community tax” when the truth is the exact opposite. This is a regressive tax. It hurts the poor and the elderly.  It hurts businesses and employees.  It hurts families.  Jobs are hard to come by in this economy.  People are making less money than they did just a few short years ago. We can't take more out of their pockets now just to sustain this bloated city government.

Increasing disposable income for lower and middle class families is the cornerstone of our public policy. It will be virtually impossible for the Tucson economy to achieve sustainable growth if these groups do not have more to save, invest and spend. Cutting the sales tax increases disposable income; raising it takes it away.

When sales tax hikes occur, small businesses lose, the poor lose, the elderly lose, all of us lose. This tax hike proposal is based on lies. The Council is trying to manipulate the taxpayers by saying that they will have to cut public safety jobs when what we really need to do is cut the waste.

If we keep allowing the Tucson City Council to cover the deficits caused by wasteful spending on the backs of the taxpayers, they will never be forced to make the real changes we need. That's why I’m voting NO on 400. But it's not enough to vote against this regressive tax.  We need your help.

If you are a business owner, if you have a job, if you shop in the City of Tucson —we need your help!  A small contribution today will save you money in the future. We have to stop the lies. We have to stop the spending. We have to stop the waste.