July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
A bold statement that's just not true (04/07/08)
Editorial
Politicians love to speak in bold strokes.
And voters have learned to separate the bold strokes from the plain truth.
But, even so, it takes a certain amount of gall to say black is white when one knows better.
That's a very nice way of saying that a lie is still a lie, no matter how you shade it.
Last week, Hoosier voters were treated to some of the earliest campaign commercials in the gubernatorial race.
Perhaps because the Republicans have more money to spend on TV advertising, the first one we encountered was from incumbent Gov. Mitch Daniels.
We expected a sugar-coated account of the last four years. We expected a down-playing of issues like the Indiana Toll Road deal or Daylight Saving Time. What we didn't expect was an assertion that during the governor's first term there had been no new taxes.
Now, how the claim was phrased exactly got past us in the 30-second spot. It might have been no tax increases or no new types of taxes. But the implication was clear.
Trouble is, the commercial aired just two days after the Indiana sales tax increased from 6 percent to 7 percent.
(It's important to interject at this point that an increase from 6 percent to 7 percent is definitely not a 1 percent increase. It's a 1 percentage point increase. But in terms of its enormity, it is an increase of more than 16 percent.)
Boost taxes one day, then claim a couple of days later that taxes have not been increased.
That takes an appalling degree of cynicism.
The governor's defenders will argue that the sales tax increase was intended to bring about property tax relief.
But those defenders need to recall that the Indiana General Assembly, under the governor's leadership, did away with the inventory tax without providing local government an appropriate substitute, set in motion the scaling back of the Bowen property tax relief program, and fiddled while a court-ordered adjustment on how property is to be assessed became a burning issue.
The Daniels strategy seems to be based on beating up on local government and schools. It's less about leadership than about finger-pointing.
But would it be too much to ask that the truth become marginally involved now and then?
A boast of no tax increases the same week that the sales tax jumps more than 16 percent? Give us a break. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
And voters have learned to separate the bold strokes from the plain truth.
But, even so, it takes a certain amount of gall to say black is white when one knows better.
That's a very nice way of saying that a lie is still a lie, no matter how you shade it.
Last week, Hoosier voters were treated to some of the earliest campaign commercials in the gubernatorial race.
Perhaps because the Republicans have more money to spend on TV advertising, the first one we encountered was from incumbent Gov. Mitch Daniels.
We expected a sugar-coated account of the last four years. We expected a down-playing of issues like the Indiana Toll Road deal or Daylight Saving Time. What we didn't expect was an assertion that during the governor's first term there had been no new taxes.
Now, how the claim was phrased exactly got past us in the 30-second spot. It might have been no tax increases or no new types of taxes. But the implication was clear.
Trouble is, the commercial aired just two days after the Indiana sales tax increased from 6 percent to 7 percent.
(It's important to interject at this point that an increase from 6 percent to 7 percent is definitely not a 1 percent increase. It's a 1 percentage point increase. But in terms of its enormity, it is an increase of more than 16 percent.)
Boost taxes one day, then claim a couple of days later that taxes have not been increased.
That takes an appalling degree of cynicism.
The governor's defenders will argue that the sales tax increase was intended to bring about property tax relief.
But those defenders need to recall that the Indiana General Assembly, under the governor's leadership, did away with the inventory tax without providing local government an appropriate substitute, set in motion the scaling back of the Bowen property tax relief program, and fiddled while a court-ordered adjustment on how property is to be assessed became a burning issue.
The Daniels strategy seems to be based on beating up on local government and schools. It's less about leadership than about finger-pointing.
But would it be too much to ask that the truth become marginally involved now and then?
A boast of no tax increases the same week that the sales tax jumps more than 16 percent? Give us a break. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
Top Stories
9/11 NEVER FORGET Mobile Exhibit
Chartwells marketing
September 17, 2024 7:36 a.m.
Events
250 X 250 AD