Protesters to state Legislature: No new taxes

By Jim Tharpe

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

More than 100 protesters showed up on the steps of the state Capitol on Tuesday with a simple message for the lawmakers inside: No new taxes. Period.

The noon rally, sponsored by the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity, was the counterpoint to a Capitol rally the day before by health professionals who showed up in equal numbers to back a dollar-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax as a way to save lives and ease the state's budget woes.

“The taxpayers have said, ‘We’ve had it,”’ Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, told the crowd. Some crowd members held aloft “Fair Tax” signs. One woman held a handmade sign that read: “Give Me Liberty, Not Debt.”

Norquist called on lawmakers to cut spending to resolve an estimated $1 billion hole in the state budget, and he urged more transparency in state spending so citizens can make sense of where their tax dollars are going.

“They’re trying to ignore us in Washington,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll be able to ignore us in Atlanta.”

Tuesday's rally took place amid growing talk inside the Capitol about various ways to increase state revenues. The proposals ranged from abolishing the state sales tax holiday to a plan that would permit state departments to raise user fees without General Assembly approval. Currently, many of the more than 1,700 state user and licensing fees are set by lawmakers.

House leaders in the next few days are expected to file legislation hiking a host of user fees in hopes of raising about $100 million more next year.

Norquist accused politicians of failing to lead, but he offered no specific ideas about where government spending should be curbed.

“They don’t want to govern,” he said. “They don’t want to make decisions. They don’t want to prioritize.”

Politicians running for office used the rally as a campaign backdrop, tossing out political red meat to potential voters. The rally was heavily covered by print and broadcast reporters.

State Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger), who is running for the 9^th Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, blasted federal spending, which he said has run amok.

“Enough is enough,” Graves said. “The top is getting a bailout. The bottom is getting a handout. And we in the middle are getting the bill.”

Virginia Galloway, state director of Americans for Prosperity, said she is not a smoker, but assailed the idea of the cigarette tax increase.

“What are they going to go after next?” she asked, adding that a tax on soft drinks might not be far behind.

Staff writer James Salzer contributed to this article.