Say good night, Mamie

By Norman Leahy | Friday, November 4th, 2011 | Hampton Roads, Virginia

The Daily Press editorial page endorsed Republican Tom Harmon over Democratic incumbent Sen. Mamie Locke on Halloween. They did so in a way that was understated, but utterly devastating;

Ms. Locke, by her own admission, has not been particularly effective in championing the Hampton Roads caucus in Richmond.

It’s time to give someone else a chance.

I suggest there are other reasons to give Mr. Harmon that chance, namely, Sen. Locke’s keen desire to raise taxes on just about everything. For the children, of course:

…Sen. Mamie Locke’s…proposal to raise the state income tax by 3 percent for 3 years, among other things, to pay for funding the Standards of Quality that Virginia mandates for local school divisions. The divisions pay a lot more than they get from the state to meet the standards even in good years, but this year the bottom has dropped out of state aid and local tax revenues.

But her actual proposal would have reached far beyond the income tax:

(vii) extending the retail sales and use tax to digital downloads (musicals, publications, greeting cards, etc.) and computer services; (viii) presuming certain dealers to be soliciting or transacting business in the Commonwealth by an independent contractor, agent, or other representative if the dealer enters into an agreement with a resident of the Commonwealth under which the resident, for a commission or other consideration, refers potential customers to the dealer; and (ix) reinstating the state estate tax for persons dying between July 1, 2010, and July 1, 2013.

So he wanted to tax downloads, to the chagrin of portable device users everywhere, in addition to bringing back the death tax, but only for those unfortunate enough to die in the two year window established in the bill.

The measure was so noxious even Dick Saslaw and Chuck Colgan voted against it.

The Senate doesn’t need, and Virginia cannot afford, someone with Sen. Locke’s tax appetite.

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