XPost: austin.general, alt.politics.republicans, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   The failure of a property tax ballot initiative in Austin, Texas,   
   earlier this month proves that affordability and low taxes can be a   
   winning issue for conservatives in even the deepest blue enclaves.   
      
   In the presidential election last year, Kamala Harris won Austin’s   
   Travis County 68.7 percent to 29.4 percent. The city is home to the   
   flagship institution of the University of Texas System. The mayor is a   
   Democrat, and so is every single member of the city council – except for   
   Mike Siegel, who is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of   
   America. It is by all accounts a liberal stronghold in a red state.   
      
   Despite that, however, 63 percent of Austin voters cast their ballots   
   against a Democrat-backed effort to increase property taxes on November   
   4. The proposal would have hiked property taxes an astonishing 20   
   percent, siphoning an extra $110 million away from taxpayers annually.   
      
   Mayor Kirk Watson and the rest of the city council campaigned for the   
   increase, claiming that it was necessary to maintain city services. But   
   after a decade of mounting tax pressure, even progressive voters appear   
   to have reached their limit. The city notably passed a 20 percent   
   property tax increase just five years ago – yet is still facing a $33   
   million deficit going into 2026.   
      
   For many homeowners, the math no longer checked out. Annual city taxes   
   now average more than $2,000, up from less than $1,000 a decade ago, and   
   school-district taxes add roughly $4,000 more. The pressure made voters   
   skeptical that the city had exhausted other options before seeking   
   another increase.   
      
   Following high-profile Democrat victories in Virginia and New Jersey   
   earlier this month, liberal pundits and the corporate media were quick   
   to cite the “affordability” issue and claim that Democrats had the upper   
   hand on it. But that narrative has conveniently avoided what happened in   
   places like Austin – and elsewhere in Texas, where Republicans won up   
   and down the ballot on overwhelmingly popular tax cut measures.   
      
   As The Wall Street Journal noted, in the Lone Star State, “voters   
   rejected 25 of at least 44 proposals to raise school-district taxes” – a   
   marked shift from 2006 to 2019, when voters approved 80 percent of such   
   tax hikes. Additionally, “voters passed the three antitax constitutional   
   amendments… no new taxes on estates, no new taxes on securities   
   transactions, and no state tax on realized or unrealized capital gains.”   
      
   Those amendments not only passed, but passed with overwhelming support.   
   The prohibition on taxing unrealized capital gains passed with 65.6   
   percent of the vote. The prohibition on new taxes on estates (the “death   
   tax”) passed with 72.2 percent support. It also won majority support in   
   every Texas county except, ironically, Travis, where it narrowly failed   
   49 percent to 51 percent.   
      
   As AMAC Newsline reported before the election, the three major tax   
   amendments passed the Texas Legislature earlier this year with solid   
   Democrat support, reflecting rare bipartisan agreement that lower taxes   
   are good for everyone. The success of the amendments in Texas could now   
   spread elsewhere, as Democrats who oppose tax cuts find themselves at   
   odds with a vast majority of the voting public.   
      
   The Texas tax cut model could accordingly become a powerful tool for   
   Republicans nationwide as they make the case to voters about why the GOP   
   is better suited to deliver a more affordable American Dream. As cities   
   in states like California continue to raise taxes and drive the cost of   
   living even higher, Republicans are leading successful efforts to reduce   
   tax burdens and put more money back in the pockets of working families.   
      
   Property taxes in particular are a hot button issue. Property taxes   
   function as a levy on “paper gains,” as they are calculated using   
   estimated home values long without an owner realizing any profit from   
   selling. The dynamic is the same as taxing unrealized capital gains on   
   investment portfolios – something most Americans agree is wrong.   
      
   Younger buyers are particularly hard hit by property taxes, which add   
   thousands to the annual cost of homeownership at a time when home prices   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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