The Unmitigated Gall!

That's the first thing I thought when I read this latest idiocy from the Texas House of Representatives:

The House version of Gov. Rick Perry's tax overhaul says that the secretary of state — an office that has little involvement in tax policy — will write a letter and ... send it out to taxpayers around Oct. 1. The letter would tell voters, er, taxpayers about the property-tax reductions that, presumably, the Legislature will have just passed.

Some lawmakers said this is simply a government-funded political advertisement a month before an election. "When we tax people and we charge them a tax, we don't ever send them a notice," said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston.

So let me get this straight. They are:

1. bragging about giving us a big property tax cut, when that "cut" will be wiped out in one to three years by the annual 10% increases in appraisal because they still refuse to lower the property appraisal caps (even though Republican Primary voters passed a ballot initiative supporting lowering said caps with approximately90% of the vote);
2. creating a brand new business tax that will hurt many small to medium-sized businesses, and will eventually be passed on to consumers (i.e., Texas taxpayers);
3. refusing to consider spending cuts as a way to cover property tax cuts, instead of raising the business tax (see above);

...and now they have the audacity to use our own money to proclaim their "good deeds." Oh, and it just happens to be scheduled for just in time for the November elections!

"It's for transparency, it's to make sure everyone is aware of what we have done," said Rep. Beverly Woolley, R-Houston, a proponent of sending a letter authored by the secretary of state.

Well, I have to give her credit. It's pretty transparent, all right.