It seems that each day there is a town, councilperson or senator that is doing about the only thing that they are skilled at doing: increasing our taxes. Elected officials, read our lips: You were elected to be creative, not to vote “yes” for every tax increase proposal that unimaginative officials put on the table. You were elected to lead, not follow.

Orangeburg County officials have never seen a tax they didn’t embrace. Even in tough economic times, they continue to dwell in la-la land with their spend-and-spend policies. Several months ago, I called upon them to voluntary reduce their county-paid incomes by 20 percent to show some respect for those who have lost their jobs, lost their homes or have had their hours cut. Those officials have ignored the plea; thus citizens have been ignored and disrespected.

The county continues to propose buying or “improving” more and more property for present and future industrial parks, even though some of the parks we have are totally empty. I suggest that our elected officials reign in or replace those who do not produce results with the property the county has already acquired. There should be a moratorium on additional industrial park spending.

However, past actions taken by Orangeburg County officials would indicate they see no problem in unnecessary spending. Tax, tax, tax, spend, spend, spend. A word of advice to elected officials and private citizens: This economic disaster is far from over, and everyone should “batten down the hatches” for another possible economic storm instead of discovering new ways to get into more debt.

I have adopted my own course of action for all incumbents. No matter how productive I view them, I am never going to vote for another incumbent. One exception will be Springfield government, because our small town has only a limited number of qualified candidates that have proven themselves.

On the state level, Sen. Hugh Leatherman has said, “I just want everybody to feel they’re being treated fairly.” Leatherman is the Florence Republican who chairs the Finance Committee. Wow! Really, after 28 years in office, he now wants everybody to feel they are being treated fairly. He should have had that interest since 1981.

Sen. Leatherman, the first thing on your agenda certainly should be to tax everyone fairly. You can begin to make amends by changing vehicle tax laws. It is despicable that anyone purchasing an automobile for $6,000 pays the same sales tax as someone purchasing a $106,000 automobile, motor home, boat or airplane. As almost everyone must know, the present vehicle sales tax is capped at $300! (Vehicle sales tax is 5 percent, and capped at $6,000 for each vehicle; thus, a $300 maximum S.C. sales tax on any one vehicle.) If anyone can afford a $106,000 vehicle, he or she can afford to pay the state of South Carolina $5,300 sales tax, not just $300. Sen. Leatherman, shame on you and all members of the South Carolina Senate and House for cheating taxpayers of legitimate tax dollars for so many decades.

Once again, I urge every voter to vote all incumbents out of office. We don’t need professional politicians who cater mostly to the interest of those companies and individuals who can afford high-paid lobbyists. By serving only one term, there is less chance for a power grab. We voters should force elected officials to cater to our personal interest by voting out all incumbents! Citizens, exercise your power at the voting booth.

— John W. Baxley, Springfield

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