Bill Sali Will Need To Explain This One

The Republican candidate for Idaho's 1st Congressional District has made a big deal about never voting for a tax increase. In today's special session of the Idaho House, though, he did just that for an estimated 25-30% of Idahoans when he voted for a 20% increase in the sales tax. Granted, this is coupled with a reduction in property taxes, so most people will see a small net decrease in their taxes (the big winners, though, will be vacation homeowners from out of state). Non-homeowners, however, will only see the increase in taxes -- despite some lawmakers who apparently live on other planets thinking that landlords will immediately reduce rents because of their reduced property taxes. I look forward to Mr. Sali explaining how this doesn't violate his "pledge" without sounding like Bill Clinton wondering what the definition of "is" is. I should write him and see what he has to say for himself.