Democratic Texas Senate Nominee James Talarico was called out for his 2019 vote against a bill banning income taxes in Texas during an interview with CBS Texas, where he collapsed and lied about his stances.
CBS Texas’s Jack Fink noted that Republicans are attacking him for voting against banning the Texas state income tax as a state legislator in 2019, asking, “Why did you do that?”
When Talarico tried to claim that he voted against it because it was “already banned,” Fink fired back, reminding him, “This would have banned it permanently.”
The proposal in question, which raised the bar by requiring a two-thirds majority in both legislative chambers to impose an income tax, was passed by the Texas House and Senate and then approved by voters on the November 2019 ballot.
Talarico then scrambled, giving a word-salad answer, calling the Republicans’ push to codify the existing legislation “duplicative government overreach at its worst,” further accusing Republicans of “trying to grandstand on an issue.” According to Talarico, lowering taxes is “government overreach” now.
He went on to claim that the legislation “did nothing” and that he has “always” been against income taxes, despite voting against ending income tax. “I’m against an income tax in Texas, always have been. But I’m going to be against any lawmaker in any party who’s just trying to do a stunt on the floor instead of solving problems.”
Hellbound and Down 