Just a local issue, but a good proxy of how it usually works: The local transit authority is asking for a 0.03 % increase of the local sales tax to fund its operations and threatens voters with significant cutbacks if not approved.
Turns out, they're asking for a 50% increase.
They don't say that. They'll leave the voter with the impression that this is just insignificant small change.
How is a voter to decide ? The official ballot title or the statements offered in favor as well as the one opposed to the increase do not give any hard facts to base a decision on.
Its just: Don't you like public transportation ?
Turns out that dividing the total number of riders last year with their budget, I arrived at just about $10* per fare. Amazing: at that price we might as well have seen a lower tax bill if every user would have called a taxi cab instead of waiting 30 minutes for a bus !
This link is to other commentators who have a lot more insight into this particular issue than I have.
That's the method : ask for just what looks like a teeny amount at a time, get people hooked on “free” services and then threaten them with cutbacks to get even more money the next time around.
*this represents the price tag before the proposed increase in taxes, of course.
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