"The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives has taken a big step toward doing what Democrats could not do in over 120 consecutive years in power – enacting a virtual state income tax. For many years, Texas Republicans advocated fiscal restraint, and their opposition to a state income tax was axiomatic. Those days are long over, and Speaker Tom Craddick (R-Midland) is to blame.

"This session [2005], the House Leadership led by Speaker Craddick is dumping billions of new wasteful spending into the state budget. Fiscal restraint is off the table. What is on the table is a new way to take money from the people, which will constitute a net tax increase for most Texans."

Obviously, the Young Conservatives' assessment of Betty's tax bill is different from what she told her constituents back at home.  And they were not alone in their criticism.  Consider what the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative thinktank in Austin, had to say:

"Unfortunately, House members who put their reputation on the line to vote for this enormous tax bill will soon realize what became obvious almost immediately: no one will remember the property tax cut, only the vote to tax small business through a hidden income tax and increase the sales tax to the highest rate in the nation.

They didn't stop there:

"One has to admit that House Bill 3, which passed 78-70, is indeed historic. The Republican-led Texas House of Representatives accomplished something Democrats have wanted to do for decades, but could not. The state of Texas now has an income tax. Defenders of the bill said it was not an income tax, but a payroll tax, or a “Reformed Franchise Tax,” then it became a “compensation tax.” Now we have a “basket” of taxes from which business owners may choose. One thing is certain, the new scheme is sure to make basket cases out of Texans trying to do their taxes next year."

And the one-third property tax cut Betty used to justify the increase in business taxes?  Unfortunately, our property taxes are not going to go down nearly that much.

On August 16, 2007, The Monitor reported that Betty had listed "reducing school property tax for homeowners by one-third" as an accomplishment of the last legislative session.

Eight days later, Betty's legislative update (Aug. 24) said something entirely different:

"Because of the actions by the legislature to reduce the burden on taxpayers for financing the costs of education, I want to provide some clarity on how the tax rate is determined and how your property taxes will be changing. It is important to remember that everyone should see a reduction in Maintenance & Operations (M&O) rates, but not necessarily overall property tax bills due to the increase in property appraisals."

The truth comes out eventually.  The problem is that one cannot expect the truth--the whole truth--to originate from Betty Brown.