That wage tax was one of the first lies that Cruz told in his early negative ads.
The wage tax was certainly never proposed by Dewhurst. In fact, Dewhurst objected to that possibility. The WSJ reference that Cruz has used since last fall came from an Op-Ed, not a news article, that was political and aimed at defeating Dewhurst. http://www.tedcruz.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2005-05-10-WSJ-taxes.pdf
Back in 05/06, the Governor named an independent panel to rework our property and franchise taxes in Texas. In large part, this was due to requirementsnresulting from lawsuits against the State on education and Medicaid spending.
The panel suggested expanding the franchise (business) tax to businesses formerly exempted. The tax would be on gross receipts, whether or not the company made a profit. The Lt. Gov. objected to a tax that would penalize businesses for hiring and offering benefits, and in classic “Big Lie” style, his opponents claimed the exact opposite of what he said.
It continues to look like Dewhurst is Texan for Lowell Weicker. Also note the specific quote from Dewhurst about how any real Texan would gladly pay some obscene new tax if it meant better gummint edumakashun (indoctrination at PS 666) for the children, for the children. That's the kind of drivel which we used to get in Connecticut from that other spoiled denizen of financial privilege Lowell Weicker as he shifted the tax burden from his elitist pals to the kid flipping burgers at Mickey D's. Having participated in the destruction of Weicker in my Connecticut days, I am likely unalterably opposed to Dewhurst. If he is determined to be yet another GOP elitist squishball in the US Senate seeking to be a similar replacement to Kay Bailey Hutchison, a worthy colleague of Cornyn, a footstool of all things "progressive" especially when they burden those of modest means, then in the unfortunate event that he might actually be nominated, it would be better to elect a Democrat (a name brand "progressive") now and a decent Republican in 6 years.
Better yet, nominate and elect Ted Cruz in 2012, smash the GOP-E in the face, and skip the middleman. It is NOT enough for a candidate to call himself a Republican if he has no plans to be other than an elitist moneyed stooge.
Not unlike Romney's campaign, the Dewhurst supporters seem rather silent on any plan to generate GOP enthusiasm and sound public policy. Has Dewhurst a total vacancy in the creative public policy department? Or is it: Vote Dewhurst, he won't do much damage and he won't have ANYTHING to do with all those embarrassing right wing nuts? Isn't it time that the GOP-Elitist cretins had yet ANOTHER Senator? No it is not.
A tax on wages and salaries is NOT a gross receipts tax on business, nor a an increase in property taxes (state property tax???? or local?) or a "franchise tax on businesses." I suspect that the sound way for conservative public officials to deal with leftist pseudoconstitutional dreams and schemes to increase the already obscene funding levels of their gummint indoctrination centers and youth brain laundries as well as impertinent lawsuits and judicial decisions on such subjects is not to come up with new taxes but to remove any positive mention of gummint edumakashun from Texas' state constitution and state legislation and tell the courts to fry ice.
Be all that my daughter in Dallas hopes that Texas can be.