“Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree!”– Senator Russell B. Long

As the world mourns former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, I think it’s amusing to note that a new tax scheme ultimately did in her political career.  Thatcher abolished the “domestic rates” plan, an assessment based on the rental value of property, and instituted the “community charge” plan, a per capita levy.  The average Briton loved government as long as “the rich” were paying for it.  Britain’s far-left rallied against this scheme, called it a “poll tax,” and people rioted in the streets.

In my last post, I covered how the RNC rules change changed the Republican National Convention  from a volunteer-centric  political process to an autocratic, candidate-focused pep rally.  The Romney campaign team thought they had the general election in the bag and wanted to insure that a primary challenge, in 2016, would fail.  Many convention delegates were so focused on unseating President Obama that they ignored the danger of changing the Republican Party Presidential nominating process forever.  A large number of movement conservatives voted against this at the convention but were foiled by a scripted call on the voice vote.

The grassroots supporters of the Republican Party were pushed aside at the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC).  Anticipating a Romney Presidency, Romney campaign attorney Ben Ginsberg put forth and lobbied for a permanent change, in the way RNC delegates were chosen, to guarantee that a (expected) President Romney wouldn’t face a primary challenge in 2016.   It was controversial.  Convention Chairman John Boehner read off of a script, called the rules change election by the script (rather than through the proper democratic process), and was booed by more than half the RNC delegates.