The Idaho Republican Party, in its platform, is really letting its true light shine. Dorothy Moon, in her recent column, proposed eliminating the property tax and replacing the lost revenue by increasing the sales tax to 10 percent. That begs the question: is that a good idea?

That’s a trick question. Of course, it’s a bad idea. Unless you are wealthy. If you are wealthy, and own an expensive home, and have expansive property holdings, it’s a good idea — a really, really good idea.

If you are like most of us, a modest home, no other property, living paycheck to paycheck, it’s a bad idea — really, really bad idea.

There is a basic political reality when we talk about taxes. If you want to know who will benefit from a piece of tax legislation, just ask yourself: Who proposed the legislation? If a Republican proposed it, it will, by definition, benefit rich folks. It’s that simple.

It is a basic law of physics that Republicans hate taxes. Well, here’s some news. Everybody hates taxes. But some people understand that taxes are a necessary evil. Other folks just think they are evil.

Some of us understand that freedom is not free — it costs both in terms of human lives and tax dollars.

The following might sound simplistic, and it is. But I will bore you with it anyway. You might be wondering why a sales tax is more egregious than a property tax. The answer is that a sales tax is extremely regressive. The less affluent and middle class spend a larger portion of their income on taxed items — food, clothing, transportation. Virtually all of their income is subject to sales tax.

On the other hand, wealthy individuals spend far less of their income on taxable items. More of their income goes into the bank or into their investment portfolio. The elimination of the property tax gives the wealthy a huge windfall cut — tens of thousands of dollars, or more.

The less affluent end up paying more for the essentials while the wealthy get a free ride. If you are J.R. Simplot, Micron or Melalucca, you would simply love to pay no property taxes. Conversely, if you are not one of the rich folks, let’s say your family makes less than $100,000 a year, you should detest the idea of an increased sales tax.

I have never understood, and I will never understand, why Idahoans continually vote for a party that has only the best interest of the wealthy in their hearts. It makes no sense.

Of course, the Republican Party does a magnificent job of selling the fringe issues to us: The Democrats are murdering unborn babies; sometimes they even kill babies after they are born. The Democrats are gonna take away your guns. The Democrats are gonna change your son into your daughter without your permission. The Democrats are flooding the nation with illegal aliens who are gonna take your job milking cows or cleaning motel rooms. The whole Democrat Party is a bunch of communists. And the ones who aren’t communists are Muslims. Be afraid. Be very afraid!

Under Moon’s proposal, the rich get richer, while the rest of us get poorer. The school teacher, the mechanic, the cashier, the young married couple, the senior citizen on a fixed income, find it harder and harder to make ends meet.

The Idaho Republican Party’s platform calls for eliminating the property tax and “replacing it with other revenue streams.” And in case you haven’t been paying attention,= you are the other “revenue stream.”

Supporters of eliminating property taxes say it would help homeowners. It might. Someone making $100,000 with a modest $250,000 home might save $1,500 annually. If that family spends 37% of their income on taxable items, that $1,500 savings disappears. If that family spends 50% of their income on taxable items, the “tax cut” has cost them $500.

Someone with a $3 million home would save as much as $25,000. Owners of shopping centers, office buildings, warehouses, luxury developments, and large investment portfolios of real estate would receive huge tax reductions...and none of that savings would be subject to the additional sales tax.

Every Idaho family would face higher prices every time they go to the store. That is not a tax cut. That is a tax shift and, in many cases, maybe in most cases, a tax increase — on those who can least afford to pay it.

Idaho has always prided itself on being a state where hard work is rewarded. But working people don’t benefit when taxes are shifted onto the things they have to buy every day. Raising the sales tax means every trip to the store becomes more expensive. For families already struggling with housing costs, insurance, medical bills and inflation, another increase in the sales tax would hit them hard — every day, every month, year after year.

The biggest losers would be those who rent homes or apartments. They get absolutely no property tax reduction, yet they would pay the extra 4% sales tax.

Good tax policy should reflect the ability to pay. It should not shift the burden from those who own the most valuable property onto those who spend nearly every dollar they earn just making ends meet.

If Idaho’s Republican Legislature implements this tax shift, the average Idahoan will be the loser while the rich folks will be the winners. Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that the Republican Party has the well-being of the “little people” in its heart — or in its policy.

The transfer of the tax burden from the wealthy to the rest of us would be one more step in the ultimate goal of the Republican Party: To transform the United States into a lords and serfs society. And as much as I hate to say it, 99% of us don’t have the bank account required to be a lord.

Remember: Knowledge does not necessarily make one wise, but ignorance absolutely makes one ignorant.