…because Nelson’s comments about the Louisiana state income tax in a recent podcast appearance with Jeremy Alford were, frankly, pretty deflating.

Nelson, a state legislator who ran a quixotic campaign for governor promising to do away with the state income tax, a massive anvil around the neck of the state’s economy as Louisiana attempts to compete with income tax-free neighbors like Texas, Florida and Tennessee, is now Louisiana’s Revenue Secretary.

So you’d say it was Nelson’s job to run point on eliminating the income tax. After all, Louisiana’s new governor Jeff Landry has similarly said he wants to get rid of the income tax.

But this is not the level of enthusiasm and determination we’re looking for.

Louisiana Revenue Secretary Richard Nelson said Republican Gov. Jeff Landry wants to set the stage beginning in 2025 for eventually eliminating the state’s income tax, but it won’t happen in one dramatic step if at all.

Nelson, whose signature campaign issue while running for governor last year was abolishing the state income tax, discussed Landry’s strategy on a podcast episode of LaPolitics Report that was posted Monday.

Nelson eventually dropped out of the race and was appointed by Landry as the governor’s tax man.

“We’re discussing, you know, how much of the elephant can we bite off in one chew,” Nelson told LaPolitics journalist Jeremy Alford on the podcast. “We’re definitely looking at it. We’re discussing. We’re trying to figure out the possible methods to get there.”

Since both Nelson and Landry both campaigned on eliminating the income tax, many are looking toward the 2025 fiscal Legislative Session to see how they might begin to implement the strategy.

“To just say we’re going to get rid of the income tax right off the bat next year is going to be a difficult sale in all practicality,” Nelson said. “I think that’s a good end goal to have, saying, ‘How do we put all the pieces in place so it’s a possibility’?”

Asked by Alford about the possibility that supporters of the income tax elimination are becoming “less bullish” on the concept, Nelson said, “I think it’s a good goal and a good thing to have. I think depending on the will of the Legislature and how far the governor wants to go, I’d say it’s something worth putting on the table and seeing how far we can go to make that decision. At the same time, it’s $4.5 billion [lost].”

“Even if you don’t get rid of the income tax there are significant improvements we can make to the tax code to make Louisiana more competitive,” he said.

Wrong answer.

Here’s the right answer…

“This administration was elected to eliminate the state income tax and make Louisiana’s economy competitive with its neighbors, and it will do just that starting with the fiscal session next year. Now, whether we can kill the income tax cold turkey or we’ll have to phase it out like Mississippi and Arkansas are doing, I can’t say just yet. What I can say is that we will make that push and those legislators who are recalcitrant about joining us will feel the full weight of the governor’s persuasive power.”

Also wrong is the phrasing. “$4.5 billion lost” is not how a conservative, even a conservative in charge of the Department of Revenue, should ever talk about taxpayer money expropriated by the state.

You wouldn’t be losing it. It isn’t yours. It belongs to the people you’re taking it from, and they’re allowing you to have it in exchange for the social goods and services you’ve promised in return.

And we know that the state of Louisiana does an abysmally horrible job of fulfilling that promise.

The job of the Landry administration, which to its credit it has appeared to take seriously given the seven-percent cut it has proposed in its 2025 fiscal-year budget, is to shrink the size of Louisiana’s government in order that the citizens can avoid having that $4.5 billion pilfered from them. We pay the highest state and local sales taxes in America, after all, not to mention the never-ending nibbles and pokes we endure from the state by way of various taxes and fees imposed on businesses and individuals alike.

The public made Jeff Landry governor in an effort to stop the rapacious government of this state from victimizing our people with runaway public spending and the regulation and redistribution it creates. As much as a third of that spending actually hurts our economy rather than helping it, and only now, since the last election, is there any reason to believe a significant amount of our political class understands that.

It’s up to Team Landry to monetize that understanding and create results.

Last year the Louisiana Freedom Caucus PAC polled the question of eliminating the state income tax. We opted to ask the question in a very simple way – we asked respondents if they were for killing it and cutting the state budget to “pay” for it.

What did the public think? The numbers would be pretty surprising to the status-quo crowd…

That isn’t what you’d call a “subtle” or “nuanced” result. It’s a sledgehammer across the forehead.

Get rid of the state income tax and stop making excuses. We’re damned tired of those.

And here’s just a little more information about that poll…

This isn’t a 70-30 issue with most of the public. It’s a 70-20 issue.

The only people who don’t want to get rid of the state income tax are white leftists like John Bel Edwards, Foster Campbell and Katie Bernhardt.

John Bel Edwards is gone from Louisiana politics. He ducked out of here with his tail between his legs, and now he’s with a law firm in Baton Rouge attempting to monetize the eight years of mismanagement of our economy. Katie Bernhardt is only the chair of the state Democrat Party until its next meeting, at which time she’ll be voted out – which is why she’s held off on calling that meeting.

And Foster Campbell is in the last term of the last political office he’ll ever hold.

There are almost no white leftists left in Louisiana politics. In the state senate there is Jay Luneau. He’s the only one. In the House it’s basically Aimee Freeman, Mandie Landry and Robby Carter.

That’s it.

Louisiana’s voters have run these people out of office about as thoroughly as it’s possible to do.

And everyone else in Louisiana seems pretty adamant about killing the state income tax.

is Richard Nelson a white leftist? Is he under the mistaken assumption that there are white leftists peppering the Louisiana legislature?

If not, then let’s not hear excuses. You have all year to build the case for killing the state income tax. Do that job and pass legislation getting rid of it next spring. Nothing else is acceptable.