The “Goliath” in the campaign to increase taxes $1.2 billion in Alabama was not the “big timber companies and landowners.” “Goliath” was a mammoth pro-tax campaign that included the power of the governor’s office, the state attorney general, state superintendent of education, most constitutional officers, the majority of the Legislature, an almost unanimous onslaught of daily newspaper editorials, an army of AEA union members, state universities, and more than 100 associations and corporations equipped with multi-million dollar financing that more than doubled funding of the opposition.The “David” was the Alabama taxpayer. And on Sept. 9, “David” won.The pro-tax forces left no stone unturned in their campaign. The governor even used a recorded pro-tax message when telephone callers to the state were put on hold. Commercials included former Auburn University football coach Pat Dye and the University of Alabama’s Gene Stallings. Alabama included a pro-tax message in its football ticket orders. Major universities extolled “Vote Yes” on their web sites and held rallies on their campuses, most prohibiting “Vote No” participation. Even American Idol television star Ruben Studdard of Birmingham gave a free concert to drum up support for the tax package. Tax proponents coerced church groups and major religious denominations to support the tax increase on “moral” grounds. They organized church communications and urged pastors to preach in support of the tax plan.Public schools held faculty meetings to promote the tax among themselves and to organize a campaign to reach parents. Children were used as couriers to carry home the “Vote Yes” message. State employees held pro-tax meetings during regular business hours. Jobs were threatened.Public schools were relentlessly used to promote the tax even though title 17-1-7 of the Code of Alabama restricts the use of public funds and the role of public officials on campaigns: “No person shall attempt to use his or her official authority or position for the purpose of influencing the vote or political action of any person. Any person who violates this subsection shall be guilty of a felony (punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and up to two years in prison.) …No person in the employment of the state of Alabama, a county, or a city shall use any state, county or city funds property or time for any political activities.”Nonetheless, state Atty. Gen. Bill Pryor issued an opinion which allowed the misuse of public facilities and tax dollars to continue.The pro-tax forces led by the Partnership for Progress had campaign offices in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and Mobile. It had a paid staff of 22. The opposition led by the Tax Accountability Coalition, had a paid staff of three who operated out of a four-room office in Montgomery. They relied on grassroots volunteers, many of them from the Alabama Farmers Federation. The final outcome was not the result of misrepresentation or false advertising on the part of tax opponents. It was not the result of Alabamians being “too…stupid to know better.” It was the result of an electorate that understood the flaws of a plan that included little accountability and a tax increase that was twice the so-called deficit and eight times the previous largest tax increase in Alabama history.Thanks to our state constitution, which is often criticized by liberal universities and the media, a vote of the people is required on any increase in property tax or state income tax. In the end, the vote Sept. 9 was pure Democracy at its very best. Alabama voters knew exactly what the question was. And their answer–“No.”