Heckuva job, Termy: Californians balk at budget compromise
posted at 5:15 pm on April 29, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Hugh Hewitt highlights this Sacramento Bee poll showing that even Californians can get fed up with government spending and taxes. The legislature sent parts of its budget-crisis compromise to the voters in several ballot initiatives, and it appears California voters are prepared to send a message back to Sacramento. And it’s not, “You’ll be back”:
Voters strongly oppose five special election measures being sold as a budget-reform elixir for California’s burgeoning $40 billion deficit.
But voters in a new Field Poll overwhelmingly support a measure to bar legislators and state officers from getting a pay raise when there is a budget deficit.
And with heightened surliness, they’re telling Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature that they’re fed up with more government spending and higher taxes.
How badly have the Governator and the state legislature miscalculated public anger? Not one of these initiatives gets more than 40% — except the one that freezes wages in Sacramento:
Hugh says we can forget about Arlen Specter, because the new political message will be coming out of California — and both Schwarzenegger and Barack Obama had better pay attention:
The important lesson in the California melt-down and the voters reaction top it and rejection of a tax-hike solution set is that President Obama and the Congressional Democrats are following strategies very similar to those adopted by Sacramento. People like the president just as they liked Arnold when he was elected and then re-elected.
But they hate high taxes and lousy services, complicated government schemes to regulate their businesses and their lives, and especially deceitful, self-serving posturing by elected officials. Arnold is now about as highly esteemed as Gray Davis before him. Like Arnold, President Obama has started his time in office with high popularity, but that popularity won’t protect his electability when the public absorbs the fact that the taxes he is planning are even more staggering than those imposed in the Golden State, and the government growth he is engineering even more vast than that which has occured on the west coast.
Forget Arlen Specter. The most important political message of this season is going to come out of California in three weeks.
Proposition 13 set the stage for a national revival of tax-limitation politics and helped elect Ronald Reagan in 1980, two years later. If California mobilized to reject these measures by wide margins, it would put paid to the notion that the political center is in tax-and-spend policies, especially in the middle of an economic crisis. Hugh may well be right that a California revolt over decades of Democratic Party economic and tax policies could undermine their message nationwide — and not a moment too soon for the Golden State, which spent its way into bankruptcy years ago, even if Californians didn’t recognize it at the time.
Keep a close eye on these referendums. They may signal that the American voter has had enough of profligacy, waste, and irresponsibility in government, and that won’t be good news for Democrats in California or nationwide.
Blowback
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**Holds out drops of oil and looks into it**
Tea Parties … I see lots of Tea Parties in the future.
upinak on April 29, 2009 at 5:20 PM
You should hear the commercials for these ballot measures……..
……… they are running 24/7 on TV, Radio, and every other from of print media.
Same old line, “It’s for the Children”, “Save the Teachers”, supported by Fire and Police, etc, etc,…….
……… It’s not only “No”,
It’s “HELL NO!!!”……
………. But the Democrats have hope, there is always the “Illegal Alien” vote.
Seven Percent Solution on April 29, 2009 at 5:21 PM
Wait.
They elect liberals and get mad when they, er, spend and tax like liberals?
Ok.
No, wait.
They say stop or, or, they will re-elect them again.
Ok, got it.
Because they WILL re-elect a Dem majority state Senate and Assembly.
Oh and they’ll throw in a liberal Dem Governor too, b/c they’re REALLY pissed!
CA cannot be saved.
They are the national model.
artist on April 29, 2009 at 5:22 PM
More benefits for illegals!!!
Firebird on April 29, 2009 at 5:24 PM
If Schwarzenegger and the Teacher’s union are FOR it…I must vote against it.
originalpechanga on April 29, 2009 at 5:25 PM
I DONT WANTAH BOOSTAH I WANTAH TIURBOH MAN
blatantblue on April 29, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Don’t worry, Obama will save CA when he’s through with America:
Obama, on 100th Day, Says He Is ‘Remaking America’
Bloomberg
………………………………………..
**Remaking America**
artist on April 29, 2009 at 5:26 PM
I’ve been getting robocalls from the CTA reminding me to vote YES on 1a-f.
Like that’s gonna happen.
Like orignialpechanga, I generally vote the opposite of what CTA tells me to do.
Bob's Kid on April 29, 2009 at 5:27 PM
California is ungovernable. Expectations there are so out of touch with real life it cannot be fixed.
Break the state up and let true local government bring in fiscal discipline. That is the only thing that will bring sanity back to the Golden State. 51 or 52 stars on our flag.
petunia on April 29, 2009 at 5:28 PM
“You knew what I was when you picked me up.”
Asher on April 29, 2009 at 5:29 PM
What the rattlesnake Obama says when the chickens come home to roost.
petunia on April 29, 2009 at 5:32 PM
My tasseography reveals that the future is not looking bright for any politician who ignores their constituencies.
canditaylor68 on April 29, 2009 at 5:33 PM
1A is the linchpin. I’m concerned that it is only 9 point difference. Gotta be more. MUST. WORK. HARDER.
Howard Jarvis organization is the main powerhouse working to kill it aside from a local radio station, KFI.
kurtzz3 on April 29, 2009 at 5:37 PM
This must be very disturbing to liberals. How are they going to blame this on Bush?
Loxodonta on April 29, 2009 at 5:41 PM
How are all of those business killing state regulations working out for ya California?
DCJeff on April 29, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Time to drop the hammer on the stem cell initiative.
unclesmrgol on April 29, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Love Hugh. Listen to him every night. But he rarely has his finger on the actual pulse.
However, I would love for him to be right this time.
myrenovations on April 29, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Someone at the AP news is gonna lose their job
William Amos on April 29, 2009 at 5:44 PM
The only exception I take to Hugh’s analysis is his failure to mention public employee payrolls and benefits (especially pensions).
It may be that those huge rip-offs have finally sunk into the public consciousness.
The big spenders make a big mistake when they belittle the tea parties. Especially when they throw out the canard that we just don’t want to pay taxes. We don’t have a problem with paying for necessary government. It’s the gargantuan kind we have a problem with. And we certainly don’t intend to pay for hordes of public “servants” to get over $100k pension at age 48…collecting for more years than he worked!
Are we at the tipping point yet? If not, we’re close.
jeanneb on April 29, 2009 at 5:44 PM
I know of 5 voters under my roof that are seriously going to disappoint Arnold here.
Patrick S on April 29, 2009 at 5:44 PM
It is odd, I’ve lived in a number of states that the Democrats own. And invariably almost everyone hates their legislators/governor. And they don’t like them because they tax, regulate, and waste too much.
And then like clockwork they re-elect them basically every time.
18-1 on April 29, 2009 at 5:46 PM
Big, hairy deal. Until and unless public employee unions are outlawed, nothing will change in California or any other state, county, or city.
corona on April 29, 2009 at 5:46 PM
There are now pro-1* ads all over the media in SoCal and not a single con-1*. My god could common sense make a comeback?…nah they will all get passed.
jukin on April 29, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Liberalism is a mental illness.
lorien1973 on April 29, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Yea! Tea parties in California; LMAO! You know the ONLY kind of tea Californians know!
Cybergeezer on April 29, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Is there a clear leader to the opposition? Or, a group from which a leader could emerge?
Loxodonta on April 29, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Obambi has “a gift”; Why doesn’t he share it with Mexifornica?
Cybergeezer on April 29, 2009 at 5:51 PM
Send out reporter Roesgen. she can get them back on track
seven on April 29, 2009 at 5:57 PM
If only Ahnold was just a LITTLE more liberal, he would be popular.
stenwin77 on April 29, 2009 at 5:59 PM
I agree. There is still 2 weeks left for the massive pro-tax media campaign to convince the idiot voters here that:
– agreeing to increase our taxes $16B/yr for five years will close a $40B (and growing) ANNUAL deficit;
– that a phoney spending cap would be enforced;
– and that allowing Democrats to vote in the Republican primaries resolve our budget problems
It is this last element that is most pernicious. CA law requires a 2/3′s approval to pass the annual budget and to raise taxes. Only the “Alamo”-like stand taken annually by Republicans in the Assembly prevents Obama like spending. With open primaries, fiscal conservative Republicans will be replaced with Democrat-lite candidates and in the general election either tax and spend Democrats or Democrat-lite Republicans will get elected. In CA 98% of all incumbents get re-elected, so our fate would be sealed for more taxes forever.
If 1A passes, we are totally screwed.
in_awe on April 29, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Yep, looks like the polls are getting it right, since Field is notoriously liberal. Am hoping for across-the-board rejection of those lying skanks and their phony band-aids. They will already have work-arounds to those pieces of paper, or the devil is in the details. Voting yes will legitimize the spenders and that can’t happen.
The pro-1 ads are flatulent lies, but I get the satisfaction of knowing they subsidize right-wing talk radio, heh.
There was a funny scandal several years ago. Democrats were caught on open-mike figuring out how to make Californians feel the pain if they didn’t get their tax increase.
Feedie on April 29, 2009 at 6:03 PM
I am working with dozens of businesses planning their move away from California, and onto North Carolina.
They have no idea of how angry business owners are.
If they have less then 60% of their business base in California, it isn’t worth staying their as a business.
Workman’s comp., wages, housing, gov. controls, business taxes (state, county, city), insurance, and some you would never think of (police assessments, fire assessments, landscaping assessments).
NC just needs about another 18 months of Cal doing what they have been doing, and we will sitting pretty…unless our little foolish dem leaders out here screw it up.
right2bright on April 29, 2009 at 6:04 PM
In China there are 100 Million suffering from mental illness.
In China there are 100 Million more men than women.
In California everyone is suffering from mental illness.
In California all the men are gay.
I say we sell California to China. We’ll call it the “Settle The Debt Now” program.
Griz on April 29, 2009 at 6:04 PM
Tom McClintoc
Seven Percent Solution on April 29, 2009 at 6:07 PM
I wouldn’t put anything past my fellow Californians. During the budget crisis last year we still approved a half billion dollar bond to start building a high speed rail line. Not finish one, start one.
Our crackpot legislature couldn’t ram their full bloated budget down our throats last year, so what do they do? Call a special election and convince 51% of voters, many of whom have little to no financial stake as to how we’re supposed to pay for this, to roll back the meager cuts to the budget.
California really is a fascinating study. Within one generation we’ve managed to squander incredible industry and infrastructure, and turn one of the most vibrant economies in the world into an overtaxed, overregulated welfare state.
A little slice of what we deal with. I’m on the road most of the day for my job, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen five police cruisers, two fire rigs, and an ambulance dispatched to handle a two-car accident. Or a single CalTrans ditch-digging operation that somehow requires three trucks and a crew of nine.
Not really. The GOP is a laughable minority at this point, and all the people saying the right things are dismissed as crackpots and are only heard on conservative radio. We simply have too many residents, legal and illegal, on the state dole. We’re a little slice of Euro-socialism right here in the U.S., where a shrinking tax base is leeched off of in order to feed the state government beast.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Americans don’t like taxes? Geddafugoudahea!
ronsfi on April 29, 2009 at 6:11 PM
I have a conservative friend in California. She loves her state, but hates seeing what’s happening to it. She’s an extreme conservative, but those are rare.
Until Californians realize, that they need some of their own self sustaining industries in the state, and the realization, that they cannot be the be all, and end all to everyone, ie welfare, health care to illegals…..they will continue on their self destructive path.
I will pray though, that the majority sees the light, and votes the over spending, ilk out…and puts in some real conservatives, to see them back on a course of prosperity.
capejasmine on April 29, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Do not get over confident. All the money in this election is with these propositions. No one but the voters seem to be opposed. The commercials urging voters to vote YES on these turd sandwiches have just begun and they are all very deceptive. They are selling these propositions as if a YES vote will be a rebuke to the politicians and will finally put them in their place. Up is down, and in politics, if repeated enough times, it becomes true.
tommylotto on April 29, 2009 at 6:16 PM
Oh, and by the way, Prop. 13 is nothing but a scheme to hide the property tax burden from us. It’s a scam.
The whole point of the thing was to prevent long-time residents from getting taxed out of their homes. The longer you’ve been in your home the less of a rate your taxes are assessed at. Sounds great, but in order to feed the beast the burden is shifted to new homeowners.
Granted, I take full advantage of it because I live in a house that’s been family-owned for over forty years. However, if my wife and I bought a new house, the mortgage might be affordable but the property taxes, assessed at the full rate, would effectively price us out.
It needs to be repealed immediately. Once every single homeowner sees how much the real tax burden is, they will quickly wise to the idea that, if Sacramento is collecting 10% in income taxes, 9% in sales taxes, property taxes, and endless fees and hidden taxes, and still has a budget shortfall, then the state is collecting too much damned money.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 6:17 PM
That may be true in the metro areas like San Fran, Los Angeles, and San Diego…but go east of the I-5 and you’ll see nothing but conservatives. It’s a different state.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Jeanne B you are correct. A High School friend of mine who began a career as a California prison guard when she was 19 will retire next year at age 44 with 25 years in state service. She has been doing double shifts for many years now & will “retire” with an annual pension of around $80k per year for life plus full health care coverage.
The “funny” part is that we used to tease her about how she couldnt get into college. I make almost-but-not-quite double what she does now working in a white collar job,
but I will still be working for another 20 years or so while she is water-skiing with her kids and taking world cruises with her 47-year old retired prison guard husband. Their combined retirement income? About $160k per year for life.
California’s public safety employees have the fattest salary/benefit/pension deal of any public sector employees in the entire world. Thank Gray Davis for giving it to them back in 2002 and blame Arnold for not forcing a re-negotiation since then.
Public employee salaries/pensions/bennies are California’s (and most other states) ticking time bomb, set to go off any time now if the proper wires arent cut.
Mike D. on April 29, 2009 at 6:21 PM
The problem with too many Kalifornians is that they want to make themselves feel good (noble, pure, tolerant, progressive, fill in blank) by “helping” other people–be it with spending on health care, child care, education, environmental programs, free lunch. BUT, they always expect someone else to pay for it.
Kalifornia Kafir on April 29, 2009 at 6:25 PM
petunia on April 29, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Welcome to the State of San Bernadino :D
FontanaConservative on April 29, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Wait ’til the crap hits the fan with respect to retirement benefits for public employees in CA.
An ever expanding spectrum of workers is included in the category of public safety officers (police, fire, food inspectors, prison guards, etc.) that get “guaranteed BENEFIT” retirement coverage that pay annual retirement benefits of up to 90% of their highest pay year. (We see stories of firemen and police getting huge OT pay that gooses their total pay above $200K/yr. The unions fight against hiring more police and fire workers since OT is included in the base for calculating retirement benefits.)
So what we are facing in the coming years are tax payers paying for one workforce that actually shows up every day and an equivalent amount per worker for a retired workforce that is out on the links or fly fishing.
Anyone who pencils out these numbers and argues for fiscal restraint is labeled a right wing quack. This state is digging a hole so deep that the only way out will be for our fellow American taxpayers in the other 49 states to bail us out. Be sure to add that to the Obama spending plans!
in_awe on April 29, 2009 at 6:31 PM
The poll numbers are promising, but I’m a little concerned. So far I’ve only seen ads in support of Prop 1A etc on local (L.A.) tv stations. I hope the polls are an accurate reflection of the sentiments of the folks who actually turn out.
Y-not on April 29, 2009 at 6:36 PM
Don’t get overconfident. You’re ignoring the ACORN factor.
Christian Conservative on April 29, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Talk radio and the tea party organazation in the state are getting the word out. No one is fooled.
Theworldisnotenough on April 29, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Well, voting Democrat is, anyway.
More to the point, political socialism is a mental illness, one inflicted on us by our friends in the USSR.
Count to 10 on April 29, 2009 at 6:40 PM
I’ve heard these, on the local conservative radio station no less (560 KSFO if anyone finds themselves stranded out here). It’s one of those ridiculous “conversational” ads where two people are pretending to have an oddly repetitive and detailed discussion about this sh*t sandwich.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 6:42 PM
Thanks. But what is a Congressman doing leading opposition to massive state budgets? What about a Republican member of the legislature? What about local groups?
Loxodonta on April 29, 2009 at 6:43 PM
The vote will not matter because both the governor and legislature will continue to spend as though the taxpayers simply do not count.
JIMV on April 29, 2009 at 6:44 PM
You are very correct. This is happening at every level of government.
Theworldisnotenough on April 29, 2009 at 6:44 PM
If that’s the case, California will decline further into economic and political chaos. At some point, a fiscally responsible leader will emerge, or a demagogue.
Loxodonta on April 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM
Dude, you haven’t seen deceptive until you’ve seen “I play a judge on TV” Wapner telling people that stopping gerrymandering was “giving up your power.”
Count to 10 on April 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM
I live in CA. I am voting against all these measures. I thought about voting in favor of the spending cap, but changed my mind. I decided that I didn’t want two more years of 10% sales tax and a doubling of the car fees.
If all these fail, California will have an instant $8 billion hole in THIS YEAR’S budget. The Leg still has to come up with next year’s budget by July 1. What will happen is that the Democrats will instantly demand higher taxes on everything and more new taxes. The Republicans will not agree. We will have a standoff that will last months. In the end, California will be forced to cut at least 15% of its state budget, slashing programs and funding for just about everything.
I would advise those of you in other states to be prepared for an exodus of tax eaters leaving this state looking for greener pastures.
sdillard on April 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM
Screw California. They had a chance to pass reforms when Arnold first entered office, they voted with the Teachers Unions and the other big spending interest groups. They continue to vote the same big spending hacks into office and now Arnold has gone all liberal on us. They will NEVER learn. All they will do is move out of the state, and then destroy other states like Arizone/Colorado by voting in the same liberals.
The same liberals they disagree with on most Social Issues. The same liberals they don’t like being taxed by. The California voters have got some serious mental issues.
Daemonocracy on April 29, 2009 at 6:47 PM
As a lifelong resident of the state, I really get a kick out of Prop 1C “Lottery Modernization Act” which is nothing but stealing 5 billion in future lottery sales profits that will be directed to the general fund for the 2009-10 budget. The money from the lottery is supposed to be 100% for schools which are in a shortfall. Why would any teacher’s union vote for such a stupid deal?
Your reasoning for eliminating Prop 13 is seriously flawed. I’m guessing your are in your 30′s or younger. Given the track record for this state’s liberal government over the past thiry+ years, raising property taxes to give these idiots more money to waste on MORE social experiments make no sense at all. While you might be right that many home owners would react, the money would be already gone—spent—and all you’d get from these idiots is “too frickin’ bad”. When the cow/pig is already too fat, you stop feeding it.
Rovin on April 29, 2009 at 6:49 PM
in_awe on April 29, 2009 at 6:52 PM
I have seen nothing but the Obama-like happy-happy joy-joy pro-proposition ads. I’m hoping that the anti- campaign, if there is one to speak of, kicks in near the finish line, but, if these poll numbers hold and three of the five people who actually go out and vote reject these measures, then it will be a tremendous victory for the Party of Hell No in the Pewter State.
CK MacLeod on April 29, 2009 at 6:52 PM
I’ve lived in California since 1967. It used to be a grand state, but now it’s a swamp full of special interest groups sucking its lifeblood dry. The state Legislature has always been majority Democrat. That’s the way the districts are drawn. They often seem to care more about the rights of Illegals than they do their own citizens. But an illegal today produces future Democrats and that translates into power and with power they stay in office. Yes, I know that some Illegals are hard workers but many are not and many are criminals and they shouldn’t be here. Their culture doesn’t prize education and many will drop out of school and with poor communication and job skills will eventually be a burden on society. California’s policies are creating a 3rd world class system with parts of our cities unsafe to drive through. This is one reason California has the highest taxes in the nation. It is filled with inept politicians, a vast number of citizens and Illegals on the dole, and a great number of citizens employed in dysfunctional government jobs that should be eliminated. Producers are required to pay more and more each year to support those who don’t pay any or very little taxes. Companies and individuals are leaving CA in greater numbers, while those with their hands out move in.
Bluehanky on April 29, 2009 at 6:55 PM
The precise reason I left and moved my business(s) out of Ca.
Wait till the height of the boomers start to retire, this year and the next several years.
What citizens don’t realize is that you are so correct, they take an average of the last several months (18-24) and use that as their base, then give them a % of that. They can include overtime, and many have many months (sometime up to 12) of vacation that applies.
So a $50,000 employee can retire on $50,000 to $75,000, with all health benefits for life.
Multiply that by tens of thousands of retirees, then add to that hiring to replace, and you will have basically doubled the school salary budget, fireman budget, police budget, and all the social services budget…along with all the office personal.
All you have to do is a little math and you will see it is impossible to balance the state budget without massive taxes, and massive spending restraints.
And, remember that about 20% of our nations GNP is in CA. They consume about 20% of our total domestic consumption.
And businesses are leaving as fast as they can…
right2bright on April 29, 2009 at 6:58 PM
I’ve never been so eager to vote in an election, ever. I should just save the voting machine time and scrawl a big red NO across the ballot.
They don’t want to govern, but they want us to rescue them when it all goes kerplooey. This is for all the federal bailouts I didn’t get to vote NO on. At least I can do so on the state level.
We are making plans to leave this crackpot state. Texas, got any more room for some Cali refugees?
evergreen on April 29, 2009 at 7:04 PM
I just mailed my ballot.
Theworldisnotenough on April 29, 2009 at 7:06 PM
Can you just imagine what shape this state would be in if the people hadn’t (by the proposition), voted to make it a law that any tax increase by the legislature requires 2/3′s and not a simple majority? And they, (the liberal idiots) are trying to throw this law out. I have three words for Swartznegger, and every liberal democrat in this state, (including you Mz. Bitch Pelosi)
Stop Fu##ing Spending!
Rovin on April 29, 2009 at 7:06 PM
People here are finally fed up with the assholes in Sacramento. They’ve spent and spent. The highways are still falling apart. The schools suck. We’re told that prisoners will have to be let out ‘early’. Yet on Monday, a Republican bill to transfer the duties of the Waste Management Board to other agencies was defeated. It would have saved a couple million a year. It would have eliminated 5 politically appointed positions that pay $132,000 a year. This is where term-out and non-reelected politicians go. And there are at least another dozen of these so-called ‘advisory boards’. We’ll start treating the state budget as a “crisis” when the fucking political hacks start acting like it’s a “crisis”.
Hey Arnie! FUCK YOU PAL. And you can kiss off looking forward to being the next US Senator.
GarandFan on April 29, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Yeah well…I’ll believe it when I see it.
Frankly, I’m seriously considering going Galt for this election by not voting. I’m still pissed off about the joke-of-a mayoral election we had here in Los Angeles.
If the voters can’t even get worked up enough to show up and vote out a useless mayor like Villaraigosa, then what makes you think they’ll show up to vote down these propositions?
Not to mention that this will make the THIRD TIME we’ve been asked to vote in the last 6 months.
If they really wanted to save us taxpayers some cash, they’d do away with all of these stupid special elections.
The Ugly American on April 29, 2009 at 7:28 PM
The labor unions will pump millions and millions of dollars into the election cycle. They will get out their vote and like so many of these things in California they will most likely go down.
One thing the big government and big spenders have are much deeper pockets then we have. They continually out spend us over and over.
Jdripper on April 29, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Exactly
BallisticBob on April 29, 2009 at 7:44 PM
We moved away from So Cal three years ago after almost 35 years. We loved our friends, met diverse working people from many countries, enjoyed and ate their foods, relished the great weather, but ended up watching a once great Golden State become a runaway “third world country.”
Arnold tried fiscal conservatism in 2005 but gave up and threw in with the Democrats after he had his patootie handed to him in a special election.
Businesses have been fleeing Southern California for at least a decade or two…at least since Deukmejian’s term. The legislators thought they could tax businesses silly because of the “sunshine premium.” Most have long ago fled to Kentucky, No and So Carolina, even Nevada.
With so many on the California dole(so many “layabouts” as Michael Caine said recently about Britain), the state is so bottom heavy that the only real solution is to leave before almost all your income (or business profit) is “redistributed.”
Problem is, with Obama and his policies in the US, there may well be, as the song says: “nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, baby!”
marybel on April 29, 2009 at 7:44 PM
You ain’t lying there.
BallisticBob on April 29, 2009 at 7:48 PM
And to think that the next race for the Governor will consist of said asshat and the equaly asshat-ish Newsom.
Good times!
BallisticBob on April 29, 2009 at 7:54 PM
Good idea for a a proposition, but I think it doesn’t go quite far enough. I’d actually be in favor of a 5% pay cut every year there’s a yearly shortfall and/or the overall debt equals at least 7% of tax revenues for a given year.
NorthernCross on April 29, 2009 at 7:58 PM
I was just gonna say that would probably be the only reason why these go down to defeat.
Because as every CA voter knows, the unions will pretty much dictate our election results.
The Ugly American on April 29, 2009 at 8:01 PM
As much as I hate to say it, it’s not just liberals screwing over this state. The Republicans are just as bad. How many signed the No-New-Tax Pledge, only to give us the finger and support higher taxes? And the head of the Repub. party won’t even agree to spend party money opposing these Props because he an Ahnuld are “buddies.” We need to kick them all out and start over.
Anyone have any thoughts/insights on Meg Whitman?
SoCalBoiler on April 29, 2009 at 8:02 PM
Bluehanky on April 29, 2009 at 6:55 PM
Nicely stated…
Keemo on April 29, 2009 at 8:04 PM
Purdue grad?
Y-not on April 29, 2009 at 8:05 PM
Yep. 1999. How’d you know? (kidding, of course)
SoCalBoiler on April 29, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Mr. Y-not and I were there for 7 years (working), right after you left I guess.
Painter sure turned the men’s b-ball team around. I hope the football improves.
Y-not on April 29, 2009 at 8:13 PM
I’d love to believe that his is some kind of turning point, but we kept sending Democrat majorities back to the legislature perpetually in CA.
Perhaps Prop 11 will be a start of the solution, getting us some actual competitive districts, instead of the gerrymandered joke we have now.
But even with that, I still see a Governor Diane Feinstein in our future.
And I don’t ever see a balanced, or on time, budget in this state for at least another generation.
I’d love to be wrong.
Hawkins1701 on April 29, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Like hell it does. My huband and I bought our house for $250k and a rental for $225k and were already paying close to $10k a year in taxes which non property owners don’t pay.If it weren’t for the protection of Prop 13 we’d be paying double or triple that. Taxes don’t need to go up… housing prices need to come down and spending needs to be reduced…
Illegal immigration cost the state 11B a year or more… the free medical plan for kids is killing us because a lot of people stopped paying for it and took what the state offered for free. Democrats keep getting re-elected because LA and SF have more people than the middle of the state which is Republican. CA politicians just won’t stop spending and won’t reign in illegal immigration and I can’t wait to get out of here in less than 10 years…
CCRWM on April 29, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Nowhere did I suggest raising property taxes. I’m suggesting that every homeowner in the state get an equal taste of the burden, not just new homeowners. That’s what it’s going to take to get people here to wake up. Not that I’m jonesing for this to happen, but once retired people on fixed incomes start getting their free and clear properties seized over an unaffordable tax bill, you’re going to start seeing some healthy voter rage at Sacramento.
This is just as true on a national level. Our “progressive” tax system serves one purpose…to leech as much off the minority high earning population as possible in order to bribe the majority into keeping the incumbents in power.
You want fiscal responsibility in your governments? Tax everyone equally. Everyone gets a stake in bloated government, and everyone gets nice and pissed off when your legislators refuse to starve the beast. And while you’re at it, get rid of withholding so state and federal budgets will be forced to deal with economic reality.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 8:27 PM
The most important line of this poll shows how the media paint the Tea Party’s as partisan is going to backfire on them.
JeffinSac on April 29, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Check a voting district map of California, it’s not as blue as most of you seem to think. The Democraps gerrymandered it 30 years ago to give Democraps a unfair majority. Last year we repealed that gerrymandering. This special vote is going to shock the rest of the nation as the spending crap is overwhelmingly defeated.
doriangrey on April 29, 2009 at 8:38 PM
My point is that everyone needs to see the reality of what they pay. Shifting the burden from one segment to another allows Sacramento to hide the true cost of their bloated government, just as progressive tax rates shift the burden to the minority in order to keep the majority placated.
Repealing Prop. 13 would be hell, yes…but not for homeowners. Tax collection would plummet, and counties don’t have even close to the resources necessary to enforce the law or collect on that scale.
Imagine if everyone was taxed at the same percentage, and received a bill in the mail instead of having it leeched from their paycheck every two weeks. You would have marches on Sacramento. Legislators would have a healthy fear of their constituents again. They would be forced to reduce their budget because the flow of money into the Capitol would slow to a trickle. Sacramento is once again forced to base the state budget on economic reality, as opposed to some socialist utopia dreamed up by the state legislature.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 8:41 PM
How about Ireland, Australia, Colombia or Chile?
CCRWM on April 29, 2009 at 8:42 PM
What they need is a healthy fear for their lives.
doriangrey on April 29, 2009 at 8:42 PM
When you come right down to it, property taxes should be downright illegal anyway. There is nothing more repugnant and immoral to me than the idea of a government entity seizing a property owned free and clear by a private citizen in order to pay a tax. It creates a situation where no person may ever be truly secure on their property.
TheMightyMonarch on April 29, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Amen, our founding fathers would have hung the first person to suggest property taxes from the nearest Liberty Tree.
doriangrey on April 29, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Cheer up, California. At least you’re not as bad as Michigan. Not yet anyway.
Percy_Peabody on April 29, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Ed knows California, and I was 11 when Prop 13 passed. It was a wave. I honestly hope that this is another wave, because I see no way pass the institutionalized liberalism that is now California.
juanito on April 29, 2009 at 11:52 PM
I would like to point out the text that is written for each of these propositions with regards to Fiscal Impact.
This is a pretty bad attempt at addressing a $40 billion dollar deficit. 1A is a huge tax hike in the middle of a recession that will drive every business that hasn’t already left CA to leave. 1B is a bait and switch scheme that promises a few small reductions in school funding for 2yrs before hitting the state for billions thereafter. 1C is a scheme to borrow against the state lottery to kick the problem down the road with interest. 1D is a cut in children’s services programs, something I’m voting for, however most of my fellow citizens just can’t do without anything that has the word children in it. 1E is actually a $230/yr cut in mental health services. I’m planning on voting Yes on this one too. Of course 1F will pass by a landslide. I really don’t think that these results represent a rejection of tax and spend politics. It is a rejection higher taxes but not sufficiently cutting spending. But however the vote comes out, this is not a solution to a $40 billion dollar hole.
Dollayo on April 30, 2009 at 1:01 AM
Get to the choppah!!!
Django on April 30, 2009 at 2:45 AM
Absolutely! The media ignores that California had a Republican Governor and a majority in the Senate and Assembly. How’d the California GOP handle it? Well, the “moderates” and “conservatives” fought each other to the point that a couple of the po’d members made a deal to vote with the Dems and turned over power in one house to the opposition. Several high ranking GOP officials were caught looting the system.
In general they behaved just like the GOP in Washington did as the majority party; they stole money, took bribes, fought each other more than the opposition and generally f’d up the state and betrayed the people who put them in office.
Typical Republicans. The GOP needs to die.
She’s got business experience and some impressive endorsements but that’s about it. She’s a McCainiac and talks like it.
Another “compassionate conservative”; open borders, big spender.
Second she actually recommends a Yes on two of the sham initiatives on the ballot in May. Wouldn’t you know, she doesn’t have the nerve to recommend against more money for “mental health” and “children’s services”. We don’t need another Republican who can’t counter the “mean spirited” media meme against limited government.
Tom Campbell is a pro-choice, pro-gay Republican. He claims to be fiscally conservative but you can’t prove it by how the GOP congress handled budgets when he was in Washington.
I’d probably go with Poizner.
rcl on April 30, 2009 at 8:57 AM
NC is more than ready for this infusion of jobs.
Rockingham and Surry county to name a few.
NC was behind the curve (except for Raliegh,Charlotte area)
in educating and preparing the people for blue collar job losses associated with NAFTA and the normal progression of the work force to more information/technology based jobs.
Problem is our government,especially the Governor’s job,has
trended democratic and the increase in taxes is starting to show that.
We have also had a major infux of people from NY/NJ as well as California.
Problem is they are bringing there voting habits with them.
I tell them all the time,”Don’t vote the same idiots into office here that screwed up your state.”
Watching this state go blue for Obama,
it is obvious they just don’t get it.
Baxter Greene on April 30, 2009 at 9:01 AM
The California money tree is whithering and the Governor and legislature keep on plucking. The citizens of California should tell them to go pluck themselves.
SKYFOX on April 30, 2009 at 9:42 AM
For those of you who think there are no conservatives in CA, check out the recall of Ahnold that’s moving forward.
There were huge Tea Parties in this state. 1,000 came out in my town of only 35,000.
Prop 1A doesn’t really cap the budget- it’s a moving cap, based on what the corrupt government says they need. Another farce that will cost more taxpayer dollars just to be voted down.
As a side note, if Prop 13 were overturned I would imagine many would just torch their property and move to less oppressive states. It would be DISASTROUS and the retaliation would be overwhelming.
McClintock is a good representative, so is Hunter. We still have some good people but the corruption runs deep…
NTWR on April 30, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Ooooo, just found an hilarious anti-Prop 1A radio commercial. Good one!
Careful though, the sounds scared my 2 year old.
NTWR on April 30, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Be careful over there. The worst thing about transplanted Californians is that many of them carry the virus with them. Just as soon as they are transplanted, they quickly start turning their new home into California.
el rey on April 30, 2009 at 1:16 PM
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