Jerry Brown Doesn’t Like Being Number Three in the Nation—Plans to Raise Taxes

posted at 12:43 pm on January 6, 2012 by Rovin

According to the Sacramento Bee, Jerry Brown had to scramble on Thursday to get ahead of his message of raising taxes on Californians when his budget was inadvertently posted on his Department of Finance website.  The Governor’s $92.6 billion spending plan also comes with a threat of further cuts if Californians don’t approve his plan to raise taxes ever higher.  The nonpartisan Tax Foundation ranks California as the third highest tax rate on individual incomes.  But Jerry’s not happy with this ranking and is proposing another 6.9 billion in increases:

Gov. Jerry Brown released a new budget Thursday that would slash health and welfare programs for the poor and ask voters to pump nearly $5 billion back into education through higher taxes.

Brown framed his $92.6 billion spending plan as an either-or decision dependent on his $6.9 billion initiative to increase taxes on sales and the state’s high earners.

If voters approve his taxes, he suggested, the state could begin paying down years of debt and reverse recession-era cuts to K-12 schools, which have stuffed more students into classrooms and shortened the instructional calendar to save funds.

“With the tax program, we will eliminate the budget deficit finally, after years of kicking the can down the road,” Brown said.

Let’s get one fact straight out of the Golden Gate; the California State Legislature, (controlled by Democrats all the way back to Willie Brown—15 years as its Speaker—and beyond) has been OVERSPENDING AND KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD for decades.  To his credit,  Arnold Schwarzenegger attempted to make sweeping changes in the budget through the proposition process and every initiative, (including putting a cap state spending), was shot down by California’s two powerhouse political forces — public employee unions and Democrats who controlled the Legislature.

Instead of addressing one of the largest expenditures in the state budget—retirement liabilities for state employees, ($500 billion in 2010)—Brown says if his state tax increase proposal isn’t accepted, according to the Bee, he will recommend further cuts in education and welfare programs that will hardly affect projected budget deficits from 9.2 to 12.8 billion:

“Even without his higher taxes through 2016, Brown described an improving fiscal landscape as the recovering economy provides more tax dollars and the state maintains cuts to higher education, health care and social services.

The Department of Finance estimated that the state faces a $9.2 billion deficit over the next 18 months, substantially less than the $26 billion gap he described last January and smaller than the $12.8 billion gap the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office forecast in November.”

The latest polling on Governor Brown’s tax increase proposal comes from the California (PPIC), report showing up to 60% of Californians in favor, and the poll was touted across the Golden State by the media, but,  (AND IT‘S A BIG BUT),  the California Republican Party  is saying “look at the question that PPIC presented:

SACRAMENTO — California Republican Party Communications Director Mark Standriff today issued the following statement on the PPIC poll report on their question, “Governor Brown has proposed a plan to help close the state’s budget deficit over the next five years. The plan, which would be put before voters in November, would raise $7 billion annually through a temporary four-year half cent sales tax increase and a temporary five year income tax increase on those earning more than $250,000. Do you favor or oppose this proposal?“:

“Yesterday, a poll on Gov. Brown’s latest tax hike measure proposal was released purporting to show public support for higher taxes. Incredibly, the poll question was framed in terms of deficit reduction, even though real world experience shows that there’s no correlation between raising taxes and reducing the deficit, or else California certainly would have no deficit problems by now.

“The results would have been dramatically different if the PPIC had asked: ‘Despite having the highest tax and regulatory burden in country, Jerry Brown would like to raise your taxes to pay for an expansion of government. Do you favor or oppose this proposal?’ Californians have turned down the last seven attempts to force budget fixes on the backs of taxpayers, and they will certainly see through manipulated polling to turn down another ill-advised tax hike by Jerry Brown.”  *Emphasis mine   (link)

On a final note, (for now), during my search of the news media who reported this PPIC poll, I found it curious that where comments were allowed, a huge percentage of commenters were STRONGLY NOT IN FAVOR OF THE TAX HIKE.  Here’s just a few examples:

#1) California has the 3rd highest individual tax rate in the US and the 8th highest corporate rate. Small businesses are usually taxed at the individual tax rate in California. In a state that ranks in the top ranks of teacher salaries and near the bottom in achievement and which attracts not only illegals but people from other states for the welfare benefits, we are slipping into bankruptcy soon. For the producers it appears time to move to greener pastures.

#2) Of course that 60 % is in favor of it…its not their money…if the top 18 percent, who pay 85% of the states taxes already, continue to get targeted, it wont be long until they leave the state for greener pastures…I would, if I were them.

#3) Raising taxes does not raise revenue!

204 companies left California in 2011 citing high taxation.  According to the Orange County Register 33 companies from their region went to Texas, 18 Arizona, 15 Colorado, 13 Nevada and 13 to Utah, all citing taxes as part of their reason for moving.

California will receive $0.00 in revenue from those 204 companies.

Pay Pal Inc. went to Malaysia.  Intel expanded in Ireland, Vietnam and china.  Cisco Systems spent 41 million in Russia.

And here’s the “money quote” from a local publication:

The governor’s tax plan would generate $7 billion dollars a year, for five years, then the taxes go away. The legislative analyst projects the state’s budget deficit next year will be $13 billion.

Got that?  It’s only for five years and then the tax increase goes away.  Given the history of the Liberal Democratic Controlled Legislature—don’t bet on it.

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