Abel Maldonado, Political Whore

California state senator, Abel Maldonado, is nothing but a political whore for caving in for his 30 pieces of silver and being the decisive vote that foisted $13,000,000,000 in tax hikes on the citizens the not-so Golden State of California.

Sen. Whore Maldonado is supposedly a Republican. But, along with former Republican senate leader Dave Codgill, gave the tax-and-spend Democrats cover and necessary votes to once again pass the buck of excessive spending that has been the hallmark of California for many years.

In return for Sen. Whore Maldonado being the decisive vote, for the 30 pieces of silver, there will be a vote, again, for an open primary, ban legislative pay increases in deficit years and eliminate the 12 cent hike is gasoline taxes.

Lets take the open primary.

If there is one thing that Democrats and Republicans mostly agree on it is to keep the primaries up to each party. If both want only registered party members to vote, fine. If one or both want to open up to non-party members, fine. But, "moderates" like Sen. Whore Maldonado want an open primary so that "moderates" will win in both Democrat and Republican primaries. Supposedly. The solution to that was passage of Proposition 11 that takes the drawing of legislative lines away from the legislature and to an independent commission. But, "moderates" like Sen. Whore Maldonado want to dilute the parties even further with the open primary. And, that is not good for democracy. Strong political parties produce strong ideas and compete for the votes of the people. If we want to elect technocrats, then get rid of the parties all together.

Banning legislative pay increases when the state is in a deficit is nothing but a political gimmick.

Eliminating the 12-cent gasoline tax hike is a good thing. But, all it ended up doing was changing around to adding 0.25% more to the state income tax.

What was allowed to go ahead to accomplish $13,000,000,000 in tax hikes are the following:

– Increases the state sales tax by 1 cent on the dollar, generating $5.8 billion through the next fiscal year.
– Raises the fee for licensing vehicles to 1.15 percent of market value, up from the current .65 percent. The move is projected to generate $1.5 billion. About $602 million of that would be dedicated to local law enforcement.
– Raises the state personal income tax rate by 0.25 percent, generating $3.7 billion in the next fiscal year. If the state receives more than expected from the federal government, the increase in the rate would be reduced to 0.125 percent.
– Reduces the amount taxpayers can claim on a dependent care credit to the federal level of $100 instead of $300, saving $1.4 billion.

So, to eliminate a real in-your-face tax, the 12-cent gasoline tax hike, there is the phantom taxes that taxpayers will be forced to pay over time.

Most egregious is the sales tax hike that, as noted, in Los Angeles county, will be 9.25%.

What Sen. Whore Maldonado has done is proven what happens when "moderates" get involved. Because they have little if any principles, they are always willing to cut a deal instead standing up against what they have to know is not a solution but passing the buck. Because Sen. Whore Maldonado did nothing to promote real budget and tax reform, more borrowing is being allowed that will only keep the problems going, and going, and going. Something like the big government Energizer bunny. And, more and more of those who can make California a great place will leave for other states. States that are growing. States that are not regulatory strangleholds. States that keep taxes low. States that reward those willing to take the risk of entrepreneurship. Because, thanks to those like Gov. Benedict Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Whore Maldonado, they are just speeding up the emigration.

I hope that Gov. Benedict Arnold, Sen. Whore Maldonado, Sen. Codgill and Sen. Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) are happy. And also the Republican assembly leader Mike Villines, Roger Niello and Anthony Adams are happy too.

A recall is a waste of time as the 2010 election looms. Gov. Benedict Arnold can not run for reelection. The career of those who caved is on borrowed time. If they are up for reelection, they will face primary challengers. And rightfully so.

When Republicans run as small, efficient government conservatives and then vote to maintain the status quo and depend on the federal government to bail the state of California out, they deserve a real butt-kicking.

So, Sen. Whore Maldonado, enjoy your victory. It will be your long-term downfall. And possibly a black-eye for the California Republican party.