California Budget Scam

Well, it appears that California Gov. Benedict Arnold Schwarzenegger has finally got his way and the taxpayers of the not so Golden State are going to get hosed once again.
A supposed budget "deal" has been worked out between the "Republican" governor and legislative leaders, re: Democrats.
Here are some of the low lights of this "deal"

• Vehicle license fees would nearly double, going from the current rate of 0.65% to 1.15% of the value of a car or truck. BTW, it was when former Gov. Gray Era Davis sought to raise the so-called car tax that it was the beginning of his end.
• The sales tax would increase by 1 cent, raising the rate in Los Angeles County to 9.75%. And that is the second highest in the United States only trailing Chicago and Crook, er Cook County in Illinois.
• Gasoline taxes would increase by 12 cents a gallon. And, keep in mind that this state is where the people pay most of the highest price of gasoline in the United States.
• And Californians would pay a new surcharge on their personal income taxes, amounting to 2.5% of their total tax bills. And, Californians pay some of the highest personal income taxes in the United States.

Oh yes, there are allegedly going to be $15,000,000,000 in budget cuts. But, as the lawyers say, read the fine print. If the state of California gets a windfall of billions in the federal so-called economic "stimulus" plan, voila! The budget cuts will vanish.
Pretty much like the credibility of our elected state "leaders".
So, now that our illustrious governor and Democrats have once again forced Republicans to go along, and almost always just enough Republicans do cave on these budget nightmares, any reason for a business or entrepreneur to stay in California is about to end if this deal does pass.
Why is tax hikes the only solution that these politicians understand?
Because as far as Gov. Benedict Arnold is concerned, he has no clue to stand on principal and use this opportunity to get the state legislature to enact real tax and budget reform.
When Gov. Benedict Arnold was first elected after the voters recalled former Gov. Gray Era Davis, he tried to get the voters of California to enact the kinds of reforms that would have avoided this mess.
There were four measures.
One would end teacher tenure. The second would have allowed state unionized employees from opting out of union political contributions. The third would have put serious state spending limits on the budget. And the fourth would have set up a multi and non partisan state commission to draw the legislative lines based on the census.
But, someone forgot to inform the governator that he had to campaign for the four ballot initiatives that he pushed to get on the statewide ballot and call a special election.
No one opposed forgot to fight and defeat all four measures.
Led by the California Teachers Association, a barrage of radio and television ads hit the airwaves before the initiatives even made the ballot and the special election was called by Gov. Benedict Arnold. By the time he and his allies campaigned for the four initiatives, public opposition grew and there was no way that the measures would pass.
After the defeat of all four initiatives, Gov. Benedict Arnold decided that it would be easier to be liked and went so far as to appoint a Democrat to be his chief of staff and the rest is history.
Now, the only reason that anyone who is just marginally conservative to support Gov. Benedict Arnold is apparently out the window as he is agreeing to so-called temporary tax hikes and phantom budget cuts that will be back in place once the rest of the United States pays for our mess under the so-called economic "stimulus" plan.
And we Californians wonder why the rest of the United States has dislike towards us.
What is needed is a leader like another governor from long ago named Ronald Reagan. To have a vision and a real reform agenda. And to be politically astute in how to get it implemented.
Whoever told Gov. Benedict Arnold to put a bunch of initiatives on the state ballot and call a special election to boot was crazy.
Had Gov. Benedict Arnold concentrated on, say the budget spending limits, he could have passed that. But, it should have been done one issue at a time.
Now, we are all in a mess and this is not a solution but a piece of toilet paper on a gusher of red ink and incompetence.
Oh, by the way I will thank the rest of the United States for helping us out courtesy of President Obama.
If there is ever a time for reform in this state, California, now is the time. And one of the two Republican candidates for governor, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and E-Bay founder Meg Whitman needs to be out in front of what they would do differently than the clowns currently in Sacramento, on both sides of the political aisle.