I thought Jerry Brown might have something up his sleeve when I read (in one of his many mailers) his promise not to enact any “new taxes unless the voters approve them.” According to his understudy, recently recalled Governor Gray Davis (Brown’s chief of staff for the better part of his gubernatorial tenure), Brown is planning to do just that.
One of LA’s best (and wittiest) reporters, Jill Stewart, has the details:
Gray Davis, is saying that California Governor Jerry Brown, um,probable governor, will immediately set a Special Election to ask Californians to raise taxes. . . . which is worse? Another special election. Just shoot us all now.
Or another special election to get us to vote for more taxes. . . . Is Jerry gonna pull this off? He’s still running those radio ads (on KNX? on KFI? or is it just everywhere?) saying he opposes new taxes “without voter approval.”
Stewart has the details on how Brown flip-flopped on the “fat hikes on the 2009 ballot”. The Democrat came around to supporting them, even as Californians overwhelming rejected them. (Read the whole thing–for your edification and amusement. Jill is a heckuva good writer.)
Let me repeat that for good measure. Jerry Brown has been promising in his campaign that he won’t hike taxes without voter approval, yet the last time tax hikes were on the statewide ballot, the career politician hemmed and he hawed, but eventually came out for higher taxes. The voters said no.
California currently has the third highest taxes in the country — and not coincidentally, the third highest unemployment. Guess Jerry wants us to be Number One. (And with Nevada and Michigan, the states ahead of us, set to elect pro-business governors, looks like they won’t be in the running for very long.)
We can remove California from the running by not returnig Jerry Brown to the Governor’s office.
Bad news for the shrinking pool of Californians who pay more in taxes than they consume in government “services”:
John Derbyshire cited a study showing that Cali’s public pension liabilities will far exceed annual tax revenues:
To retain their promises to retirees, CalPERS, CalSTRS and the University of California Retirement System may have combined liabilities of over 5.5 times the state’s annual tax revenue by fiscal 2012.
Note that that’s just three pension plans – I wonder how many other plans are out there.
The shrinking tax pie not only has to service the enormous liability but it also has to fund the increasing demands for services caused, in large part, by increasing immigrant populations.
Note to Moonbeam (and Meg): there is no tax rate high enough to pay for this.
http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/pensions_and_endowments/Articles/2696453/California-Pension-Liabilities-May-Exceed-Tax-Revenues.html
Why would anyone elect this fossil? He needs to be transported back to the Cretaceous period so he can mingle with his fellow dinosaurs.