Labor Study Funded by Union Calls for Tax Increases
The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education issued a policy brief arguing that raising taxes will result in fewer jobs lost than would occur under the spending cuts in the governor’s budget proposal.
The brief indicates the best alternative to deal with job losses is to avoid the governor’s proposed cuts and instead raise taxes on oil severance, corporations, and top bracket income tax payers, which will produce billions in new revenue and fund the public sector. The report acknowledges the tax increases would slow economic activity and come with job losses in the private sector.
I’m trying to figure out how reducing jobs and economic activity in the private sector will benefit California in the long run.
When is a Temporary Tax ‘Temporary’?
The Senate Democrats want to continue ‘temporary’ taxes passed in last year’s budget negotiations.
The temporary tax extension is part of a plan to raise taxes $4.9 billion to help deal with the state budget deficit. With the legislature notching a 16% approval rating in the latest PPIC poll, extending temporary taxes will provide another blow to the legislature’s reputation.
The Democratic proposal includes extending a quarter-percent of the income tax surcharge scheduled to end December 31; extending a $217 per dependent reduction in the state’s dependent income tax credit; raising the vehicle license fee to 1.5 percent from 1.15 percent after being increased from 0.65 percent last year; and suspending corporate tax changes set to begin January 1. For good measure, they added an increase in the state’s alcohol tax that was not part of last year’s budget deal.
Top Two Primary Measure Looks Like a Winner, Unless …
The Top-Two Primary measure, Proposition 14, shows signs of winning in June despite passionate opposition from all the political parties in California.
The Public Policy Institute poll showed Proposition 14 with a commanding 60% to 27% lead, with Independent voters, who swing many an election in California, solidly behind the measure, 67% to 19%.
The Top Two Primary system allows the two highest vote getters in a primary election, regardless of party, to face-off in the general election. Major political parties fear they will lose power and influence if the measure passes. Smaller parties are concerned they could disappear all together with their candidates failing to grab one of the top two spots in a primary and not appearing on the general election ballot.
Cal Chamber List of ‘Job Killer’ Bills
An annual occurrence in Sacramento is the California Chamber of Commerce issuing a list of "job killer " bills. Earlier this week, the Chamber released this year’s list. The Chamber found 37 bills that would cripple job creation and keep California mired in its economic recession.
As I have argued on this page many times before, the way for California to crawl out of its financial hole is create more jobs, which will increase the wealth of the people and enrich government coffers.
A few years ago, Larry Kosmont, who, in conjunction with the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College, produces the well-respected Cost-of-Doing-Business Survey estimated that creating 173,000 new jobs in the state would provide $35 billion in tax revenue over ten years.
PPIC’s Poll … and Ours
The Public Policy Institute of California came out with its last pre-primary poll confirming that the Whitman-Poizner Republican gubernatorial race has closed considerably over the last two months. Whitman holds a 9-point lead over Poizner, including leading across the board in all demographic categories. Her lead has dropped dramatically since the March PPIC poll, which had Whitman ahead by 50-points.
The poll covered a lot of ground not only dealing with primary candidate races, but also potential match-ups in the general election, proposition campaigns and peeks ahead at proposition battles for November.
You can read more about all the poll results here.
Brown’s ‘Scapegoat’ Remark is Telling
Attorney General and Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown brushed aside concerns over public employee pay and benefits as a major cause of California’s troubles at a UC Santa Barbara political event.
As described in Calbuzz on Tuesday, Brown answered a question about government employee furloughs by charging that Republicans use the public employees as "scapegoats" for the state’s fiscal problems when the real problem is caused by Wall Street people who Brown conveniently tied to Republicans.
Brown’s defense of the public employee pensions and benefits is a telling message on an important issue concerning the state deficit. Brown, who signed into law collective bargaining when he was governor three decades ago giving the public unions more power, appears ready to defend the groups that are now supporting his candidacy.
SBAC/M4 Strategies Poll: Tight Races for Top Ticket Offices
The hotly contested race for the Republican nomination in both the U.S. Senate and Attorney General races are tightening up with the primary only three weeks away, the Small Business Action Committee/M4 Strategies Poll found.
In the U.S. Senate contest, Tom Campbell leads with field with 32.6%, with Carly Fiorina close behind at 28.2%, and Chuck DeVore tallying 15.3%. Fiorina has made the biggest movement since the SBAC/M4 Strategies poll in February. At that time, Campbell had a similar 32%, Fiorina was at 18% and DeVore stood at 11%.
The poll conducted on May 12, 13, and 16 of 600 high propensity Republican voters has a margin of error of 4%.
SBAC/M4 Strategies Poll: Whitman Leads by 17
Meg Whitman holds a 17.5% point lead over Steve Poizner in the newest Small Business Action Committee poll conducted by M4 Strategies of Costa Mesa.
The poll was conducted May 12, 13, and 16, targeting 600 high propensity Republican voters. The poll’s margin of error is 4%.
Whitman leads Poizner 49% to 31.5% with nearly 20% undecided or refusing to respond.
Pollsters asked respondents if they viewed the candidates as favorable or unfavorable. Whitman registered 54.5% Favorable, 26.8% Unfavorable. Poizner stood at 38.5% Favorable, 33.8% Unfavorable.
44.3% of the respondents labeled themselves “very conservative.”
Should the L.A. City Council Tell the Lakers Not to Play in Phoenix?
I’m trying to determine what the Los Angeles City Council actually did with their move to boycott Arizona over that state’s immigration law. From reports, it seems like there are a number of loopholes in the L.A. resolution.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the "resolution would still allow city officials to travel to Arizona under "special circumstances" that are in the city’s interests. Also, existing contracts with Arizona firms would be exempt from the ban if canceling them would lead to "significant additional cost" to the city.
You can read this as: We will punish you unless it hurts us, then forget about it.
Issues that Drive the Polls
The illegal immigration issue is driving this primary election; the tax and spend concern not so much. How else to interpret the results of the Survey USA poll this week?
Steve Poizner has pounded on the illegal immigration issue relentlessly and has seen his polls numbers close on Meg Whitman.
Meanwhile, Whitman has tried to push the tax and spend issue. While Whitman has battered Poizner on Proposition 13 and corralled the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association endorsement, Poizner has countered with Representative Tom McClintock’s endorsement and a tax cut message of his own confounding many Republican voters.