Tuesday’s 5.4 Chino Hills earthquake reminds us of the importance to prepare for emergencies and natural disasters. As the Orange County Register explains, “93% of Americans are not prepared for a major earthquake, fire or flood…it's a good idea to put a kit together and make a plan.”

Everyone should heed this important advice, especially our state’s leaders. It may be unpleasant news for budget negotiators, but California must adequately account for the rising costs of emergency response in this year’s state budget. Moreover, state auditors need to find a way to reduce the state’s firefighting costs without jeopardizing public safety.

Wildfires have increased dramatically over the past decade, and so has the cost to taxpayers. The Los Angeles Times has an excellent five part series titled “Big Burn,” which examines the state’s recent increase in wildfires and response costs. (It’s this kind of excellent, in-depth reporting that will disappear with too many newspaper cutbacks.)

My fellow Fox and Hounds blogger Brendan Huffman asks in a post today, “Why is Prop 13 off limits?” The simple answer: because it worked. Prop. 13 continues to make property taxes predictable for both homeowners and policymakers. (It also keeps people from being taxed out of their homes.)

Because many readers may be unfamiliar with California’s property tax system pre-Prop 13, allow me to offer a brief refresher. Better yet, here’s a description from Joel Fox.

“Prior to Proposition 13, the tax rate throughout California averaged a little less than 3% of market value, and there were no limits on increases either for the tax rate or property value assessments. Some properties were reassessed 50% to 100% in just one year and their owners' tax bills jumped correspondingly.”

Prior to Proposition 13, property taxes were left up to the whims of county assessors and uncontrollable fluctuations in the housing market. Homeowners were left in the dark as to what this year’s tax burden would be. Families could not plan or budget properly. How can you make a family budget if there is a giant question mark for your property taxes?

California is in the midst of its annual budget stalemate. The super-majority vote required is all that stands between higher taxes and the taxpayer. Now we settle in to the war of attrition between tax and spend liberals and the few remaining fiscal watchdogs in the Legislature.

So while we play this waiting game, government engages in substantially more creativity at ways to raise taxes then it spends trying to find ways to live within its means. Local tax proposals range from taxing text messages to taxing air. It just never stops.

The City of Sacramento is concerned too many of us aren’t using our home phones. It wants to tax text messages as a means of raising revenue. As if teenagers aren’t expensive enough. Parents will get stuck with a bill for their electronic communications.

The L.A. County Metro Transportation Authority would impose a “Climate-Transit tax”. Another tax would be added to gasoline and the revenue spent on public transportation to combat roadway congestion and global warming.

This past week, Senate Democrats called for a $11.5 billion dollar tax increase to help balance the budget. The Republican legislative delegation will hold strong against any new taxes or tax increases. Every Republican member, save one, has publicly taken the "No New Taxes Pledge;" it would be political suicide for a Republican member to break their promise on taxes.

However, taxpayers should be very afraid of the inevitable game of tax semantics, especially over a sales tax on services. The pro-tax lobby is already trying to frame the issue as "tax fairness" and "modernizing the tax code." A wide application of the sales tax to services could mean up to $45 billion in new taxes! That huge number gives the pro-tax lobby a wide variety of services to tax. 

President Bush recently rolled out the welcome mat for South Korea’s newly-elected President Lee Myung Bak in his first presidential trip to the US with a two-day summit at Camp David. The trip was historic because it marked the first time a South Korean leader has been invited to the exclusive presidential retreat.

Congress can and should match the president’s historic gesture by bringing forward a vote on the landmark US Korea Free Trade Agreement. Every American business- from apple farmers to Apple computers- will benefit from this trade agreement’s elimination of tariffs, expansion of market access, and enhancement of intellectual property rights.

According to a report from the International Trade Commission, the US Korea FTA could boost our country’s GDP by nearly $12 billion, grant American companies unprecedented access to South Korea’s trillion dollar economy, and eliminate 95% of Korean and American tariffs within three years.

California's budget situation is simple to understand.  Revenue is less than spending.  Members of the Legislature will have to grapple with the culture of overspending so prevalent at the Capitol.  The Board of Equalization is tasked with collecting sales, use and property tax.  The Legislature isn't making this easy.

Sure, they love it when we act aggressively to find and collect tax dollars.  Sadly, they make it difficult for taxpayers to accumulate earnings to be taxed.  Our State's prosperity is tied to the prosperity of its people.  Nowhere in history has anyone ever been taxed into prosperity.

The United States Department of Labor just released their unemployment statistics.  California, once a leader in innovation; is now a leader in desperation.  According to the Bureau, eight areas, seven of which are located in California, recorded jobless rates of at least 10 percent.

Forget the new Indiana Jones thriller, for real action-packed excitement just tune into the State Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. Last week's hearing had it all: a tax temper tantrum, rowdy debate over parliamentary procedure and even controversial remarks about the tax agency's conscience.

Check out the video:

Youtube: Tax Collector's Conscience