Your House Is On Fire — The Special Election Choice.
I recently asked Assembly Speaker Karen Bass to respond to the argument against the special election ballot measures that I most often hear from people on the left. In its essence, that argument is: these measures were produced by a bad deal that was forced upon Democrats by Republicans using the leverage of the two-thirds vote requirement for passing taxes and the budget. So we should vote down these measures and use the crisis to push for reforms, like replacing the two-thirds requirement with a majority vote.
Bass responded to my question quickly and fiercely: “The house is on fire! The house is on fire!” she repeated. She went on to say that she’s for eliminating the two-thirds requirement too, and for other bigger structural reforms. But those will take time. Right now, the state is in a crisis. When your house is on fire, she argued, you have to put the fire out.
One could argue with Bass’ stance, but I think she’s 100 percent right in her choice of metaphor. The choice facing voters in the special election boils down to as much a question of strategy as ideology: when your house is burning, what do you do?
Here’s an I-Told-You-So: A Move toward Creating New Local Taxing Authority
Earlier this month, I argued that some of the cost of Proposition 1A’s defeat could be the state directing property taxes to cover state obligations and giving the authority to local government to raise new taxes.
Now, Assembly Budget Committee Chairwoman Noreen Evans is pushing a bill, AB 1342, to allow counties to tax income and cars on the local level with voter approval. While Evans argues the move is to help local governments shore up their finances, it is just a short step for the state to see a way toward balancing a big hole in its budget by throwing off responsibility and tax battles onto local governments.
As I suggested before, defeat of Prop 1A doesn’t mean that government will melt down and suddenly arise like a phoenix healed of its ill-spending ways. There will be much maneuvering to raise revenue through permanent fees and new taxing authority.
You can read more about the Evans’ bill, which has already passed its first committee, in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat article here.
Dan Walters nails it on education
Earlier this week, I wrote about how Dan Walters missed the mark on California’s job woes. In his latest column, however, Walters nailed it on education. He all but declared California’s recently imposed high school exit exam a failure and the continued one-size-fits-all education system a serious threat to our children and workforce.
CMTA and the many manufacturers it represents (along with the emerging torch bearer for the state’s career technical education needs, the Get REAL coalition) gives equal respect for all students’ dreams by demanding non-discriminatory educational resources to attain those dreams. A mantra that has fallen flat in California’s $60 billion education community. That notion is substantiated by the fact that, over the past 10 years, high school dropouts have increased by 27 percent (reaching annual dropout rates around 35 percent) while crucial and inspiring technical courses have declined by 20 percent (and 50 percent over last two decades).
Reigning in the Credit Card Monster
The average American is reputed to have $9,000 in credit card debt. Have you looked at your credit card statements lately? Do you know that the credit card issuers have been stealthily jacking up their rates, adding all kinds of fees, and playing around with other aspects of their warm relationships with credit card holders? Would you finance the wonderful dinner you are going to have Friday night with a lender who charges you 25%, 30% or even 35% interest? You would need to have your head examined, but that is what many of us routinely do.
The Obama Administration, in its headlong rush to pack as much as possible into the first 100 days in the spirit of FDR and while ratings are sky high, took on the credit card industry Thursday, fulfilling a campaign pledge for a Credit Card Holder’s Bill of Rights, among other things.