Working to Restore the California Promise
Today, I am privileged to assume the duties of Minority Leader in the California State Assembly, taking office at one of the most challenging times California has ever experienced.
Faced with seemingly unending state budget problems, millions of people out of work and a state teetering on the brink of fiscal insolvency, some have questioned why I would want this job in the first place.
The answer is simple. Our problems are largely of our own making, which means they are problems we can solve. We have a real opportunity to emerge from this adversity stronger, better, and more prosperous than ever before but to do so, we must plan strategically and act courageously.
Millions of people from around the world have been drawn to California over the years for the hope of a better life. California has long been admired as a place of innovation, optimism and opportunity for all, but sadly we have lost our way.
Will the Tax Commission Save the Day?
Working in relative obscurity since its inception, the Commission on the 21st Century Economy –simply known as the tax commission—will find itself in the spotlight now that the budget debate is back at Square One. Can the commission propose a tax system that taxpayers view as fair; while at the same time bring in increased revenue through an expanded economy?
That’s a tall order, but with the frustration growing over proposed major cuts and a rejection of tax increases in the recent Special Election, there seem few alternatives that would bring about consensus from a majority of Californians to solve the budget dilemma.
The commission took a break from public sessions to await the results of the election. The Governor’s executive order first mandated the commission bring in a report on refashioning the tax code by mid-April. That deadline was pushed back until the end of July.
Why The Two-Thirds Requirement Produces MORE Spending
As I’ve noted here before, there’s a problem of logic at the heart of much conservative commentary about the California budget. Conservatives tell us that the state’s budget system has produced out-of-control spending. Fair enough. But conservatives tell us that the core of that system – the super majority requirement for passing budgets and raising taxes – must be preserved at all costs to protect against out-of-control spending.
Both of those things can’t be true.
This weekend, I came across a 1998 report from the California Citizens Budget Commission, published by the non-partisan Center for Governmental Studies, in Los Angeles. That report found that the two-thirds requirement does not restrain spending. If anything, what evidence there was suggested that California’s two-thirds requirement produces more spending.
“Government Motors:” Whither Goest GM?
We were told last week that, by early next week possibly Monday, General Motors would join Chrysler in filing for the protection of the Bankruptcy Court. This could result in the US Government owning some 60% of GM – hence, it could then be called “Government Motors,” as some wags are now saying.
That was before the current feeding frenzy. Then last Friday, we learned that, like buzzards following the dying animal in the desert waiting for it to collapse for dinner, late NY Times breaking news had it that: “Negotiators from General Motors, Magna International and the German government reached a tentative agreement on Friday that would have Magna take a major stake in G.M.’s European operations alongside a Russian bank, a person briefed on the talks said.”
How the Mighty Have Fallen.