Antonio Avoids Politicaholism
Kudos to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villagraigosa for having the guts to enter political recovery.
Politicaholism is just another form of addiction. The need to be constantly in motion whether random or directed, the need for that never ending adrenaline rush, distracts politicaholics from fulfilling the commitments they made to the people who elected them to office and even prevents them from acting in their own self interest.
Resisting the siren song of the 2010 governor’s race means that Antonio can wake up every day focused on what’s best for the City of Los Angeles. He can tackle the genuinely horrific fiscal woes facing the city. He can nail down gains on the public safety front and work to create jobs, improve our schools, reduce traffic and the city’s carbon footprint.
In doing so, he will fulfill his promise to make Los Angeles a better city, the promise he made when he asked the voters to put their trust in him. And he will feel better for it.
It’s Not a “Cuts-Only” Budget, but More Taxes are Futile
As the debate heats up over budget proposals, the legislators and public must be reminded that the current budget is not a “cuts only” budget. The budget deal passed in February and designed to deal with this year and next year’s budgets included a whopping $12-billion worth of new taxes. Since the tax increases implemented so far have not brought in anticipated revenue, more tax increases to solve the immediate crisis is futile.
As the majority party brings its budget plan up for a vote, arguments ring through the capitol that some of the deficit must be closed with taxes…that cuts cannot do the job alone. Increased sales taxes and vehicle license fees are already paying for the current budget. The sales tax increase kicked in April, VLF in mid-May.
Raising any taxes now would not produce the revenue needed to balance the budget before the state runs out of cash the end of July.
Convention Backers Don’t Trust Voters
Backers of a new state Constitutional Convention have apparently decided that California’s voters can’t be trusted to decide what’s best for the state.
After nearly a year of pitching a convention as a chance for grassroots Californians to make the hard choices politicians won’t, the Bay Area Council has decided those average citizens shouldn’t have a chance to discuss whether the state needs more taxes.
“There are a whole bunch of reforms we can get to without touching tax increases,’’ John Grubb, a spokesman for the council, told the Capitol Weekly Monday.
In a convention, hundreds of people from across the state would get together to discuss ways to reform state government, hopefully coming up with solutions that would bring California’s government into the 21st century.
A state constitutional convention is a dangerous distraction
Gridlock over the state budget, water policy and other pressing problems has led many to suggest California is ungovernable and our problems unsolvable. Out of this has come a lively discussion over revising the state’s Constitution. But among the two dozen biggest problems facing California, revising the state Constitution doesn’t crack the list. In fact, the debate over a constitutional convention is a dangerous distraction and time waster, shifting the focus of state leaders and opinion makers from higher priority problems that are actually solvable.
A Constitutional Convention is a process about process. As envisioned by its sponsors, from concept to execution, the course would take a minimum of three years, and at the end of that road would not have resulted in any budget being balanced, any program made more efficient, any tax increased nor any election term changed. Nobody’s life in California would have been improved, except perhaps the campaign consultants hired to push for or against the various proposals.