The labor unions continued the all out assault on Meg Whitman’s candidacy for governor with yesterday’s announcement that they are launching another campaign to attack Whitman’s record. This is on top of the already announced independent expenditure efforts backed by the public employee unions to attack Whitman and the childish histrionics of the Queen Meg campaign.
But the unions have an agenda of their own for California. That agenda’s bottom line is at least $40 billion in new taxes. The unions have been pushing a catalog of tax increases for some time now. The recent revelation of their "tax everything" plan was promoted at the end of a long march to the state capitol that ended last week.
Among the list of union tax demands are the following tax increase proposals listed in a Capitol Alert report:
- A 10 percent tax increase on alcohol ($1.4 billion)
- A $1.50 per pack increase in the tobacco tax (1.3 billion)
- A requirement that 3 percent of payments to independent contractors paid more than $600 a year be withheld. ($2 billion one time; $250 million annually thereafter)
- An expansion of the sales tax to services, but reduce the rate by 2 cents on the dollar. ($18.8 billion)
- Ratcheting up the top income tax brackets to 10 percent on income over $250,000 and 11 percent on income over $500,000. ($4 billion)
- Restoring the vehicle license fee to 2 percent — the level that existed before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger lowered it upon taking office in 2003. ($2 billion)
- Establishing an oil severance tax fee. ($1 billion)
- Repealing income tax reductions offered to multinational corporations. ($3 billion)
Tax increases of this magnitude would cause the loss of many private jobs in California, up the unemployment rate, and keep the state in recession.
The tax increase brigade is supporting Jerry Brown for governor. Brown has responded to the tax increase question by declaring he would only support a tax increase if the people voted for it. However, Brown has embraced union support, publically asking the unions for help in confronting his political opponent. Given the circumstances, one can expect the payoff of a successful Brown candidacy is for the new governor to look favorably at the agenda of his supporters.
The coming November election is not about the Republican candidate as the unions hope to make it. The campaign focus is on $40 billion in potential new taxes and what that would do to the jobless rate and the state’s economy.
The winning Republican primary candidate should make the $40 billion tax increase proposal the center of the Fall campaign.