Analyzing PPIC Poll on Taxing Business
A superficial read of the latest PPIC poll might encourage the Brown Administration to change course away from across the board tax extensions to taxing businesses. But, such a move would be a mistake.
All ready, the Brown administration is informing business leaders that if the tax extension plan included in the governor’s budget doesn’t move forward, Plan B could be to tax individual industries. Not surprisingly, the poll shows voters would rather tax corporations than tax themselves. PPIC reports that 55% of likely voters favor raising state taxes paid by corporations. Meanwhile likely voters turned thumbs down on the idea of raising personal income taxes (70% No), state sales taxes (64%), and vehicle license fees (62%).
However, PPIC pollsters did not follow up with any questions to test the idea of taxing corporations. Since businesses provide jobs, and increased taxes mean less revenue businesses would have to hire employees, and jobs are important to the electorate (31% of likely voters said it was the most important issue the state faces), clearly reminding the voters of the connection between higher taxes and fewer jobs would effect election results.
Cuts? Yes. Tax Increase? Only if it’s on someone else.
The first survey on the Gov. Jerry Brown budget plan is now out and it has some interesting findings. The Public Policy Institute of California released the survey on Thursday.
According to the PPIC, some 58 percent of Californians are satisfied with the Brown budget approach of cuts and taxes; some 66 percent of likely voters favor the idea of a special election to prevent further budget cuts, but only 54 percent actually favor extending the 2009 tax increases that would be at the heart of the proposed June special election.
What are we to make of these figures? First, the $8 billion in specific budget cuts Brown has proposed would now seem in concrete. Democrats howled when former Gov. Schwarzenegger proposed similar cuts, but now that the cuts have Brown’s fingerprints on them, the howling has ceased. The $4 billion in funding shifts Brown has proposed would also seem to have general support.
The special election issue is more nuanced. First, the poll find voters very opposed to cuts in K-12 education and favoring cuts in prison spending. But, as PPIC points out, this may be based on an erroneous belief that prison spending is higher than spending on schools, when the facts are just the opposite. Only 10 percent of the budget goes to prison spending, nearly half to schools.
Effective Realignment of State and County Services
Article 11 Sec. 1 (a) of the California Constitution says: "The State
is divided into counties which are legal subdivisions of the State". Always a dynamic relationship it began to deteriorate in 1978 with the passage of Proposition 13. Although serving the very important purpose
of capping run away property tax increases, Prop. 13 also severed the
relationship between local revenues, and state mandated programs, and
permanently muddled any relationship between responsibility, accountability
and resources.
What the Work-Based Reality Shows Teach Us About Craft, Calling and the California Economy
The work-based reality shows, including Cake Boss, Pickers, Pimp My Ride, and America’s Next Top Model
have much to teach us about craft, calling and California’s economy. The
workers in these shows are not the "knowledge workers" we hear so much about.
They are the bakery workers, car shop workers, restaurant workers and small
businesspeople who will be prevalent in California’s employment future. They
bring innovation, care for detail, and a
service ethos to their jobs.
Buddy Velasco
is the Cake Boss. As viewers of his reality show on TLC network know,
Buddy runs a bakery in Hoboken New Jersey. The bakery, Carlo’s Bake Shop has a baking and sales crew of nearly 30,
including Buddy’s mother, four sisters and three brothers-in-law