Republicans Can Change the Narrative
Republicans in the legislature have been tagged as the “Party of No” for not agreeing to put tax extensions on the ballot. However, they are not the only party that is practicing the art of saying no. Democrats are saying no to putting reforms on the ballot such as a spending cap, pension reform or regulation reform.
Read news accounts, editorials or listen to Democratic politicians and you will hear that the Republicans are the obstacle to a budget solution. Democratic consultant Darry Sragow questioned in the Sacramento Bee this weekend whether the Republicans were even committed to democracy because they have not allowed the people to vote on tax extensions.
The Republicans can change this narrative if they come together behind a move to put reforms on the ballot. Five GOP senators have been negotiating with the governor for reforms. They must take the next step and tell the world exactly what they want to see on the ballot.
Once that is done, the governor, the Democrats and their allies will be put on the spot. Do they want these important, long-term reforms to structurally fix the budget problem? Or will they say: No!
GOP’s Mail Pre-Primary Is Good for Voters
California has the worst of both worlds politically: All the drawbacks of a highly partisan electorate and political elite, without the advantages that come with strong parties.
That California combination – strong partisanship, weak parties – is part of what makes civic engagement, and thus governing, such a challenge in this state. Everyone is angry and partisan, but parties – which offer ways for people to come together and advance an agenda – are too weak to do much of anything.
In this context, the news out of this weekend’s GOP convention is good. Republicans, faced with a new form of open primary designed to further weaken the parties, decided to launch their own pre-primary of sorts, conducted by mail, to judge the party favorites in races.
This move has been criticized by moderates and others outside the party as an attempt by conservatives to keep power and impose rule. That may well be the thinking of those who pushed it, but it’s a good idea nonetheless.
Why? Two reasons.
Calling On Legislators To Stand With California Businesses & Support E-Fairness
As the President of the California Retailers Association, I represent businesses with more than 9,000 stores throughout California. These stores provide thousands of jobs, billions in revenue and countless products for the people of California.
That’s why we support e-fairness legislation, such as AB 153 (Skinner) and AB 155 (Calderon). Right now, retail businesses that have e-commerce sites are required to collect sales taxes. So if any one of our stores also sells its products at a physical store or online, they collect sales taxes, no exceptions.
But out-of-state, online-only retail companies like Amazon and Overstock don’t play by these rules. A loophole in the law has helped them avoid collecting and remitting these sales taxes. This gives them an unfair and artificial competitive advantage of nearly 10 percent over California retailers who operate e-commerce sites in addition to their brick-and-mortar stores.
Want more jobs? Open wallets for small businesses
Over the past few weeks, the Obama administration has
been touting initiatives in the Small Business Jobs Act,
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and other legislation passed in
2009 and 2010 as a sign that it is pro-business, and in particular, pro-small
business.
Here at the Milken Institute, we’ve repeatedly noted
that small business is an essential component of any economic recovery. From
the first quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009, businesses with 50 or
fewer employees shed a staggering 2.9 million jobs. While small businesses are hiring
again, they are not doing so at a rate nearly fast enough to reach their
pre-recession level any time soon. Still, while White House efforts in this
area have been solid, the single greatest remaining concern among small
businesses persists: the lack of access to credit.
The issue of credit for small business is not simply a
matter of business as usual; it’s actually a key impediment to hiring. During
the financial realignment that took place during the Great Recession, small
businesses saw significant constraints placed on two of their most important
means of accessing revolving credit: credit cards and real estate equity. While
the equity issue is a direct consequence of the collapse of the housing bubble,
the slashing of credit lines attached to business credit cards has had a more
profound impact.