This may sound unbelievable, especially in light of what may be as high as a $15 billion shortfall in needed revenues to cover budgeted state expenditures, but this Monday liberal Democrat Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez is hauling 80 members of the State Assembly to Sacramento to 
vote on a plan that purports to somehow improve access to health care in California by expanding the size and scope of state government’s involvement in this sector.
There is no doubt that Nunez will get support from this proposal from his caucus, as raising taxes (did I mention this proposal includes MASSIVE tax increases?) and hoisting mandates and requirements on businesses and on people are what liberals love to do the most.
There is not enough room in this whole website to go over all of the inherent problems with this plan, going beyond the obvious abandonment of key American traditions — the notions of individual responsibility and freedom. Once again, "big brother" is coming in to suck literally billions of dollars out of the private sector and into the coffers of the government so that politicians can then turn it around and graciously spend it in ways to "help" us all.
Putting aside the ideological reasons to oppose this plan, there are just too many functional reasons why it should be rejected – paramount of which is the tremendous economic burden of this plan. While Nunez’ Deputy Chief of Staff asserts that there is a "firewall" between this government expansion for healthcare and the state’s fiscal crisis — we would assert that they are inextricably tied together. I predict that if this plan is adopted, it will have a terrible impact on our state’s economy. Besides adding a new mandate on state employers that will give many the reason they need to close their doors (perhaps to move to another, less burdensome state to do their business), the added government regulation into the health care sector will undoubtedly make the whole thing more expensive and less effective. When the economy takes a hit, so does… the state budget!
Perhaps most disappointing in all of this is the role being taken by our "Republican" Governor. Yes, Arnold has earned the dreaded quotation marks because he is a Republican for higher taxes. The Governor, who promised me, promised you, and promised all Californians that if elected, and re-elected, there would be no new taxes (a pretty important a straight-forward commitment) has apparently agreed to finance this massive growth in state government in the area of health care through business taxes (though he calls them "fees" – same thing) and through a massive increase in the state’s tax on cigarettes (which I think they are actually calling a tax – at least the papers are).
I could go into chapter and verse about why Arnold Schwarzenegger should abandon this socialistic rhetoric of "shared responsibility" which is simply another way of saying that one wants to move responsibility away from the individual and into the hands of the government. Promises made is an important one to point out, as it goes to the Governor’s integrity. Sound economic principle would be another. But for today, let’s focus on the fact that State Government is in a world of hurt. We have had budget after budget that has expanded state government spending…
Here are some amazing numbers: General Fund spending in the 2003-04 budget was $76.3 billion. This has ballooned to the point where this year’s budget was a staggering $104.2 billion. For those without calculators, that is a $27.9 billion increase in four years. During this same period of time, avarage population growth has been 1.35% and avarage inflation has been 3.3%. (h/t to Dan Weintraub for these numbers). We are now looking at a massive deficit that may be, as I said above, upwards of $15 billion and as these numbers clearly show, California does not have an income problem – state revenues has steadily increased. It has a massive spending problem.
The Governor is doing some important and prudent things in response to this — including calling for across-the-board cuts in state spending, and preparing for a January declaration of a "State of Fiscal Emergency" which, while a bit empty in its actual technical meaning, is important symbolically for focusing efforts on dealing with this major fiscal crisis.
That said, Assembly Democrats voting for this massive multi-billion dollar government health care boondoggle, with the Governor’s support, as we face this crisis really does bring us visuals of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
While we would expect Democrats to propose and support tax hikes and growth in government under any circumstances, at every turn in the road, we have a much different expectation from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Where tax and "fee" hikes are concerned, we expect him to keep his promise, and oppose them all. This is not an unrealistic expectation because it is HIS promise that HE made, not the other way around.
It is challenging to take seriously the Governor’s commitment to deal with this fiscal crisis when he doesn’t take as his first step the cessation of this ill-advised health care plan. Ironically, it is Senate President Don Perata, a Democrat, who seems (on this issue) to leap to Arnold’s right flank. He has actually said that it makes no sense to pursue this health care plan until we have resolved the state’s fiscal crisis and how it will impact existing programs. Go figure.
I will close this commentary with praise for our legislative Republicans. Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines have both been very forthright and forthcoming with dire reservations that their caucuses have with this massive socialstic health care proposal. Naturally, all of the common-sense proposals that they have put forth that would actually help with the issue of access to quality health care, have been literally swept aside by the Democrats and Schwarzenegger. We expect a unanimous and unified group of Assembly Republicans voting no on Monday, and we do not take that for granted. A big thank you to our Republican legislators for standing tall for the notions of individual responsibility and individual freedom.
Thanks to unified GOP caucuses, any tax-raising schemes will have to go before California voters. If Sacramento politicians like Schwarzenegger and Nunez think they can convince the "real people" to vote to grow government, they are sadly mistaken…
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