I think I can count on one hand (well, a six-fingered hand) the number of Republican women elected to partisan office in California. If the response to the State of the State from Audra Strickland (in the blog post below) and the even more harsh reaction from Board of Equalization Member Michelle Steel are any indicator, I wonder what Senator Walters, and Assemblywomen Harkey, Conway and Fuller thought of the speech?
Board Member Steel really hits the Governor hard on the taxes front, making the case that the Governor promoting the recommendations of his Tax Commission is a de facto call for a tax increase. She also, and rightly so, bangs the Governor for promoting the big-spending, pork-laden water bond package.
Well, rather than me telling you what Steel’s concerns are, here it is in her own words…
In May of last year, over 65% f the people said no to new taxes. But, this morning the Governor urged the Legislature to pass his Tax Commission plan, which includes a new, untested, Value Added Tax that would hit every single Californian. It will cost millions to put in place, even more to litigate when problems arise, and raise the cost of living for already struggling taxpayers. Does the Governor still believe this plan will be revenue neutral? Or is he pushing a multi-billion dollar tax increase?
Everyone agrees that we have a structural deficit problem. We spend $20 billion more than we take in year after year, for as far as the eye can see. Taxing your doctor, accountant, your mortician, your beautician – you name it! – will only increase the cost of services and the cost of living. This guarantees that health care will cost more at a time when everyone from Obama down says it is already too high. And asking for a federal handout for those costs is not a reasonable solution.
A million taxpayers have already voted with their feet and left California. More people are leaving the state than coming in. Foreclosure rates continue at record highs, with employment at record lows. Yet the Governor’s speech sounded like business as usual.
The Governor is right to say we must set our priorities straight. But a half billion dollar spending plan and $11 billion in bonds sounds like more of the same. The first step in setting our priorities straight is to ask ourselves, how much longer we are willing to mortgage the lives of our children and grandchildren? Then, how much longer can we afford to empty the pockets of the taxpayers and still skirt around catastrophe.