This morning it is my unfortunate duty to unveil a new website address for the so-called California Taxpayers Association. Until now, you could only access their website by going to www.caltax.org. But we here at the FlashReport officially unveil www.taxcal.org, which will take you straight to the home page of this group which has endorsed huge multi-billion dollar sales tax increase proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger as part of a “compromise budget” that seeks to punish California taxpayers for years of massive over-spending.
It speaks volumes about TaxCal (our new name for the group) that now, during a time when pro-taxpayer groups are rallying behind our strong Republican legislators, that they have broken ranks and embracing bigger, fatter state government. This is exactly the time when you get to learn who are real taxpayer advocates, and who are not.
The decision to endorse the Governor’s tax plan was made by TaxCal’s super-top-secret Board of Directors. Well, I don’t blame these folks (at least the ones who voted to blow up TaxCal’s credibility as a pro-taxpayer group) for wanting their names to be held as confidential. They should all be ashamed for their vote.
That said, as fellow FR blogger Matt Rexroad said a few days ago, TaxCal’s support for the Governor’s plan ultimately will play little or no role in the budget process. By their own decision, TaxCal does not get involved in legislative primaries – thus they presumably won’t be about there trying to defend a theoretical pro-tax increase Republican when they are being hammered for violating their “no new taxes” pledge.
I’ve had plenty of opportunities over the years to work with some of the fine staff people at TaxCal, and I think in this scenario, I feel bad for them. They are all consummate professionals who would never openly contradict the position taken by their organization’s Board, yet I know they must have been unhappy about it.
Well, at this point, we’ll just have to move forward, and here at the FR we will continue to praise our Republican legislators for their steadfast opposition to higher taxes, we will urge the Governor to abandon his drive to raise taxes, and we will encourage all legislators to prioritize freedom and liberty for Californians by working to keep state government to a smaller, manageable size.
As for TaxCal, I am quite certain (if they aren’t doing so already) they will lament that they gave up their credibility – that when it mattered, they abandoned taxpayers and embraced growth in state government.
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