"The BNRT’s far-reaching ramifications have not been fully addressed and should be carefully analyzed and considered by the Governor and the Legislature…. Instituting a new tax system and phasing out an old one needs careful oversight. There may be unforeseen consequences and dramatic shifts in the economy that could call into question the proposed pace of transition."

The above quotes are not from critics of the Commission on the 21st Century Economy report but from the majority authors of the report itself. That is something less than a ringing endorsement, and not useful for either bumper stickers or campaign ads. And it is probably the most forthright statement in the report regarding the Business Net Receipts Tax (BNRT). This tax reaches every transaction in the economy so everyone pays but it is incorporated into the price of the product or service, so consumers do not know how much tax they are paying. It is a tax designed for the benefit of government because it can raise large amounts of revenue at low rates all while hiding itself from the public.

The Commission does recommend that a technical body be convened at least… Read More

The Stockton Record today has an article about the State’s latest ticking time bomb: bond payments.

The latest disaster, coupled with operating deficits, exploding pension and healthcare obligations, and plungng tax receipts, means the State’s budget problems are probably two to three times worse than what has been previously reported. In addition, California’s bond rating will go even lower as a result of the unsustainable borrowing voters have done over the last ten years.

In election after election, conservatives, and the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, have opposed all bonds on statewide ballots because we knew it would come to this: we are functionally bankrupt now.

Now, the Legislature is considering another water bond. We’ve had at least four water bonds over the past ten years already. What the hell are we doing?

And what do we have to show for it? Nothing.… Read More

This week will see likely legislative action on water issues…the cause being a good and needed one. But in the mosh pit of legislative compromise, what will we get as the end result? The voters will be asked to vote on a large bond of some sort, should a proposal survive the legislative process and win the 2/3 vote needed in both houses.

It’s sort of an ideological slide rule as you move the bond proposal slide to each side to find support that gets 2/3 of legislators to agree. Move the slide too far to the right, [money going mostly for building storage, dams, hard infrastructure only] Dems drop off like flies.Slide it to the left, [money mostly for ecosystem restoration as most previous water bonds have done, removing dams on the Klamath, acquiring more land, creating more commissions and morepower for them over land and water use] and Republicans say ‘no thanks’. Place it in the middle and it’s not effective at doing anything, other than a dribble towards eco stuff as dam projects require a large commitment.

How excited are the voters to approve a likely $9B + bond that they aren’t sure produces… Read More

Editorial of the week – Union-Trib: Our incoherent City Council… Jon my have it posted on today’s main page, but it’s worth plugging in more than one place. From this morning’s U-T:

"City Council members Ben Hueso, Donna Frye, Tony Young, Marti Emerald, Todd Gloria and Sherri Lightner know … that because of the recession-induced plunge in revenue, San Diego is in an even bigger short-term budget crisis than it was three years ago.

"But they don’t care. Last week, in an insulting betrayal of voters, the six members voted to side with public employees and stall Mayor Jerry Sanders’ framework for implementing Proposition C. The argument they used to justify this betrayal is best described as incoherent. It holds that private bidders have an unfair advantage over city agencies because their benefits don’t cost as much … Do you follow? They are saying a key reason privatization is so attractive an option – it allows governments to pay less for services – should disqualify it from being… Read More

The Contra Costa Times recently hailed Democrats, the Legislature’s majority party, as allies in making sure “job killer” bills did not get through the legislative chambers they control. However, the paper failed to mention that of all the 2009 “job killer” bills were introduced by Democrats.

As noted in the story, the “job killer” campaign identifies regulatory, labor, and tax legislation that would have a negative impact on the economy–a majority of these bills have either died in committee, on the floor, or had provisions removed to satisfy the concerns of business owners.

Of the 33 identified “job killer” bills, not a single bill was introduced by a Republican. What’s more, Democrats have only begun to defeat the worst of these Democrat “job-killer” bills as a response to an almost guaranteed veto from one of the state’s last three Republican governors.

Only in California can the villains become media heroes for voting against something they introduced. The real heroes are the small business owners and the Republican legislators who work with them… Read More

The Governor recently called term limits "crazy." Now, I don’t agree that they are crazy, there were good reasons for term limits, and the voters were not crazy in enacting them. But I have come to the conclusion they are not a good idea.

I ran for office in 1990 supporting term limits. I believed at the time that doing whatever it took to remove Willie Brown as the Speaker of the Assembly was justified. Dem Legislators weren’t going to do it, it appeared voters weren’t going to do it. Maybe term limits would.

Well, the voters did, in 1994, when they elected the first Republican majority in the Assembly since Reagan’s first term as Governor. I was elected to the Assembly in 1992, then in 1994, two terms in the Senate, and when my term there was done, I went back to the Assembly. I supported term limits through my first term in the Assembly and my two terms in the Senate. I changed my mind when I went back to the Assembly.

My first term in the Assembly was an interesting one. We were the first class elected knowing we were subject to term limits, but we were mixed in with some of the war horses of the… Read More

Yesterday we crunched numbers again on the scientific poll I commissioned through my company, Landslide Communications, Oct. 22-25 among Republicans in the 72nd Assembly District regarding the special election to be held in less than three weeks to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mike Duvall. I had the numbers broken down city by city and Norby is way ahead in the City of Fullerton and is ahead or tied inall cities in thedistrict, at least as of last weekend. Here are the results, city by city:

Question:"If the special election for state assembly were held today, for which of the following candidates would you most likely vote?"

Anaheim: Norby, 22.73%/Ackerman 15.91%

Brea: Norby 38.89%/Ackerman 19.44%

Fullerton: Norby 35.71%/Ackerman 16.33%

La Habra: Norby 25%/Ackerman 16.67%

Orange: Norby 14.29%/Ackerman 14.29%

Placentia: Norby 20.83%/Ackerman 20.83%

Yorba Linda: Norby 19.51%, Ackerman 14.63%

Attached is the top line on this question broken down by city.… Read More

Attorney General Jerry Brown has done it again: He has misused and abused the authority of his office as California’s top cop.

Is anyone surprised?

It’s clear since day one that Brown views the AG office as a bully pulpit for promoting his political views, not serving the people.

His misdeeds aren’t limited to clandestinely taping phone calls with reporters; Brown has also abused his powers by issuing inaccurate and misleading Title and Summaries for statewide ballot measures, including one that I authored for the 2010 election cycle.

And as most people know, Brown has raised the ire of Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog.org and author of Proposition 103, the landmark measure protecting insurance consumers that voters approved in 1988.

Rosenfield says Brown caved to pressure from a powerful insurance company – and campaign donor – when he reworked the summary of a ballot measure to omit mention that it could boost premiums for thousands of drivers.

Brown… Read More