The California Tax Commission is coming close to finalizing a package of so-called reforms to the way Californians pay for their government, and to my amazement, a center-piece of the current likely proposal is what is called a Business Net Receipts Tax (BNRT), which is similar to a value added tax. As proposed, it would apply to all businesses in California, expanding the scope of what is currently taxed in the state from just goods now to services.

This particular element of the Commission’s proposal is clearly something that should be excised. It is criticized from the left this morning in a thoughtful piece from Jean Ross of the big-government supporting California Budget Project over at CalBuzz, and right here on the FlashReport conservative Michelle Steel, one of the two Republicans on the State Board of Equalization, takes the BNRT proposal to task in a piece broadly concerned with the pending report of the commission. Joel Fox also pointed out the concerns of the BNRT to… Read More

Some tidbits, moments of brilliance and just plain funfrom the past seven days…

Politics 101 of the Week… He will forever be known as Hot Mic Duvall, but whether the resigned California assemblyman was telling tall tales of exploit out of turn, or being the male Anaïs Nin of the legislature, the incident did result in more than a few snickers from several corners. "Overheard" on Facebook from an unknown original source is this profound political lesson:

"Always know when the microphone is on. Oh … and don’t have affairs and stuff like that." Sports 101 of the Week (or, a lesson on the ones you don’t take home to mom)… My message to a San Diego Chargers defender regarding his recent alleged domestic flap with a reality TV "star":

"Hey Shawne! First clue this would mean… Read More

Around 6am this morning, the California legislature adjourned from its regular session. Needless to say, the Democrats who control the majority in both legislative chambers, near as I can tell, produced nothing helpful in their final legislative push. With the state’s economy in the doldrums, so many opportunities to pass legislation to stimulate the economic through tax or regulatory relief were rejected (Republicans authored these ideas, to have them dismissed by the liberal ideologues who see taxing and regulating the people they represent as some sort of dogmatic quest). On the contrary — we saw notable bills such as ones to ease incarceration for prisoners, and more regulations on the energy sector that will result in higher consumer costs. Oh yes, and the water crisis remains a crisis as the Sierra Club completely trumped common sense, with the Democrats amazingly producing a water bill that includes no new water storage… (Kind of like saying you fixed the leak on a boat by replacing the canopy.)

We’ll have more coverage on the end of the session, and our team is already working on our annual… Read More

Around 6am this morning, the California legislature adjourned from its regular session. Needless to say, the Democrats who control the majority in both legislative chambers, near as I can tell, produced nothing helpful in their final legislative push. With the state’s economy in the doldrums, so many opportunities to pass legislation to stimulate the economic through tax or regulatory relief were rejected (Republicans authored these ideas, to have them dismissed by the liberal ideologues who see taxing and regulating the people they represent as some sort of dogmatic quest). On the contrary — we saw notable bills such as ones to ease incarceration for prisoners, and more regulations on the energy sector that will result in higher consumer costs. Oh yes, and the water crisis remains a crisis as the Sierra Club completely trumped common sense, with the Democrats amazingly producing a water bill that includes no new water storage… (Kind of like saying you fixed the leak on a boat by replacing the canopy.)

We’ll have more coverage on the end of the session, and our team is already working on our annual… Read More

This brief commentary just came in from David Crane, Economic Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This piece is a response to a blog post over at CalBuzz.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Tomorrow the Commission will meet in Los Angeles, followed by another meeting Monday in Berkeley and more discussion as necessary before the Commission presents its recommendations to the Legislature and Governor. There will be plenty of time for the Commission members to study and digest the proposals before any recommendations… Read More

This just in from our friend Brandon Criss, Chairman of the Siskiyou County Republican Party…

Common Sense From Us in the North State How can the State of California save $250 million, provide clean green hydropower energy for 70,000 homes, prevent the raising of electricity rates on Californians, provide $1.6 million annually in direct revenue to a rural county government for vital government services along with a broader tax-base for that county and also provide incomes, livelihoods and recreation opportunities to its residents? The answer is easier than you may think. All the State of California has to do is NOT demolish or breech hydropower dams on the Klamath River in far northern… Read More

After consultation with many fellow supporters of my proposed change in the California Republican Party Bylaws, I made the very difficult decision just a few minutes ago to withdraw the change.

To make a long story short, while I am confident that the votes were there to pass the change at the convention, the matter was becoming extremely divisive due to a lot of misinformation being spread about the proposal, and its effects.

The reality is that as long as someone can register Decline To State and elect to vote in either major party’s primary, we will continue to see the percentage of DTS voters steadily increase at the expense of party registration. Both political parties are going to eventually have to confront this issue head on.

My sincere appreciate to the hundreds of CRP Members who had indicated their support, and just because we will not be pursuing this important change this month does not believe we will now ignore the deteriorating effect of the status quo on our party registration.

I will close by saying that a political party cannot long endure if it focuses only on winning elections without thought to being prepared to do so… Read More

President’s speech: Many of you probably watched the President’s Wednesday night address to a joint session of Congress on health care. Such addresses to a joint session are usually done for the State of the Union or a national military emergency (9/11). It is quite rare to use this for a single policy address.

I was frankly surprised at what went on. This was really more like a lecture than a speech. Rather than accept the legitimate concerns of those (including this writer) who disagree with the president’s health care plan and discuss potential for compromise, Mr. Obama chided and taunted his opposition. You can’t say "we will call you out" in reference to people who will say things with which the President disagrees, and then expect to work with and be trusted by those same people. The President’s tone was haughty and condescending. As a result, the atmosphere is the room was extremely acrimonious. Maybe this mood didn’t come across on TV, but you could cut the air with a knife in that room. That is why there were more outbursts than usual.

The President sets the tone, and the tone was one of… Read More