
When Taxes Soared and Jobs Fled
The Schwarzenegger campaign opened the general election with a low-key but potentially destructive television commercial charging that Phil Angelides would raise taxes by ten billion dollars. Angelides’ people fought back by arguing that their man will only raise taxes by $5 billion. Something tells me that this is a debate that Team Arnold is willing to have over the next several months.
However, the ad was framed as a question of taking California "backwards". It referred specifically to "a time we never want to see again . when soaring taxes forced jobs and businesses to flee our state…" The reporters covering the announcement immediately began pressing to find out when this particular time existed, pointing out that Gray Davis’ only significant tax increase had been the $4 billion vehicle license fee that Schwarzeneger repealed several weeks after it was implemented.
Schwarzenegger campaign manager Steve Schmidt denied that the ad was referring to former Pete… Read More