Proposition 1F was placed on the ballot by the Legislature to help a couple of legislators feel better about violating their promises not to raise taxes. This ridiculous waste of ballot space allowed some legislators to pretend that they got something in return for supporting large tax increases.

Proposition 1F does not really change anything. It prohibits constitutional officers and legislators from receiving pay raises in deficit years. The salaries for these elected officials are set by the California Citizens Compensation Commission (not the Legislature), and that Commission has never increased salaries in a deficit year anyway.

Proposition 1F does not even accomplish what it pretends to do. Pay increases, when they are authorized by the Commission, do not take effect until after the next election. So they are not likely to have any influence on any legislator’s vote.

And even if this measure did influence a legislator’s vote on the budget I would be very disappointed. For that would mean that some Republican or Democrat voted against their constituents’ interests and their own conscience because of a potential pay raise.

I… Read More

I wrote the following oped for the Fresno Bee which runs today. You can see it online here (free sign up required). I submitted in response to a column penned by the Bee’s Opinion Page Editor Jim Boren entitled, Cogdill, Villines Did Right Thing. Boren’s praise for the "courage" of former Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines in helping to orchestrate a budget deal that included the largest tax increase in state history warranted a rebuttal… It is imperative that readers understand that the Republican Party opposes tax increases.

Broken Promises of Cogdill, Villines Costly To California Taxpayers By Jon… Read More

I wrote the following oped for the Fresno Bee which runs today. You can see it online here (free sign up required). I submitted in response to a column penned by the Bee’s Opinion Page Editor Jim Boren entitled, Cogdill, Villines Did Right Thing. Boren’s praise for the "courage" of former Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines in helping to orchestrate a budget deal that included the largest tax increase in state history warranted a rebuttal… It is imperative that readers understand that the Republican Party opposes tax increases.

Broken Promises of Cogdill, Villines Costly To California Taxpayers By Jon… Read More

For California taxpayers, the good news is Tax Freedom Day came 10 days earlier this year — mostly due to the economic downturn, including the housing bust. The bad news is that Californians still pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. Read the story here in the Victorville Daily Press. Will Tax Freedom Day arrive even earlier next year? With the recent increases in sales tax, the near doubling of the car tax and income tax, I am doubtful. To find out how much extra money your family will pay in taxes, check out the tax calculator on my website.… Read More

On Tuesday we carried a piece by the Claremont Institute’s Tom Karako, Director of CI’s Golden State Center, that was quite critical of Prositions 1A-1F. You can see that here.

Loren Kaye of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, the policy arm of the California Chamber of Commerce, which is supporting the ballot measures, responded with a stinging criticism here.

When I received the Kaye piece, I forwarded it along to the folks at the Claremont Institute for their perusal and potential response. Karako did pen a rebuttal, which is included below…

We received this response from Loren Kaye, the President of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education (the CalChamber’s policy organization) — in response to the Claremont Institute’s analysis of Propositions 1A-1F. Claremont rated the measures poorly — the CalChamber supports them. Kaye’s points are below, responding the the Claremont post here.

The Claremont Institute embarrassed itself today by associating its name with a pseudo-analysis of the May ballot measures. The analyst, Tom Karako, used a hackneyed PR device – Letter Grades! – to dress up what otherwise was careless analysis and warmed-over rhetoric. Once again, critics of Proposition 1A should… Read More

Former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder had to navigate his black Humvee through five different security checkpoints through an exclusive community in the hills of Glendora, on the west end of the 59th Assembly District represented by Anthony Adams, to get to an exclusive mansion where over a hundred guests would soon gather for a high-priced fundraising event benefitting Adams. While these multiple checkpoints, manned with a combination of private security, Glendora police, and California Highway Patrol, were erected to ensure that none of the protesters gathered at the bottom of the hill, irate about Adams’ recent vote for the largest tax increase in state history, would be able to get up to the event – Schroeder was given clearance at each checkpoint, and was let up to the house around 5pm, a little before most guests would arrive for the event. Schroeder, however, did not have a ticket to the event. On the contrary, Schroeder is one of the last people in the world that would write a check to help Adams stay in office. So why, you might… Read More

Former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder had to navigate his black Humvee through five different security checkpoints through an exclusive community in the hills of Glendora, on the west end of the 59th Assembly District represented by Anthony Adams, to get to an exclusive mansion where over a hundred guests would soon gather for a high-priced fundraising event benefitting Adams. While these multiple checkpoints, manned with a combination of private security, Glendora police, and California Highway Patrol, were erected to ensure that none of the protesters gathered at the bottom of the hill, irate about Adams’ recent vote for the largest tax increase in state history, would be able to get up to the event – Schroeder was given clearance at each checkpoint, and was let up to the house around 5pm, a little before most guests would arrive for the event. Schroeder, however, did not have a ticket to the event. On the contrary, Schroeder is one of the last people in the world that would write a check to help Adams stay in office. So why, you might ask, was Schroeder… Read More