Category Archives: California

Make CA Republicans Own This Budget Deal

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
So they reached a budget deal.  The gap was closed entirely with cuts to essential service, schools, health care, etc.  Democrats had to cave out of fear that elderly people literally would not have oxygen tanks.

And to add insult to injury, instead of paying for the oil they take from the state the oil companies receive waivers to allow them to drill offshore!  In the last deficit-fix deal big corporations got a huge tax cut and now oil companies get more of our oil for free. And we will suffer more pollution of our coasts. (It’s pretty clear from deals like these who is in control of the Republican caucus. The citizens get services taken away, the big corporations get perks that increase the deficits.)

This is a Republican budget deal, entirely on their terms.  Make them own it.

Here is how you make them own it: Make them vote for it.

Before any Democrat votes for this deal, every single Republican has to vote yes. When the voting start, just sit there.  Wait.  And then when the Republicans have all voted, ONLY THEN should Democrats start voting, but not before. 

If we are going to have to live with a budget forced on us by Republicans and oil companies, then the Republicans have to show up and vote for it.


Click through to Speak Out California.

Tracking Republican Myth That Business Are Leaving Because Of Taxes

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
I looked around and found that “businesses are leaving the state because of taxes” is one of those drumbeats that the corporate conservatives are using.  (Also, FYI the wealthy are leaving, too, parking their yachts in Salt Lake I guess.)
I wrote about this myth the other day, basically you pay taxes on profits and you certainly don’t pack up and leave profits behind.  I wrote,

Oh, one more thing for the slower-thinking Republicans out there: profits are a good thing, not a bad thing.  And when you are making a profit the last thing you do is pack up your business and leave behind the circumstances that enabled making that profit.

So I looked around for “businesses are leaving the state” articles.  Here are a few:

A Republican member of the Assembly writes, Governmental Restrictions, High Taxes Driving Businesses & Jobs Out Of California.
Oops, the example company didn’t leave, it started in Nevada, and it wasn’t because of taxes it was because they wanted “freedom” to dump toxins into the environment.
Businesses and wealthy individuals flee state because of taxes.
Oops this is another company that started in Nevada.  This time it was an income tax avoidance scheme where Californians set up the company in Nevada – but still live here. So it’s a PO box, not employees, etc.
 
This one quotes a Republican Party official,

“The high cost of living that continues to force Californians out of state should serve as a powerful reminder of the effect high taxes are having on our society,” said Ron Nehring, the Republican state party chairman.

But doesn’t give any examples, and in fact shows how California has very favorable business conditions, credits, and is the only state that doesn’t ask oil companies to pay for the oil they take.
California’s High Taxes and Burdensome Regulations Drive People and Businesses Away — scary title, lots of scary words, but no examples of businesses actually leaving the state.
Another Company Leaving California because of High Taxes, Regulations  – Oops, this one is leaving the state because they want to pollute the air, not because of taxes.  Nice title, though. Scary.
We went through a flurry of this a few years ago, too.  Did any leave then? Let’s see what we can find.
Companies Can’t Leave CA Fast Enough – A title insurer left the state.  The 2003 article doesn’t explain why but mentions retail energy rates.  Remember Enron, Bush, all that?
California proves too costly for departing businesses,

Coast Converters is spending $800,000 to move to Las Vegas, but the Los Angeles plastic bag manufacturer will save enough on workers’ compensation, electricity and other costs to recover that in less than a year, CEO Mitchell Greif says.

“It’s really an unfair business practice to allow companies to move to Nevada and sell into California,” Greif says. “But I’m doing it.”

Nope, not taxes.  And how do you like living in the desert, Mitchell?  Another 2003 electricity-costs thing.  You want deregulation?  Deregulating energy costs worked out great, no?

Nation’s Business.  Oops, the headlines are misleading, they are leaving because of costs.  Yes, it costs more to live here because people are coming here, not leaving.  Also,

… 10 percent of the 90 Southern California companies responding said they
“definitely” plan to move some or all operations from California within a year, and an additional 13 percent said they would “probably” do so.

OOPS, this one is from 1993, before the huge business boom.  Sorry.  I guess all the businesses left California.  Oh, wait…

Wait, here are some more articles:
New York’s Taxes Send People and Businesses Out Of State — Maybe they’re coming here.
Are Millionaires Leaving Maryland to Escape Higher Taxes? — Maybe they are passing California’s millionaires going the other way.
Leaving Oregon, and its taxes, behind
Executives say firms may leave state if computer services levy is not repealed (Maryland)
Poll shows many mull leaving state (Buffalo)
NY’s High Taxes Drive Small Business Away, Too
I guess all the businesses are leaving ALL the states!
Click through to Speak Out California

Republican Myth: Businesses Leave California Because Of Taxes

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California
Republicans like to claim that businesses leave California because of having to pay taxes.
I used to own and run a business, and I have some news for Republicans: Businesses only pay taxes on profits. You don’t pay taxes unless you are making a profit. Paying taxes means you are making a profit. Making a profit is a good thing, and California businesses pay a small percentage of the profits to the state to help cover the expenses that enabled you to make that profit.
I’m not sure how many different ways I can say it. You pay taxes after you make a profit. At the end of the year you add up your revenue and you subtract your expenses and other deductions and then you know what your profit is.
Oh, one more thing for the slower-thinking Republicans out there: profits are a good thing, not a bad thing. And when you are making a profit the last thing you do is pack up your business and leave behind the circumstances that enabled making that profit.
I understand that Republicans hate government and are enraged by the idea of actually giving something back to the community to help pay for the roads, bridges, courts, police and fire protection, educated citizenry and the other parts of the state’s infrastructure that created the environment that led to the ability to make a profit. Yes, they hate that. I understand.
But the fact is that businesses do not pack up and leave when they are making profits. So if Republicans want to trick people into supporting tax cuts for the big companies that shelled out so much cash put them in office they really do need to come up with better stories than trying to claim that businesses pack up and leave the state because they are making too much profit.
Click through to Speak Out California

CA Voters Kept In Dark About Budget

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California
Today’s San Jose Mercury News has a front-page story, California leaders in no hurry to break budget impasse. From the story,

Despite plunging tax revenues, Wall Street’s unwillingness to loan the state money and billions of dollars worth of IOUs hitting mailboxes, California’s leaders are displaying a seeming lack of urgency to close the state’s $26.3 billion deficit.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders blew past a supposedly ironclad June 30 deadline to pass a new budget…

Blew past? The legislature did pass a budget fix last week, but the Governor vetoed it! This choice by the Governor led to the state needing to issue IOUs.
To their credit (I guess) the San Jose paper hinted at the veto in an editorial a week ago, Governor didn’t need to push state over the edge, writing,

In rejecting a stopgap fix for the budget on Tuesday, the governor and GOP leaders have accelerated a budget meltdown that pushes the state deeper into debt.”

Talking to people involved, I pick up a sense that passing a budget fix after the Governor said he would veto it was pointless, so not worth mentioning. But isn’t that for the voters to decide?  Many would say that passing the fix, especially at the last minute after all negotiations had failed and the state was going over the cliff was the responsible thing to do, also known as governing. This put a budget fix on the table and available for use to avoid the calamity and cost of IOUs, rating downgrades, etc. The Governor had a clear choice at that point, and chose to take the state over the cliff.  The voters should have been told, not kept in the dark that the Governor made that choice.

Meanwhile, the other side still refuses to offer up any plan of their own, still insisting that the Democrats fix the budget entirely with cuts to services that the public needs and take the blame for that.  They refuse to allow any plan that asks oil or tobacco companies to pitch in. They claim the wealthy will “leave the state” if asked to pitch in an additional $40 a week. They make up stories about companies leaving the state (but can’t name any). But it is not reported that the Republicans refuse to offer a plan or engage in serious negotiations. It is as if the Republicans are expected to not be serious, so it’s not worth reporting that they aren’t serious. The voters should have been told.

The system of democracy depends on the voters being informed so they can apply pressure as needed and remove officeholders who are not doing what the voters want them to do.  But none of this works if the citizens have no way of learning simple facts, like that the legislature did govern responsibly and pass a budget fix, which the Governor vetoed. The voters should have been told.
Click through to Speak Out California.

California Suspicion

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Here is what I suspect. It’s obvious that Republicans are shutting the state down on purpose. I suspect they have a plan ready, and will launch a full-scale “shock doctrine” “solution” to the problem, along with a full-on PR campaign blaming Democrats, “spending” (meaning benefits and services to citizens who are not rich) and government in general (democracy) for the problem.
The “solution” will likely include a flat tax (giving a huge tax cut to millionaires while raising them for the rest of us), probable cutting or even eliminating corporate taxes, maybe school vouchers or just eliminating public schools to some degree, etc.
So let’s see. This is not an accident it is a plan.

Does the Public Think Politicians Are Crying Wolf (Again)?

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
A recent large headline in the San Jose Mercury News got me thinking.  The headline was, “A dire warning from the Governor”. (Online headline is different from the morning’s print headline.)   From the story, “Schwarzenegger said … his threat … is necessary to prod lawmakers into swift action.”

I have to admit that even I rolled my eyes when I saw that — even though I understand how serious the problem is. And this led me to think that maybe there is a “crying wolf” factor at work here.  This has been going on now or a long time. 

A few months ago the crisis was reaching a breaking point, dire warnings were issued, and most importantly the public was starting to pay attention.  This triggered the leadership in Sacramento to do what I think was the worst possible thing: they came up with the fluffy budget compromise that “solved” the crisis and resulted in the failed May 19 Special Election.  I believe the compromise was a mistake that broke the tension and led people to believe that the “crisis” was over, so they tuned back out. 

I think the “chicken little” aspect of the whole affair kept people away from the polls in droves.

I am not faulting the Governor and other state leaders for headlines like thos and other warnings because the crisis is real.  Our leaders all need to do whatever it takes to get people to pay attention, to realize this budget crisis is real and that everything that can be cut has been cut, that they really are going to have to let people out of prisons and close parks and still will run out of money anyway.  Bankruptcy and all of its consequences looms.  For real.  The public has to get involved and do their job in this democracy.

But I can understand why most Californians have tuned out.  I think part of this budget problem is that it has become the norm to use drama and fear to prod others into action.  And not just with the budget.  There are so many terrible problems hitting us from so many directions.  The economy really did collapse, and we may be on the edge of another Great Depression.  For real.  This has been a headline swarm for months.  Swine flu is real, but is not as lethal as it first appeared it could be.  This was the headline swarm a few weeks ago.  And of course Global Warming is real, and serious.  It has been a headline swarm for years.  

Those are real and serious problems.  But at the same time there are so many manipulative, well-funded and sophisticated PR campaigns, usually from corporate interests, that use fear and/or other manipulation.  Remember the headlines warning aobut possible terrorist smallpox attacks?  Remember being told that Iraq was on the verge of hitting us with nuclear weapons?   Remember duct tape? 

So people just do not know who to trust and necessarily are becoming immune to drama.

California’s big media outlets could do a better job of explaining the real problems facing the state, beginning by dispelling the idea that the state is just wasting taxpayer money and everything can be solved with a few painless budget cuts.  They need to do this in a serious, respectful way, with comprehensive investigative reporting.  If print media won’t do that, they should close their doors — they aren’t doing their jobs and aren’t helping anyone anymore so they should let their advertisers support a medium that helps democracy rather than hinders it.  If broadcast media can’t do that, they should relinquish their broadcast licenses to others who will.

The poor, elderly and disabled have already suffered the cuts.  They understand that this is for real.  So maybe we need the crisis to hit home so (middle class) people can also understand that it is for real – this time.  
Click through to Speak Out California.

Schwarzenegger’s Talk Was Cheap

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California

Governor Schwarzenegger has talked about the need to act responsibly and pass a budget.
So the legislature is trying to do just that.  According to the Sacramento Bee,

“… the Legislature’s joint budget conference committee, on a party-line vote, adopted a plan that included about $2 billion in new oil production and cigarette taxes to help bridge a $24 billion budget gap.”

So what is the Governor’s response to a balanced approach to fixing the budget?

“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he wouldn’t sign a plan that was balanced with tax increases.”

He will shut down the state, close the schools, lay off thousands of workers, because the legislature balances the cuts with small tax increases on tobacco and oil companies.

Continue reading →

CA Budget – Where Is The Public?

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
As the state’s budget woes grow it is increasingly difficult to gauge what the public wants (or even understands.)  The information channels are stuffed with corporate/conservative propaganda and astroturf like the “tea parties” but there is little comprehensive, accurate and truly objective information available to help the public understand what is happening.  For example, few stories about the budget explain that a minority of only 1/3 of the legislature is blocking the passage of a budget, or that a budget was passed by the legislature in January and was vetoed by the Governor.  Few stories explain the extent of budget cuts the state has already made.

The uninformed public isn’t helping solve this.  Turnout for the special election was only about 28 percent of our 17.1 million registered voters, which is about 20% of the 23,385,819 eligible voters.  So the election didn’t tell us what about 80% of our citizens want to do.  It did show that a solid majority of 20% of us didn’t want those particular ballot initiatives. But what does this mean?  While 31% of Los Angeles County voters were for proposition 1a, just this last November 68% voted for the Measure R sales tax increase. This corresponds with other gauges of the meaning of the special election.  So the special election provides little guidance for policymakers.
An April Field Poll of Californians showed that Californians are against raising taxes and against cutting school budgets, health care and higher education.  Should we conclude from this that they are just in favor of bankruptcy?  Before we conclude bankruptcy is what people really want, we need some polling to see if people understand what it would mean to their own lives.  For example, do pepole understand the economic effect from laying off all of the state employees, teachers, etc., closing down the schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, prisons, and stopping all the firefighting and police services that people expect.  Are they really in favor of this, or do they just not understand what they are asking for?

Meanwhile, the poll found that 74% approve of increasing taxes on millionaires, and 56% favor legalizing and taxing millionaires marijuana.  So maybe there is some guidance from that.

These figures on taxes are supported by an April 15 Gallup poll finding that 48% of Americans think they are
paying the proper amount of taxes, but 60% believe the wealthy are
under-taxed (and “23 percent think they pay their fair share, and 13
percent feel that they are overburdened”).

The SEIU has just released a TV ad which they will be spending $1 million to run, along with a new website, CommonSenseForCA.org. They are asking for a balanced approach to fixing the budget, not just through cuts but also with new revenue.  Here is the ad, and please visit the website. 

Let us know what you think.
Click through to Speak Out California.

California Election Results — What The Public Wants

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
Did the results of the special election on the budget propositions really show that the public is against taxes and government, as the Republicans claim?  Recent polling looked at the reasons the propositions failed.  Polls are a useful way to understand what people really thing because they take a scientific sample, actually asking the voters what they think, instead of just repeating something that Republicans just say.  Let’s see what the voters give as their reasons for opposing the propositions.  From the polling:

  • 74% of voters polled thought the election was just a gimmick, not an actual fix for California’s budget problems.
  • 70% of the voters polled said the legislature is a captive of special interests (possibly because people are learning that the “budget deal” that they came up with in the middle of this emergency included a huge tax cut for large, multi-state corporations.)
  • In a budget battle dominated by Republican demands for spending cuts instead of asking the rich and corporations to pay their fair share only 19% of voters polled said that Californians are being asked to share the pain equally. 
  • And to drive that point home, only 29% of voters polled said that the budget should be balanced only with spending cuts.  According to the polling “even among ‘No’ voters, less than half (46%) say the government should rely entirely on spending cuts with no tax increases.”

In summary, voters resented that the legislature is held captive by the 2/3 rule, and want them to address that instead of coming up with short-term gimmicks to get through another year while making things even worse later.

Additionally, and completely contrary to anti-tax and anti-government claims, the polling showed “broad support for new revenue streams.”  According to the polling report, the public supports:

  • Increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages (75% support)
  • Increasing taxes on tobacco (74% support)
  • Imposing an oil extraction tax on oil companies just like every other oil producing state (73% support)
  • Closing the loophole that allows corporations to avoid reassessment of the value of new property they purchase (63% support)
  • Increasing the top bracket of the state income tax from nine point three percent to 10 percent for families with taxable income over $272,000 a year and to eleven percent for families with taxable incomes over $544,000 a year (63% support)
  • Prohibiting corporations from using tax credits to offset more than fifty percent of the taxes they owe (59% support)

The corporate right has to spin last week’s special election as an anti-tax vote.  What else can they do?  But, as usual, their spin goes completely the other way from the facts.

Let’s put them to the test.  The corporate right claims that this election showed that the public is solidly against government and taxes.  If they really believe that, how about reinstating majority rule in California, instead of requiring a 2/3 vote to pass budgets and taxes? 

Since they claim that the public is solidly against taxes, will they also support a straight up-or-down vote on taxes?  Of course not.  The public is not with them and they know it. This is just a ruse to continue destroying our great state and our democratic process.
Click through to Speak Out California.

Are California Voters ‘Anti-Government?’

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
In the op-ed piece titled, “A rising anti-government tide,” Republican leader Newt Gingrich wrote last week about California’s special election,

“This vote is the second great signal that the American people are getting fed up with corrupt politicians, arrogant bureaucrats, greedy interests and incompetent, destructive government.”

For those unfamiliar with the history of Newt Gingrich here is a quick lesson in what you are hearing.  Newt Gingrich is a father of Republican nasty-talk.  In 1990 Gingrich introduced a memo titled, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,” advising Republicans to use certain words over and over, always describing opponents as “destructive,” “incompetent,” “greedy,” etc., and always describe Republicans as “humane,” “fair,” “principled,” etc.  Please go read the memo and see for yourself.  Gingrich’s advice was to just insult and insult and be nasty dirty up the discourse, and you will win elections.  And, of course, that is what they did and they did win elections – for a while.  They are still nasty and just insult and insult, but they haven’t been winning elections. 

So, knowing that, take anything Gingrich says with a grain of salt.  (Never mind that Gingrich is also known for committing adultery in a car in the parking garage of the U.S. Capital, with a much-younger Congressional aide while he was Speaker of the House, during the Republican effort to impeach President Clinton for adultery!)  And ask yourself why any supposedly respectable news outlet would give him a platform to do the damage that he does.  
 
But back to the subject-at-hand, whether voters really, as Gingrich claims, expressed an “anti-government” message last week?  Does Gingrich have his facts right?  Let’s check a fact. Gingrich wrote, “This model of
high-tax, big-spending inefficiency has already driven thousands of successful Californians out of the state…” But everyone who actually knows anything about California knows that the reason people leave the state is because of high real-estate prices.  And the reason they are high is because so many people want to live here.  Of course, the implication (because it coincides with another Republican talking point) is that businesses leave the state because of taxes.  Studies that look at actual facts show this isn’t true, either.  Brian Leubitz on Friday wrote about this at Calitics,

“He
[Gingrich] highlights the Yacht Party theme that all these businesses are leaving California…except that they aren’t. As noted by the CA Budget Project blog, the PPIC has shown that this really isn’t true. PPIC event went so far as to say, in a report, that “it is important to be wary of anecdotal evidence of businesses fleeing the state to support arguments that California has an economic climate hostile to business.””

Can any readers name even a single business that has left California because of taxes?  If so, leave a comment.

Next: A look at the polls. 
Click through to Speak Out California.

Don’t Forget The Governor Vetoed A Budget That Passed

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This post originally appeared at Speak Out California.
As we face this state budget crisis, we would like to remind people that it didn’t have to be this way. The Democrats in California’s legislature tried to do the responsible thing to keep the state running and head this off, and passed a good budget in January. The Republicans and the Governor instead wanted to create a crisis and force the state into bankruptcy.
From January, Schwarzenegger vetoes budget bills,

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this afternoon vetoed the Democratic plan to reduce the budget deficit by $18 billion and will urge lawmakers to use his January proposal as a template for implementing midyear cuts…
The move forces leaders to start over in their efforts to close a budget deficit estimated at $40 billion over the next 18 months. It jettisons — for now — what Democrats hailed as “the only game in town” — because it included tax increases approved without Republican votes.

Schwarzenegger rejects latest budget proposal,

Democratic leaders sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger an $18 billion deficit-cutting package on Tuesday, a plan he quickly vetoed as anti-tax groups filed a lawsuit to stop it.
The activity came amid the Legislature’s third special session since the November election to deal with California’s worsening budget deficit, projected at $42 billion over the next 18 months.

For some reason, it has been forgotten that this budget would have solved this problem and avoided the May 19 election and resulting chaos. But the anti-tax extremists blocked it because they don’t want government to work, they want it to shut down. It is a strategy they are following because it keeps their base active and brings them corporate donations. They do not believe in government, they have said so, and they have all signed a pledge to that effect.
The Democrats should be strategic as well as responsible and pass this budget again. This time if the Governor vetoes it or the anti-tax extremists take it to court they will be doing so while people’s own schools are forced to lay of teachers, and their own police departments are being forced to reduce patrols. It won’t be hypothetical, it will be happening in their neighborhoods and their cities. The public will be able to see for themselves who is trying to keep the state running, who is trying to keep their schools open, and who is trying to shut the state down. And if it goes to court they will be forced to ask why we do not have majority rule in California, how there can be a law allowing a small number of extremists to block everything.
Click through to Speak Out California.

Back From Working At The Polls

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Being a poll worker is a long and rewarding day. I had to be at my precinct – a half-hour drive – at 6am. Set up the polling place and the machines, do the paperwork, and open the polls at 7am.
Close the polls at 8pm. Then take down everything, reconcile the ballot count — unvoted ballots from the morning, provisionals, spoiled ballots, machine count, etc…
The vote has gone overwhelmingly against the propositions. The comments from voters that I overheard were always about how the legislature wasn’t doing its job and they resented it. i didn’t hear a single comment about taxes.
This was not a vote against taxes. It was a vote against legislative dysfunction, secrecy, and structural ungovernability.