contributor
opinion inside CaliforniaRepublic.org
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RECALL
FOLLIES
Who
Should Be the Next Governor?
A taxpayer endorsement from HJTA
NEW TODAY [Jon Coupal] 8/29/03 | You
don't need to be told that California taxpayers face the greatest crisis
since the passage of Proposition 13, twenty-five years ago. Backed by special
interests, inside and outside of government, the Legislature and the governor
have irresponsibly increased spending so fast that that there is no way
that revenue can keep up without massive tax increases. Politicians, who
want to continue the lavish spending, have become so brazen that for the
first time many are now talking about repealing Proposition 13! This category
includes Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante. | The
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association endorsed the recall of Gray Davis because
we believe that gross
incompetence IS grounds for removing the governor! | With
the expectation that the recall will be successful, taxpayers must now make a
decision that will be critical to the state for years to come. Who should be
the next governor? [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
FABULOUS
BUDGET
Davis
Democrats and their 16 Wobbly Republicans...
The budget is bad for the state... recall them all...
[Joe
Armendariz] 8/28/03 [Editor's note: last week CRO published
an Op-Ed by Michael New which characterized the
state's budget as the first victory of the recall. Contributor Joe Armendariz
has
a different opinion of the budget.] | A
few weeks ago, California's tax-and-spend Democrats with the help of 16
wobbly Republicans finally approved a budget that sells out the interests
of California taxpayers. Why? In the case of the Republicans, probably
so they would be liked by their friends across the aisle. Or, perhaps we
can simply take them at their word; they were hungry, tired, and wanted
to go home, eat a hot meal, take a warm shower and hop into a soft bed. | The
reality is that the budget Davis proposed back in May, was better (on the
margin) than the one the 16 Republicans voted for after holding out for
the past several weeks. They ended up delaying only to cave and vote for
a worse fiscal product. Remove the $2.3 billion in higher sales taxes and
the Davis proposal was a more pro-growth budget than what the people ended
up with. | Make
no mistake about it, the so-called budget compromise, raises taxes on those
who can least afford it and also on those least likely to tolerate paying
higher taxes. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE
Another
Earthquake Coming
And it’s a good thing too...
[John Campbell] 8/27/03 | California,
of course, is known for its earthquakes. These notable earthquakes
do include such ones as Northridge
and Landers and Loma Prieta. But the
earthquakes to which I refer are ones like the reform movement
of Governor
Hiram Johnson in the early part of the last century or the Proposition
13 taxpayer revolt of the late 1970’s. These were earthquakes
of public opinion. Political ground was moved by the sheer force
of a populace
disgusted with the status quo and unafraid of significant change.
Voters caused an upheaval of the establishment in government. | In
each case, what started here in California spread across the nation.
We have always been a state to start trends, not follow them. That can
happen in politics as much as in industry or in culture. | This
state has been quiet for a while. But, it's 2003 and all the seeds of
a new political earthquake have been sown. Taxpayers are up in arms because
they pay so much and get so little for it. Voters feel disenfranchised
and unrepresented. Incompetence and corruption run rampant in Sacramento.
Businesses are overburdened with valueless costs and regulation imposed
by an abusive and unaccountable government. And they are all nearing
the boiling point and ready to rise up. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
SHEERING
THE TIMES
Scheer
Cruz
Bob's
pulling for Bustamante and more taxes...
[Stefan
Sharkansky] 8/27/03 (Editor's Note: Stefan
Sharkansky provides a valuable ongoing service deconstructing
LA Times "columnist" Robert Scheer.) | Robert
Scheer, the L.A. Times' own tax-dodging
Communist real-estate mogul, is using this week's column to
campaign for Cruz Bustamante. | "Bustamante
has the training, experience and track record required to work
with the Legislature
to
produce a budget come January." | What
kind of training does Bustamante have that makes him uniquely capable to run
the world's sixth largest economy? A report in
today's Christian Science Monitor says Bustamante was | "A
C-average student in high school ... He once studied to become a butcher, and
though he started
college some 30 years ago, he didn't finish until this May." | Just
what California needs -- a butcher school dropout. How will he cut spending if
he can't even figure
out how to cut meat? [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
RECALL
FOLLIES
Leader
of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy???
I've been found out...
[Ray
Haynes] 8/26/03 | This
last week, Governor Davis claimed that Republicans caused the electricity
crisis, Republicans caused the budget crisis, and now, that “what is happening
here is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections they cannot win.” He
said the recall is part of this national effort--a “right wing power grab” to
seize control of the Governor’s office with “just a handful
of voters.” | I’m
afraid he’s on to me. It’s me, or at least, I think it’s
me, that the Governor is accusing of this right wing power grab. I reach
that conclusion
based
on the following facts... [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
RECALL
FOLLIES
Hasta
La Vista Bustamante!
Campaigning to take the state further down the wrong road...
[Joe Armendariz] 8/26/03 | The
tax and spend lobby's designated candidate, Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante,
is proposing the imposition of more taxes on California taxpayers should
he be elected to replace Gray Davis on October 7. | Memo
to Bustamante: since 1991, California's average annual growth rate
in taxes, compared to the average annual growth rate in personal income,
was more than double. In fact, from 1991 to 2001, California's annual
growth rate in taxes increased by 6.3% while income growth was only
3.1%. Today, for every $1,000 of income, California is ranked 8 out
of 50 with respect to state tax collections. | This
doesn't bode well for businesses in this state and their ability to
compete in a competitive marketplace. A marketplace, after all, that
is not just competitive on the domestic front, but on a global front
as well. Incredible as it may seem, in a recent statement posted on
its web site, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce actually came out
in support of raising California's state sales tax. In fact, the President
of the LA Chamber suggested there was a "need" to raise the
state's sales tax. But do we really "need" to raise the state
sales tax? Not when you consider that at the current rate of 7.25%,
California already charges the highest sales tax in the nation.[more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
THE
MONDAY COLUMN
Running
to Win
The Recall and Republican Redemption
[Carol
Platt Liebau] 8/25/03 | Last
weekend offered a long-awaited opportunity to see the film about the famous race
horse, Seabiscuit, that was released earlier this summer. The movie
is wonderful. It’s a tale about redemption through focus, self-knowledge
and – above all – the grace that causes all things, even apparent
misfortune, ultimately to work
together for good. | In
some ways, politics is a lot like horseracing. Honest people, as the saying goes,
pay their money and take their chance. There are never any guarantees, and the
outcome of every race depends on so many factors that it is virtually impossible
to exercise complete control over anything. All that any politician, voter (or
horse) can do is to prepare, so as to be ready when the make-or-break moment
of decision arrives, as it inevitably will. | As
the recall season rolls on, there will be several more weeks like the one just
past – with news changing so constantly that it’s hard even to formulate
any consistent analysis. Multiple polls are released, some containing unsettling
news, such as the weekend’s Los Angeles Times poll that purportedly
shows a significant narrowing in the margin of voters favoring the governor’s
recall (50% to 45%, compared to last week’s Public Policy Institute poll,
which showed 58% in favor, 36% opposed), | In
any race, discomfiting poll numbers occasionally appear, but careful examination
of the poll reveals that there is no reason for undue Republican concern. The Times poll
demonstrates that a disproportionate number of Republicans, presumably anti-Davis,
are likely to actually vote in the election. In short, Republicans are the more
intense, motivated voting bloc – a key component of electoral
success. | But
it’s important that Republicans maintain their focus, and it should rest
squarely on a vision for California – an indispensable part of any campaign,
but one that
both Davis and Bustamante lack. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
RECALL
FOLLIES
A
Marriage of Convenience
Conservatives should accept Schwarzenegger to help rejuvenate
state GOP
[Carol
Platt Liebau] 8/25/03 | [Editor's
note: This editorial was published yesterday in
the Orange County Register Sunday Commentary
section.] John Kenneth Galbraith once observed that politics
consists of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.
Nothing could better summarize the reaction of many of
California’s conservatives to the prospect of a
liberal Republican like Arnold Schwarzenegger winning
the recall election. | From
a conservative’s perspective, the good news about
Arnold’s candidacy is that it puts the last nail
in the coffin of the Gray Davis governorship. The bad
news is that it dooms the candidacy of conservative state
Sen. Tom McClintock, as well. He lacks Schwarzenegger’s
nearly universal name identification, mountains of money
and white-hot charisma. And with the recall less than
two months off, there’s no time to develop them. | So
conservative Republicans are at a crossroads. It may
be tempting for them to stay with McClintock – their
true love – but they need to swing their support
to Schwarzenegger and commit themselves to a political
marriage of convenience. | There’s
no doubt that there’s much for conservative Republicans
to dislike in Arnold’s positions. He is presumably
a "social moderate" – and he’s
certainly not the second coming of Ronald Reagan. But
even so, the California Republican Party needs Arnold,
badly. | More than anything,
Republicans simply need a winner. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
CAPITOL
REPORT
Sacramento's
Back in Business
If the past week is any indication...Watch out...
[John Campbell] 8/23/03 | Things
are active in Sacramento again.....and on balance that is not a good
thing. Here are some quick comments
on events of the week: | Error
Correction: First of all, I take pride in the accuracy of the information
in this coulmn and I made a mistake last week which I want to correct. I said
that every Democrat legislator had voted to increase the car tax prior to the
Governor raising it administratively. There were several votes on the matter
so it is not crystal clear, but I think the fairest thing to say is that out
of 73 Democrat
legislators, only 69 voted to triple the tax. | Financial
Privacy: The legislature passed SB1 (Speier- D) a much debated and much
changed proposal to give you more control over the privacy of your financial
information. I voted for the revised bill and have long believed that we all
need more control and protection over this information. This is a move in the
right direction although I believe that some specifics in the bill will need
to
be perfected in the coming years. | Bustamante
Budget: My vocabulary is generally adequate but I cannot find
words to describe how bad the budget proposal made by Cruz Bustamante for
next
year is. My computer's thesaurus suggests "grim, grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrifying,
horrible and macabre." All of those work. It is as thought he looked
at all the bad stuff Davis did the last 5 years to kill jobs and the economy
in
this
state and decided to do more of it. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
FABULOUS
BUDGET
Prop
13: Anniversary Backlash
Its enemies retell the old myths...
[Jon Coupal] 8/23/03 | As
a consequence of Proposition 13 marking its 25th anniversary, we have
seen numerous articles and commentaries on the taxpayers' favorite initiative
in publications around the state. Sadly, this has provided the usual
suspects -- those feeding at the public trough, left-wing pundits, and
elitist academicians-- with the opportunity to regurgitate uninformed
opinions about Proposition 13 and have them published, in many cases,
as if they were fact. Add Warren Buffet to the list of those who need
to be educated on this important taxpayerprotection. | We
at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association find ourselves, as the legal
and political watchdog over Proposition 13, responding to a lot of outright
nonsense that gets into print. | For
example, a reporter for a Stockton newspaper recently did an article
on Proposition 13's impact on education, using as the only source a local
school administrator who claimed that the tax-limiting measure was responsible
for the loss of local spending control over education. Because of Proposition
13, the argument goes, Sacramento controls the purse strings. | This
is a canard that we see often. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
CLASHING
CULTURE
The
Open City
Movie Review - Open Range
[Ken
Masugi] 8/23/03 | One
measure of how far American popular culture has fallen may be taken by
comparing this ponderous waste of talent with the great westerns—for
example, The
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,Shane,
or Ride
the High Country. Kevin Costner and the exploited Robert Duvall
("The Boss") sound like the cowboys caricatured by Garrison
Keillor on his radio show. With Open Range, Costner continues
the decline of the western begun with his Dances
With Wolves. This embarrassment followed on Clint Eastwood's
later films, such as Pale
Rider and Unforgiven.
Philosophically, this can be stated as Rousseau replacing Aristotle:
compassion and sensuality unhorse manliness. | It
would be a mistake to deride serious study of popular culture, such as
film, in favor of classical drama; Shakespeare—when properly performed—is
of course incomparable. But in a democratic republic such as the United
States, public opinion goes further than the law in shaping the American
character. The movies have been a source of civic education as well as
a reflection of the public's soul. [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
