June 3, 2009
California Commentary
The Reaction
Last week, this column set forth
the various messages that were
sent to our political leaders via
the stunning defeat of the budget
"reform" package of Propositions
1A-1E. Despite stacking the deck
and outspending opponents by at
least 10 to 1, nearly two-thirds of
voters rejected the proposals and
the $16 billion in tax increases
they would bring.
Among the messages sent by
the voters is that the status qua
is over. 'No' is going to be a new
word in the lexicon of many of our
elected leaders. They are going
to have to shut off the spigot
of taxpayer revenue for their
powerful political constituencies
that have controlled Sacramento
for so long.
Also, voters were crystal clear
in statement about their tax
burden. Voters are not happy
about carrying the highest tax
burden in the nation so our public
employees can continue to be
the highest paid in all 50 states
and so that special interest
contributors get tax breaks.
The post hoc rationalizations
by various left of center pundits
about how this was not a vote
about taxes range from weak to
silly.
Another message -- one that
has been sent by voters before
-- is that deception in politics can
be fatal, as well as immoral. The
worst thing our elected officials
can do is try to fool the voters.
Here, the notion that Prop 1A had
nothing to do with tax increases
(the Governor's early position)
didn't even pass the laugh test.
The effort by the legislature to
present a deceptive ballot title,
ballot label, ballot summary --
as well as cherry-picking the
arguments "against" -- was
despicable. And it backfired.
Knowing that the voters
sent these messages with a
high degree of clarity, the next
question is to discern whether
they were received by their
intended audience -- California's
existing political leadership and,
if so, what will be the response?
Some of the Governor's early
The Julian News 13
by Jon Coupal
he has stated in fairly clear terms
that further tax increases are off
the table.
Even the Democrat leadership
is being very reticent about saying
the "T" word too loud. Seems as
though that last Tuesday was an
epiphany.
But then the next question
-- and one that responsible
taxpayers have been asking for
years -- is whether in their drive to
cut government spending, will our
elected leaders exact revenge on
voters by cutting programs most
working and productive citizens
want and need, or will they
reduce spending by targeting
our most wasteful and corrupt
programs first?
Will the Integrated Waste
Management Board be eliminated
before the California Department
of Forestry eliminates positions?
Will the legislature hold
hearings on the labor abuses
rampant throughout California
government at all levels? (For
example, LAUSD pays 160
teachers not to teach -- they just
show up to work and do nothing
except collect their paychecks).
Or will California' best and
brightest teachers be fired before
the lazy and incompetent ones
are laid off?
Will our elected leaders dust
off the California Performance
Review and begin to implement
its recommendations for
streamlining government
enthusiastically, or will they
just go through the motions,
implement a few minor provisions
and claim that there is no more
fat in state government? Will our
legislative leaders breath new life
into JLAC (Joint Legislative Audit
Committee) and aggressively
review long existing state
programs to see, first, if the
program is still as high a priority
as it was when the authorizing
legislation was enacted and,
second, assuming that the
answer to the first question
is yes, is the program being
administered in a cost effective
manner?
Will dangerous inmates
average. Taxpayers would be
well-served if political leaders
ignored the political influence of
the prison guards and seriously
considered contracting out
prison services.
These are legitimate questions
and voters will be watching to see
if the reductions in state spending
are imposed in a rational manner
preserving our most needed
programs-- especially public
safety -- or whether our political
leadership will exact some sort of
revenge against voters for turning
down the proposals on May 19th.
Regrettably, we have already
heard some legislators adopt a
"we'll show them" mentality as
they review spending priorities.
But that would be a mistake.
Our elected leaders have
already made one huge political
miscalculation this year. Cutting
needed programs and services
while leaving vast amounts of
waste, fraud and abuse will
not be tolerated by the voters.
If that occurs and Californians
perceive that our elected leaders
are reacting to the May 19th
election like a petulant child, the
stern message of the May 19th
vote will pale in comparison to
the reaction of voters during the
next election cycle when most
of these leaders have to face
reelection.
Jan Coupal is President of
the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association -- California's largest
taxpayer organization -- which
is dedicated to the protection of
Proposition 13and promoting
taxpayers' rights.
Letters
continued from page 2
during their visit. Surrounded
by ABDSP on all sides, the
village of Borrego Springs
relies heavily on the tourism the
state park provides. The town
and its businesses would be
economically devastated by this
potential closure, as it would
lead to a substantial loss of
visitors. ABDSP is host to over
a million visitors each year. A
loss in tourism of this magnitude
would have a devastating effect
on Borrego Springs, made even
more vulnerable by an already
unstable economy.
$459,000 In Town, 2bd, 2ba with
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reactions were quite positive, be released early, or will the Anza-Borrego Foundation,
Indeed, at least for now, he Department of Corrections on behalf of its 2,300 members,
is sounding like the man wereduce the costs of incarcerating vehemently opposes the hours to make one flag or Julian for them. If you have a change of Weekly SUDOKU ---
elected to replace Gray Davis prisoners? California is perhaps Governor's proposal. We will bracelet. I sell them to help with heart PLEASE send them to me
and who triumphantly rode into the least efficient in corrections continue to stand up for Anza- the cost of gas for my husband to in a bubble envelope to: Answer
Sacramento to blow up the costs, nearly double the per- Borrego Desert State Park and drive up and down the mountain Terry
boxes. After Tuesday's rejection, inmate costs of the national all of California's state parks, towork. I hopethat you are sorry PO Box272 9 I.Z 6 S 9
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