Posted on 07/09/2006 10:36:14 AM PDT by calcowgirl
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has put himself in deep political trouble by promising more than he could deliver, is at it again.
Schwarzenegger last week issued an ironclad pledge not to raise taxes to balance the budget if he is reelected to a second term.
"I totally rule it out," the governor told The Sacramento Bee's editorial board. "I will not raise taxes."
Schwarzenegger's pledge might help him in his race against Democrat Phil Angelides, who has proposed increasing taxes on the wealthy and on business to generate at least $5 billion for the state. The governor hopes to make that contrast a central theme of the coming campaign.
But Schwarzenegger's promise is not credible. To keep it, he will need good fortune in the form of an economy that outperforms all current projections and throws off more tax revenue than any reasonable economist -- even those in his own Department of Finance -- now thinks possible.
That might happen. But it's not something a governor can, or should, guarantee. And if it doesn't happen, Schwarzenegger will almost certainly be forced to break yet another promise.
The problem is that the state's spending is growing faster than its revenues. Projections by the governor's staff, the Legislature and the independent legislative analyst all suggest that next January, whoever is governor is going to have to cut projected spending or raise revenues by at least $3.5 billion to balance the budget.
If Schwarzenegger faces that prospect and won't raise taxes, then he would have to cut spending. But based on his record so far, the chances of him making serious reductions in state spending are remote at best.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The governor says he can "chip away" at the deficit by holding down spending. But given the commitments he has made and the constraints under which he is working, there is now very little he can do to slow the projected growth in government.Indeed, after signing the new budget last month, Schwarzenegger told a Sacramento television reporter that he had no idea how he was going to balance the budget.
"There really is no plan to end the deficit because you never know what the revenues are next year and you never know what the unusual expenses are of any year," the governor said.
I think I can say this more plainly: He's lying, again.
In your playbook, at what point exactly should the citizens speak up?
Both are big spending liberals.
One wants to borrow, the other wants to tax.
Angelides can't unilaterally raise taxes.
He'd have to get it passed 2/3 of the legislature, or the voters.
Sacramento--all of them--need to be sent a strong message: Stop the Spending!
There is nothing like selective excerpting. Here is just some of what was omitted in excerpting:
"In his first two years in office, Schwarzenegger did slow the projected growth in spending a bit, but at great political cost.
He trimmed the growth in school spending, but was so battered by the education lobby that he relented, restored what he had cut and settled a lawsuit in a way that severely limits his future options."
Not to mention that Arnold put Prop. 76 on the ballot to precisely control spending and the voters, including you, calcowgirl, voted against it and defeated it. And now you are blaming Arnold -- look in the mirror instead.
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What Prop 76 would have done:
http://www.easyvoter.org/california/nextelection/2005_special/prop76.htm
Change the State Constitution about how the state budget is managed. It would:
Add a new spending limit. State spending would be limited to the last year’s spending plus an average of the past 3-years’ income growth.
Give the Governor greater power to cut state spending. If state income falls below expected levels, the Legislature would have 45 days to fix the problem. If the Legislature and Governor could not agree on a solution, then the Governor would have the power to cut programs.
Change how the minimum funding level is calculated for schools and community colleges.
Future state spending would probably be less than under current law, but lower state spending on some programs could increase county government spending for those services. Ups and downs in the economy may have less effect on the state budget than in the past. State money to schools would depend more on decisions of the Legislature and Governor and less on Prop 98 minimum funding levels.
Horse Pucky! I posted as many paragraphs as I could, from the beginning, exactly as published, until I ran up against the maximum 300 word limit.
"If a Democratic governor gets in combined with the Democratically controlled legislature it will be Grey Davis all over again. Probably worse."
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You are absolutely right, and THIS is indeed the bottom line.
Conservatives should be applauding Arnold of his tough no -tax-increase stance, instead of bashing it.
Maybe those bashing Arnold for not raising taxes DO want Angelides to win and are NO conservatives.
Which Tom McClintock also endorsed.
"Which Tom McClintock also endorsed."
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Precisely. Thanks for pointing that out.
I wonder what happened to the McClintock supporters, at least they claimed to support him. Gee, do you think it could be that they never really supported Tom in the first place, they just used him to try to split the conservative base to get Bustamante elected? It sure seems like it, because the very same ones are trying to get the conservative base to stay home and allow Angelides to win in this election, ignoring that Tom is supporting Arnold.
I think the true Tom supporters take him very seriously.
He knows it's like herding cats, but he's still resolute in his pursuit.
As for the others, it's a mystery why some won't even discuss McC.
If anyone knows the hurdles of CA politics, it's Tom.
If Schwarzenegger faces that prospect and won't raise taxes, then he would have to cut spending. But based on his record so far, the chances of him making serious reductions in state spending are remote at best. If those predictions are on the mark, or short of it, ... Schwarzenegger will almost certainly be forced to break yet another promise. He will almost certainly .. raise taxes.
Think of it. Weintraub earns 6 figures from McClatchy to repeat the obvious. At least Dan was charitable to the Austrian (Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has put himself in deep political trouble by promising more than he could deliver, is at it again.)
(The Palestinian terrorist regime is the crisis and Israel's fist is the answer.)
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