Schwarzenegger says raising taxes may be unavoidable

OC Register ^ | 3/31/04 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hinted that raising taxes may be unavoidable, acknowledging he is under extreme pressure to increase the state's revenue to offset a $14 billion budget shortfall.

Schwarzenegger, who has opposed new taxes, said on Tuesday it would be "wishful thinking" to assume the state would not increase taxes.

"I'm going through wishful thinking that I'll never have to go there," Schwarzenegger said. "Because I just don't like it. I try to work around and find ways so we don't have to do that. So that's the stage I'm in right now."

He said increasing taxes would punish ordinary Californians for the state's mistake of overspending.

Though Schwarzenegger didn't rule out a tax hike, he said he needs to further review budget forecasts in the next weeks to decide whether to raise taxes. "When I look at the numbers, I can make up my mind about what that means," he said.

Schwarzenegger's communications director, Rob Stutzman, said the governor was not changing his opposition on taxes but "expressing his optimism for a solution without taxes."

Stutzman added, "Once he is set on a direction, he's relentless, and he is set on solving the budget without tax increases."

Some lawmakers said Tuesday they have not been notified the governor intends to raise taxes, nor did they suspect he was sending out feelers to gauge reactions.

"We've never had that discussion," said Assembly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from Bakersfield.

[samadams2000]

Unbelievable....they havent cut D*&K yet...Lying cowards. Our founding fathers would be so ashamed. Fire one out of every 4 gub employees, cap salaries, reduce pensions. NOW

[cinFLA]

Yet, so many of these people who have "back pain" think they should go home after working all day, and feel like they just left the office.

I think it is more like many of those people think they have the right to be paid and not have to go to work at all. Many are seasonal laborers that conveniently file just as the work season ends.

Reminds me of the case many years ago where they found all these college football players pulling in unemployment. Seems that they were 'hired' into a sometimes fictional job (sometimes a real job inorder to keep in shape) and when the work season ended, they were let go to return to college and play ball AND COLLECT UNEMPLOYMENT! And it was all arranged via the alumni and boosters.

[cinFLA]

Here's a very radical solution that apparently the governor has not heard of before: CUT SPENDING.

He has already started but it is very difficult. Most of the spending increases set up by Davis are non-discretionary.

[tallhappy]

Or Bush Sr.

[cinFLA]

Why not wait until the facts are in and not punish the man in advance for simply openly considering the worst-case scenario, as any capable person in charge should do? Why not read the article instead of just the headline before punishing the man?

[stylin_geek]

You're right on this, I agree. However, I have also seen just what I described. The final straw for me with such people was when I had a guy in his mid-twenties complain about how hard he had worked the day before (he had had to work with me) and, at the time, I was late thirties, tall and thin, while this guy was very muscular.

[Jim_Curtis]

Here is how Arnold can get spending cuts, raises taxes on things the liberals hold dear and you will see spending cuts, remember what happened in Seattle when the coffee tax was proposed? Libs were up in arms and killed it.

---
Good plan. Tax tongue piercing and they will fly into a rage. How bout a movie ( Hollywood ) tax?...wait, that won't happen.

[Who dat?]

Schwarzenegger said no such thing!

I was listening to the web-cast of the Lee Rodgers show from KSFO this morning. They played several clips and, as best I can recall, he did indeed say “it may be unavoidable” regarding raising taxes. He tap-danced all around saying he didn’t want to do it, but implied that it is a strong possibility and may be unavoidable. That’s how I remember it but it’s been almost two hours ago now so I could be misremembering…

[NormsRevenge]

Thansk to a Floridian weighing in on a California issue and the bumps. ;-)

You may want to take a look at the Bakersfield Californian article as well, in it's entitrety. CA: Driver's license issue may be 'impossible'

And since when is it a sin to post what newsrags use as their chosen titles? We all know they have their own agendas.

I did not write the article, Thank You. Complain to AP or the SF Chronicle or the Bakersfield californian or the FResno Bee, anyone of which is also running the same article with the same title.

[NormsRevenge]

You McClintock boys bots were so right, he's worse than Ted Kennedy!

I made a slight mod .. lol ;-]

He may give Kerry a run for his money with all the Flip Flops.

[paltz]

Also, He's in a very similar spot Reagan was in when he took Ca.'s governor's office. Speaking of which...didn't Reagan hike taxes twice as governor while cutting spending?...Wait I forgot...He's just the guy we all like around here a lot.

[Hildy]

You might consider READING articles before commenting on them.

[DaiHuy]

How about a new tax, you people in the PRC can call it the "Legally Challened Immigrant Tax." Every "Legally challenged immigrant" would have to pay a special "getting to stay in CA tax," based on the number of family members that have come across the border in a less than legal manner.

[NormsRevenge]

lol.. I heard it as well. I was up very early this morning and caught the comments, etc. Uncle Lee was his usual cantankerous putspoken self this morning on a number of topics.

I didn't know Arnold was a tap dancer, btw. Must be tough in cowboy boots. ;-)

Did you catch the Tom "you-know-who?" segment. He was very supportive of the Gub and all his efforts on the worker's comp issue, But cautioned that the Gub should take the initiative to the voters and NOT give into the demRats just to get some legislation enacted.

[LexBaird]

Most of the spending increases set up by Davis are non-discretionary.

There is no such beast. Any "non-discretionary" spending was placed off limits by agreement in the legislature or by initiative. It can be made "discretionary" again in the same way.

Claiming any spending is out of the power of the legislature to regulate is a lie. They simply lack the will or desire to do the difficult but necessary changes to law.

[NormsRevenge]

This comment about "punishing the man" intrigues me.

How is posting and discussing current emotionally charged events and issues in a civil manner "punishing" ?

[GSWarrior]

Here we go again. Another don't blame me I voted for McClintock thread.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

I don't think it is the Governor who has never heard of it. You see, in California, there is this thing called the legislature, and it is dominated by liberals who don't want to cut a dime.

You see, in California, there is this thing called "A LINE-ITEM VETO" that the governor can use when the legislature gets too exuberent with spending.

Duh!

Whether Ahnold has the guts to use it or not remains to be seen. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say he will not and will instead opt to raise taxes rather than rock the boat with his democrat friends in the legislature by cutting spending.

[KellyAdmirer]

My comment was directed more at some of the others on this thread, such as the guy posting the "RINO" picture. I'm too lazy sometimes to type in all the nicks, though, so I just direct it at the original poster and hope the others get the message. ;)

[KellyAdmirer]

If you think that the Governor can just go cutting everything as he pleases, you don't understand California politics at all.