Posted on 10/13/2007 3:35:18 PM PDT by calcowgirl
There is a pair of bills on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk that puts him on the spot:
They would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, including a hike in the "car tax" that Schwarzenegger vilified in his first campaign for office. ...
The measures as passed were not publicly debated. They received little vetting by policy experts. They were not fully written until the clock had almost run out on lawmakers preparing to adjourn and get out of town last month. And key provisions were shaped by a small group of big campaign contributors.
The causes were advanced by key donors to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate leader Don Perata (D-Oakland), who pushed the proposals through.
(snip)
The Nuñez bill, AB 118, would raise taxes on consumers to fund $210 million in new energy subsidies and clean-air programs. ... The subsidies would be paid for with increased vehicle registration fees; the "car taxes" Schwarzenegger once promised were off the table. The legislation would increase the fee by as much as $11 and tack new fees on boat and trailer owners.
(snip)
Like the speaker's bill, Perata's ferry measure, SB 976, was rewritten in the final hours of the session.
It was changed to essentially seize several ferry lines from various cities and put all operations under control of a new five-person authority.
Perata's advocacy of ferry service expansion came at the urging of a major donor to his campaigns ... The creation of the new authority to take existing ferry lines away from cities occurred on the last day of the session. The authority would have the power to sell bonds to expand operations and to tap transportation subsidies never before available for ferry service, potentially putting taxpayers on the hook for hundreds of millions more.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
What difference did it really make to remove Davis with Schwarzenegger?
What difference did it really make to remove LBJ with Nixon?
And, yes, als, what difference did it really make to remove BC with GWB?
Such lists are endless.
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