Posted on 10/12/2009 9:21:51 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
When Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen remarked a half-century ago, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money,” it was said with a sense of irony. I offer this clarification because a billion dollars no longer has the impact that it once had. Now with a former senator from Illinois occupying the White House, the federal government is throwing trillions of dollars around as if it were nickels.
Still, for the average taxpayer, whether it is billion dollars or a trillion dollars, it’s a mind numbing amount. When the Legislature approved $12.6 billion in new taxes last February, public anger didn’t really start to mount until it became clear that this would cost the average family about $1,100 each year. This anger was expressed clearly when in May, voters rejected by two to one an additional $16 in taxes that could have cost families another $1,400 annually.
So when a just released study, sponsored by the state of California, showed that the cost of state regulations on business was $493 billion, the real impact was brought home when the authors concluded that the annual cost per household was $13,801.
Perhaps even more alarming is that these regulations cost the state 3.8 million jobs. At 12.2% unemployment, the highest in almost 70 years, California ranks fourth behind Michigan, Nevada and Road Island. Still, the significance of these numbers is best understood by those who have lost a job or who know someone who has, and this includes most Californians. Most of us are in a position to see the tragic consequences for those out of work, so we understand why the unemployment rate is a major component of what Ronald Reagan called the “Misery Index.”
The California report on the impact of regulations was actually completed a year ago, but its release was held up by the governor’s office. A spokesperson said the delay was so the facts could be checked, but capitol observers are asking if it was withheld because it would have been a public relations nightmare for an administration and Legislature that were seeking massive tax increases at that time. After all, the cost of these regulations amount to a hidden tax, the actual impact of which, few people were aware.
As bad a picture as the state regulations report paints, it does not include the impact of radical measures, passed after the study was commenced, to impose new restrictions on the use of everything from energy to land, in the name of reducing greenhouse gases.
After reviewing the report, it is easy to understand why analysts, including the Washington D.C.-based Tax Foundation, rank California 49th out of 50 as a place to do business. Of course, because of their limited capitalization and lack of political clout, hardest hit by the state’s negative regulatory climate are California’s more than 770, 000 small business employers. Given that these brave men and women constitute 98% of percent of California’s enterprises and provide 52% of the jobs, our policy leaders ought to feel a great deal of shame – although we doubt that they do.
With surrounding states that already impose lower taxes offering incentives for California businesses to relocate, we continue to travel down the road of high taxes and massive regulation at our peril.
Now, no one suggests that California businesses operate without regulations. Regulations are like taxes, a necessary evil. But just as high taxes stifle productivity, so too does massive overregulation that adds significantly to the cost of doing business.
The classic argument for regulation can be made by those who live down stream from a manufacturing plant, who want assurance that toxins are not being dumped into the water supply. But we live in a state where the nannies in the Legislature attempt to control every aspect of our lives; from when children can be spanked, to our diets, to whether or not our pets are to be spayed and neutered, to the material from which our shopping bags are made.
To ask that the Legislature take a sensible approach to regulation is probably a bridge too far. However, it should be mandatory that every regulation proposed include a cost analysis. Just like the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) we require for any major construction project, we should require another EIR – a Economic Impact Report – for every new regulation.
When the public is made aware of the actual cost to families and the impact on employment of every new proposed regulation, lawmakers may be forced to stop regarding regulation as an frivolous exercise without real world consequences.
when the time comes, and the bottom falls out, comments above won’t mean a damn thing.
No, you tell us what we are doing wrong.
should we storm the capitol , burn it down?
come on, you been here awhile.
what do you suggest?
I wish you were right but it's hard to point to any evidence of that
gerrymandered districts, flawed educational systems, rampant union abuse , come on Paul, help us out here.
where do you think folks should put all their time?
This is from brainyquote.com.
Everett Dirksen:Its been a reliable source of actual quotes. So I tend to go with them.
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.
We are becoming so accustomed to millions and billions of dollars that "thousands" has almost passed out of the dictionary.
They ain't doin' too good in the spellin' department neither.
That would probably be better than sitting at home working a keyboard. It's clear the politicians in the state have no concern about what citizens think. They cater to corruption, unions and special interests. The productive people and businesses that support this are the chumps who bend over whenever the state demands. How about refusing to pay your taxes? You have six months to organize the millions of taxpayers that are fed up. Refuse to pay your taxes and starve the beast, then storm the capital. Then maybe you'll accomplish something.
But you have Harry Reid!
For 11 years on FR I’ve been asking this question:
Name three things the government (state, local, fed) does not regulate, prohibit or tax?
NO ONE has ever been able to do it! But I know of ONE...
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
Thanks! Will you come visit all of us in prison?
btw, what state you in?
better than sitting at home working a keyboard.
— what are you doing? ;-)
Road Island, the 58th state.
Even the state can’t imprison millions of people that resist their tyranny. I won’t have to come visit anyone in prison. I will stand up with you in resistance though
Aw heck, I was hoping you’d say where ya live so I could move there. Obviously, you don’t have any issues where you live.
Losing your stomach for the fight already?
lol .. My wife won’t leave here. I would love to move tomorrow. Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii are or have bene opn the list for years.
What do you want me to do. Get a divorce?
Are you lawyer? lol
I smell LE but, it could just be the pre-rain effect here.
I have lived in California four times. It is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats there. Democrats are guilty of a lot of election fraud, and they court the inner city people to vote “D”. But I met as many conservatives in Calif. as Liberals.
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