I'm voting for Bill Simon because he's an expert on matters of money. He has created and saved thousands of jobs, and obviously knows what he's doing because his business is going well! He's the only Republican candidate who has a plan for getting California out of the financial disaster Gray Davis got us in to.
It also helps that Simon is conservative across the board, but right now California needs his financial acumen. And I really like how he said "I will not raise your taxes" and is endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
I did notice, however, that the report did not explicitly say that CA taxes were too high....
You're exactly right! This budget debacle is only going to get worse after around May 1, when the state starts to get a good idea about tax receipts. Receipts are going to be lower than they expect and that's when the blood is going to start to flow.
Unfortunately, for GOP Assembly candidates running against Dem incumbents, this will make for excellent political fodder but the vast majority of these incumbents are in safe districts. The GOP will be extremely lucky to knock off one or maybe 2 incumbents. At least the Dems won't be successful in achieving a super-majority status. In other words, I think most Dems are going to be willing to take political risks i.e. raising taxes. At the very least, they will allow others to do their dirty work such as the initiative to raise the sales tax by 1%.
Realistically, the only chance the GOP has to make a difference in state gov't is the governor's office. Unfortunately, DICK will be the absolute worst standard-bearer for fiscal matters. Simon is our only hope but he really has an uphill climb against DICK.