CA: Rethinking sales tax law

SJ Mercury News ^ | 11/24/02 | Ann E. Marimow

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO - Support is building to pass one of Silicon Valley's most important political initiatives when the Legislature convenes next month: lowering the two-thirds majority needed to increase sales taxes. The fate of the BART line to San Jose may hang in the balance.

[NormsRevenge]

``Schools are critical, but if there are no sidewalks for kids to walk to school on . . .'' said Christine Monsen, executive director of the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority and chairwoman of the Self-Help Coalition of Counties that will probably lead the effort in Sacramento.

Sidewalks :-?

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

``At least half of us are affected, and we ought to be able to implement a tax,'' said the company executive, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative. ``The people voting `no' are the people happy to be sitting single in a car for hours.''

Sigh. This is the problem with the California initiative process. On the one hand, as Proposition 13 showed, it's an invaluable relief-valve for the Legislature's ineptitude and inattention (though voting the malfeasant bastards the hell out would be a much-preferable solution). On the other hand, it's mob rule. This guy wants a slight majority to be able to confiscate money from my pocket to subsidize his loser of a transit program for the benefit of himself and his dwindling handful of fellow riders. How about the users paying for the privilege of not driving, hmn?

Besides, I don't know anyone who is happy to be "sitting in a single car for hours". We all have much better things to do. But thanks to folks like our corrupt crypto-fascist governor, who repeatedly states that "California has built its last freeway", and the no-growth types that have forced people to seek affordable housing fifty or seventy miles from their workplace, that's what too many of us are faced with. Jamming submissive serfs into plunder-funded, bureaucrat-approved cattle-cars with seats and floors spotted with sticky goo and overrun by pushy panhandling vagrants (this is the voice of experience talking) may be the elitist social-engineer's wet dream, but it's not a solution.

And by the way: "Fiscal conservative", me arse. If he loves public transit, Bay Area style, he loves costly ineffective boondoggles that suck forever on the taxpayer teat like obese piglets that cannot be weaned. And just for the record: as indicated above, I do ride the VTA trains, particularly to conferences at the San Jose Convention Center. It saves hassles, car-related costs, and parking fees. Accordingly, I would happily pay more, and rightfully should. Chew on that, Mr. "Fiscal Conservative".

[Uncle Hal]

Here they go. With democrats in control of legislature and the governors office taxes are going to go through the roof. We have to be vigilent and fight these types of things with all might the we have.

[B4Ranch]

I see mass emigration from the overtaxing State of California occurring. I just hope they continue through Nevada.

[ancient_geezer]

I just hope they continue through Nevada.

Not in my backyard syndrome perhaps? They have been right into Colorado. It's your turn to take out abit of the trash.

[randita]

If this initiative were to pass, the pitifully few Republicans still holding seats in the CA Legislature will have lost any shred of power they have. They may as just stay home and play golf as report for work for all the impact their votes will have and I suspect many of them will. A darn shame.

[randita]

ping

[B4Ranch]

Thankfully most of them don't like the snow, so they go to Vegas.

[snopercod]

Why bother with an initiative? Davis still has his emergency powers. He can just decree whatever he wants.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmmm? I heard conservatives gained seats, even though the dems were still in charge.

Before this, the conservatives managed to reduce our DMV fees - so if we have more people in there, we should be able to stop this.

[ancient_geezer]

so they go to Vegas.

Da'g burn'd refugees! Always trash'n the neighborhood and mak'n ghettos.

[altair]

It's your turn to take out abit of the trash.

Speak for yourself geezer. Geographically, California is Bush country, with an unfortunate number of D votes coming from the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Separate out that and California might be a decent state again.

[Jarhead_22]

``It's now a more partisan Legislature, and you don't have many moderate Republicans who are willing to move positions and make things happen,'' said Jim Cunneen, president of the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and a former moderate GOP legislator from the South Bay.

Amazingly typical of the liberal mindset. Somehow, "progressives" are noble for sticking to their guns, but conservatives are just being obstructionist when they don't bend over and let the Democrat/Liberal/Socialist cabal have their way. Unfortunately, many elected Republicans have been all too willing to bend over or assume any other posiion that the Dems asked for recently.

Will the mandate of the 2002 elections provide some calcium to flabby Republican backbones? One can only hope.

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

"If this initiative were to pass, the pitifully few Republicans still holding seats in the CA Legislature will have lost any shred of power they have."

That is the specific intent. I believe this will pass. CA is only starting to implode. There have been a few articles in the papers this past week on where CA can find new tax revenue streams. There are more than a few who want to kill Prop 13 so that there is open season on property taxes. There was a lengthy article today in the San Jose Mercury News on this - the article basically stated that Prop 13 should be undone due to a corporate tax loophole. Never mind that if the legislature had unrestricted ability to increase property tax thousands and thousands of families would not be able to buy or could loose their current house.

[randita]

Hmmmm? I heard conservatives gained seats, even though the dems were still in charge.

The current law states that there must be a 2/3 majority approval before any state taxes can be raised. Since Democrats don't hold a 2/3 majority, they can't rubber stamp any tax increases they'd like, which infuriates them to high heaven. The proposed initiative would lower the % required to pass a legislative tax increase to just over 50%. Republicans, even though they gained seats, still do not have nearly enough votes to stop a simple majority vote.

The proposed initiative to lower the tax increase threshold currently required, which would be voted on by Californians in the next election, I presume, couldn't be stopped by anyone, if the voters approved it by a simple majority. So unless Republicans, in the future, can take the majority in the CA Legislature, they have absolutely no power to stop tax increases, unless they can get a significant number of Democrats voting with them. So they might as well hone their golf game.