Free Republic

In a pointed letter critical of Gov. Jerry Brown's tax rival, California's two U.S. senators along with state legislative leaders called Thursday for a cease-fire from campaigns backing the two multibillion-dollar tax hikes on the November ballot. U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, as well as Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, said in a letter to the California State PTA that the Proposition 38 campaign has "become increasingly negative" and "engaged in personal attacks against Governor Jerry Brown and Prop. 30." The PTA has joined wealthy attorney Molly Munger in backing Proposition...

Let's get ready to rumble. In this corner is California Gov. Jerry Brown. In that corner is Molly Munger, a very wealthy civil rights attorney. Brown and his union allies want voters to raise their own sales taxes, plus income taxes on the most affluent, to narrow a chronic budget gap. Munger and the state PTA want to raise income taxes on all but the lowest-income Californians to provide more money to schools. Brown, desperate to eliminate competition that might confuse voters, merged his initial tax proposal into that of a rival group that wanted to tax the rich even...

The stage was set Friday for three revenue-raising measures to qualify for the November ballot after a group led by hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer submitted more than 900,000 signatures for a tax increase on out-of-state businesses. Proponents of two other tax initiatives, driven separately by Gov. Jerry Brown and civil rights attorney Molly Munger, said they have collected more than enough signatures to place their proposals before voters. The measures would generate billions in revenue for a state rocked by recession and cuts to education and public services in recent years. But Mitch Zak, spokesman for a coalition opposing Steyer's...

Key to victory? A car key, perhaps. Michael Arno, whose company is spearheading the drive to qualify Molly Munger's tax measure for the November ballot, plans to give away a car each week in a drawing involving his top signature gatherers. The weekly winner can choose a favorite vehicle in the $15,000 price range, said Arno, whose firm must gather 504,760 valid voter signatures. County elections officials must confirm voter signatures by June 28, so the secretary of state has suggested that campaigns submit their petitions to local government by April 20. Clearly, it's pedal-to-the-metal time for initiative drives.