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To if you are a conservative in the California legislature, and you decide you want to seek higher (or lower) office - you can expect a few questions to come your way. As important as the no taxes pledge has rightfully become in GOP primaries because government at every level has expanded well beyond a sustainable level, the next big question will be - "How did you vote on the confirmation of Abel Maldonado as Lt. Governor?" If you are a conservative in the state legislature, public policy positions taken by an official that you would place one-heartbeat (a very...

There isn't much point in my expending a lot of time this morning chastising Senate and Assembly Democrats for their plans, this morning, to try to stick Californians with billions of dollars in new taxes, using some scheme where they brazenly attempt to navigate around the State Constitution's requirement for a 2/3 vote to raise taxes. Through sleight of hand and bizarre terminology, Democrats are planning to hike the state's income, gas, and car taxes (and that's not all) -- and do it with a majority vote (Republican legislators have appropriately and boldly said NO to any tax increases to...

Gov. Schwarzenegger first ran for office during the 2003 recall election as a fiscal conservative and social moderate, but he quickly abandoned any pretense of fiscal restraint. He has expanded government and has proposed far-reaching health care programs and other measures. His current plan is to "fix" the state's massive and intractable budget deficit by dramatically raising sales taxes and expanding the sales tax to additional services. This governor has put the state in a precarious position with his debt spending, which really is nothing more than a tax on our grandchildren. Yet the California GOP, under his ostensible leadership,...

It is no surprise that fiscal conservatives in California are appalled at the breathtaking assault on taxpayers proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Both activists and elected leaders – usually Republicans – have responded with either derision or laughter (with perhaps some expletives mixed in). Given that the Governor could find not a single legislator from either party to carry his last budget, it is safe to assume his latest proposed mix of cuts and revenue enhancements will receive similar treatment at the Capitol. But his proposal to expand the sales tax to include a number of services has another problem: As...

With credit markets in New York in crisis last week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent an extraordinary letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking for $7 billion. Although the governor has since withdrawn that request, it testifies to the dire state of his budget. Yet days before penning his note, the governor told an audience at the Commonwealth Club of California not to worry about the state's budget crunch and to approve $9.95 billion in new debt on the November ballot to build a bullet train to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco: "Just because we have a problem with...

Don't read their lips when California's Republican lawmakers say 'no new taxes' – they've put it in writing, signed their names, essentially inviting their own party to oust them if they renege. Every GOP lawmaker except Fair Oaks Assemblyman Roger Niello has signed the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" this year, casting a shadow on budget talks by making any vote to raise taxes a potential career killer. "If you break the pledge, the people who voted for you will say, 'Excuse me, not only did you raise my taxes but you lied to me,' " said Grover Norquist, president of Americans...

Much has been written about the August budget put forward by Governor Schwarzenegger last week. At his press conference announcing his plan, the Governor said that his budget plan was "a fiscally responsible compromise" and will "put our state on the road to fiscal sanity." In reality, after spending some time looking it over, and discussing it with state policy experts .., the Governor's proposal will do nothing of the sort. It includes more borrowing and higher taxes on Californians... The Governor said that more borrowing in the budget is "not a wise idea and I will not do that."...

"You can't cut the whole $15 billion," Schwarzenegger said, referring to the gaping hole in a $102-billion general fund. "You'd have to severely cut into education, which I don't think is the right thing. You would severely cut into health care, which is not the right thing to do. You would severely have to cut into prisons, and we can't do that." A good Republican trade-off for a one-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase for three years, he asserted, would be a long-term budget fix: A constitutional amendment requiring the state to transfer 3% of its annual revenue to a rainy-day fund...

A day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told lawmakers to skip their national party conventions in the next two weeks if they do not pass a budget, the Republican National Convention announced that the GOP governor will have a prime speaking role on the first night of the St. Paul event. Schwarzenegger is slated to speak on Monday, Sept. 1 at the convention, the same night as President Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Also scheduled that day is Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent who has endorsed McCain. After meeting with lawmakers Tuesday, the Republican...

California Proposes Sales Tax Hike To Fund Transport, Government Services July 18, 2008 11:32 a.m. ESTVittorio Hernandez - AHN News WriterSacramento, CA (AHN) - To close California's $17.2 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger considered on Thursday hiking the state sales tax and using funds intended for transportation and government services.State legislators proposed the two measures, which the governor initially described as bad ideas, but he did not rule out adopting the measures to avoid a cash crisis in California.The lawmakers plan to close the budget gap by collecting $5.6 billion income tax increase on the rich and borrowing $1.1...

SACRAMENTO - The Legislature's majority Democrats promised Wednesday to push a vote on a spending proposal containing several billion dollars in tax increases despite Republican opposition.

In the wake of the state Supreme Court's recent legalization of gay marriage, the Republican governor said Tuesday in San Francisco he wants gay couples to flock to California for wedded bliss. "You know, I'm wishing everyone good luck with their marriages and I hope that California's economy is booming because everyone is going to come here and get married," said Schwarzenegger, prompting laughs and applause. The governor appeared at an Environmental Defense Fund event ... The governor reiterated that he opposes an initiative backed by conservatives to ban gay marriage in the state constitution.

Advanced word on the Governor’s State of the State message (ironically abbreviated “S-O-S”) is that he intends to blame the state’s massive budget deficit on formulas that lock in spending. A gubernatorial minion opined today that “about 90 percent of the state's budget is tied to spending formulas, contracts and/or statutes, requiring spending to increase by specific amounts each year.” What hogwash. Since I first arrived in Sacramento in 1982, governors have used this sophistry to excuse their mismanagement of the budget, and there’s just one problem with it. Virtually all of the “formulas, contracts and/or statutes” can be suspended...

State Republican lawmakers have a long history of resisting taxes, and this year is no different. Even before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls a planned special session to deal with the state's "fiscal emergency," GOP legislators say they have ruled out revenue increases as a potential remedy. They're not joking: All but one GOP member in the Capitol has signed a no-tax pledge. It's said "an elephant never forgets," and the Republicans whose party is symbolized by that pachyderm remember tax increases as hurting the economy – and their own political fortunes. "It's such a strong plank of the Republican platform...

They say that true character is seen under pressure. Perhaps the inverse is true for politicians. When it comes to the pressure of facing the electorate during voting season, some politicians will adopt the character or policies that will get them elected. But when the pressure of re-election is lifted, these officials’ true character is unmasked. Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of SB 777 is the most glaring example of this sad truth. During last year’s legislative session the governor was wary of signing any legislation that would anger specific voting blocks that could help him win re-election. Such was the case...

The State Senate must approve the measure next, which isn't a sure thing. Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, wants to know first whether the gargantuan health care package would adversely affect the state's budget, which already is projected to be $14 billion in the red for fiscal 2008-09. Sen. Perata, on a Bay Area radio station Tuesday, said "I think [the plan is]DOA. I haven't found anybody yet … that can make any sense of it." He said he will not allow a vote until 2008. The saving grace is that the legislation amounts only to political grandstanding if voters...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez are probably still in the Governor's cigar tent this morning, puffing away on stogies to celebrate the Assembly's 45-31 vote yesterday in favor of their compromise health insurance “reform” bill. It was by far the pair's top goal for 2007. Schwarzenegger desperately wants another fix of national media attention after taking a yearlong victory lap for the state's landmark greenhouse gas emissions law in 2006. Núñez was deeply envious and wants his turn in the spotlight. The result of this desperation has been a farce masquerading as a public debate. No hearings...

The state Assembly on Monday approved the first phase of a $14.4-billion plan to extend medical insurance to nearly all residents, giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic allies their first victory in a risky yearlong campaign to overhaul California's healthcare system. The measure, negotiated by Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), would require almost everyone in California to have insurance starting in 2010. It would provide subsidies and tax credits for those who would have trouble paying their share of the premiums. The authors estimate that it would bring medical coverage to 3.6 million Californians, including 800,000...

in·cred·i·ble –adjective 1. so extraordinary as to seem impossible: incredible speed. 2. not credible; hard to believe; unbelievable: The plot of the book is incredible. —Synonyms: farfetched, astonishing, preposterous. "It's an incredible plan," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). The Speaker’s quote about the just-struck agreement on government healthcare with Governor Schwarzenegger unintentionally speaks volumes. Incredible, farfetched, preposterous, hard to believe – call it what you will, the plan will cost far more than advertised and will drive business out of state, reducing state tax revenue and throwing people out of work. Beginning with a low-balled $14 billion price...

That bill does not contain the taxes or other measures that would provide the $14 billion a year needed to finance the ambitious overhaul and would not take effect unless the ballot measure passed. That puts Democratic lawmakers in the highly unusual position of voting on the plan without being able to assess whether the intricate financing scheme will be adequate. Republicans have vowed to vote against the measure. The moves came as Schwarzenegger promised to call an emergency session of the Legislature for early January to make cuts to the state's budget. The governor's office estimates the projected gap...