California puts the squeeze on struggling households

“It’s only a one cent increase on the dollar for sales tax.  It’s just another quarter percent increase on income taxes.  The Car Tax will only be about twice what you already pay.”  These kinds of statements prove that politicians are indeed hopelessly out of touch with the daily struggles of an average family, especially when they paint the massive $13 billion in new taxes as inconsequential, attempting to convince us that the hikes will be barely noticeable to our bottom line.

Voters need to wise up and see through the deceiving political rhetoric being heaped onto the airwaves, newspaper, and internet.  If Proposition 1A is approved in the coming Special Election in May, taxpayers will be stuck with the $13 billion in tax increases for an additional two years.  Like the prolonged recession in the 1990’s, which was directly caused by tax increases, Californians will be subject to more economic woes following this latest round of tax hikes.

If voters pass this Prop 1A, the average California family of four, struggling to make ends meet with an income of $70,000, will pay an additional $1,000 in new taxes annually.  Families will pay $200 more per year per child, nearly twice as much per car for the car tax, a 13% increase in the sales tax, and higher income taxes across the board.

Tax and spend politicians in the Legislatures characterize each of these taxes as a small increase, but as you can plainly see, all of these “small” taxes add up to a huge burden for most Californians.  Keep in mind these taxes are separate from the looming increases planned by President Obama.

This means less money for your family and more money for government bureaucrats and the public employee unions who represent them.  California’s hardworking families are being asked to make sacrifices by cutting back on basic necessities—groceries, gasoline, heating, and electricity—while government will be as fat as ever during this time of recession.

In fact, despite the supposed “deep cuts” and hiring freezes put into place, California’s government has actually increased in size!  So much for the threat that California would fall off the edge of a cliff without new taxes.  This bait and switch is not only outrageous but insulting to Californians, who were told that state government was on the verge of collapse when in fact it was expanding.

People are losing their homes and their jobs as life savings rapidly shrink.  The $1,000 being sent to Sacramento could go a long way in helping families get through the economic downturn.  But if the Democrats and their Republican enablers have their way, the daily struggles of average Californians will only get worse.  It’s time to hold the government accountable and demand that lawmakers cut the state’s budget before cutting into yours.

The return of a bad idea

The proposal for Universal health care in California has returned.

I am not surprised; liberal Legislators never saw a tax they didn’t like – and universal health care comes with a whopping price tag: $210 billion in its first full year of implementation and annual shortfalls of $42 billion thereafter. That’s billions, not millions.

It’s one thing for a legislator to carry-on a failed idea year after year when the analysis shows the legislative idea to be difficult. But when the non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office reports legislation like universal health care to be impossible to fund, you would think the idea would be dropped or greatly revised.

But not my liberal colleagues in the Legislature; they are OK with continuing to push legislation that will greatly further the burdens ofCalifornia taxpayers; they’re fine with turning California into a Socialized medicine state and completely devastating the state’s health care industry.

And even is financial impossibilities weren’t an issue of universal health care, let’s not forget our Canadian neighbors whose health care crisis worsened when socialized medicine became the law of the land.

What Canada (and other countries that practice socialized medicine) did not solve is the biggest health care problem: Access.

Just because every citizen has a government provided health care card does not mean he or she has access to medical help when they need it. Canadians wait months and months before receiving routine treatment. Some die in the process of waiting.

Now Canadians regularly cross the border seeking medical care; not the other way around. Because the one thing America still has, regardless to our health care shortcomings, is relatively decent access to health care. Our system is not perfect, and we need to make improvements to create more access in California like diverting a portion of government hospital money to build more community clinics; giving doctors monetary incentives to practice in inner cities and rural communities; and allowing out-of-state insurers to do business in California. But the one thing we do not need is socialized medicine.

Proposition 1A: Too High a Price—and Voters Shouldn’t Buy

California has become like that ne’er do well cousin who is always hitting up generous relatives for more money, while never changing their irresponsible ways.  Proposition 1A, scheduled for the May election, is merely the latest example of Sacramento politicians returning to taxpayers for $16 billion in higher taxes, during a time of record high 10% unemployment, plummeting retirement account funds, record high foreclosures, and overall economic jitters, for more money to feed wasteful programs.

What’s most outrageous about the situation is that the authors of the ballot argument in favor of Prop 1A are attempting to hoodwink voters into extending the largest tax increases in state history under the guise of budget “reform.”  Rather than being honest with Californians, the official ballot summary will omit $16 billion in higher taxes and only mention the spending cap portion of this measure.

Don’t get me wrong—I am supportive of a spending cap, and believe it is good policy to reign in spending.  But under the current deal, which includes a two year extension of the tax increases, the price for this cap is too high.

I understand why Sacramento spendthrifts are afraid to reveal the truth to voters—these taxes would affect every Californian in very real ways.  Sometimes the truth is painful.

Prop 1A would increase statewide sales taxes from 7.25% to 8.25%, almost a 14% increase.  In Los Angeles County, this would raise the sales taxes to a staggering ten cents for every dollar they spend.  This is certainly not the proper incentive to jump start consumer spending during an ailing economy.

Income taxes will increase by a quarter of a percent while child tax credits will decrease from $400 dollars to $100 dollars, essentially a $300 per child tax increase.  These taxes will hit families the hardest, making it even more difficult to raise a family in California.

Finally, Prop 1A would nearly double the much despised Car Tax, or vehicle license fee. The average family would pay an additional $130, or about a week and a half of groceries.  Ironically, the Governor signed a budget raising the Car Tax that he first campaigned to repeal.

The best spending cap would have been Republican legislators refusing to vote for tax increases and using their 2/3 vote to restrain spending.  Any meaningful spending limit on the ballot will always get defeated by the special interests or will come at too high a price—like Prop 1A.

The taxes to sustain this spending will take $16 billion out of the economy—which means fewer consumer purchases, less investment, and no job creation.  While California government takes more of your money, the hardships of the average citizen will be prolonged as the economic growth and expansion will be stunted by taxes.  This is the most consequential tax policy change in decades, and Democrats and their Republican accomplices want to make sure you do not know about it.

George Runner is a member of the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee. He supports legislation and policies that protect taxpayers and hold government accountable. He represents California’s 17th Senate District, which includes the High Desert of Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties and sections of Ventura County. Visit his website at: http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/17