| I work for the Courage Campaign
With the predictable failure of the five budget propositions, it's time for progressives to step up and lead the fight to not only fix our budget, but replant the seeds of economic growth, and rebuild confidence in our government.
There are two broad elements of a May 20 strategy - policy and attitude. As President Obama has demonstrated, they must be intricately linked to be effective.
Voters rejected a campaign of fear. They showed they won't respond to scare tactics. Either they'll vote no, or stay home. Progressive organizations, like the Courage Campaign, instinctively understand that. We organize to empower and offer solutions.
Despite what some like to claim, progressives have always had an alternative to the May 19 initiatives in mind. The Courage Campaign has proposed a three-step process to fix the state:
1. Majority vote for budget and taxes. The Courage Campaign has been advocating for an end to the 2/3 rule for a long time. Today we're partnering with CREDO Mobile and the League of Young Voters to offer a Declaration of Democracy for a Majority Vote Budget. It's time that we brought democracy back to the legislature. We all know that the 2/3 rule prevents us from passing good budgets. But it also undermines public confidence in the legislature, since nobody can be held accountable and since the 2/3 rule produces unworkable compromises that voters immediately see right through.
Some may claim voters are not yet ready to support this change. Some recent polls suggested there are majorities or near-majorities in favor of restoring democracy. More fundamentally, it's time to build a movement to fix the mess. Courage Campaign doesn't expect this to happen overnight. That's why we're recommitting ourselves to a long-term organizing effort to get this done.
2. Restore responsible taxation of the wealthy and corporations. Some may argue that the public doesn't support repeal of the 2/3 rule for taxes and budgets. What better way to build public support than show the consequences of the conservative veto than by making a strong push to demand the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share? Besides, one of the key reasons our budget is in crisis is because we have been cutting taxes on those with the greatest ability to pay. This makes state revenues heavily dependent on consumer spending from working- and middle-class people, spending that is volatile to short-term economic dislocation.
California needs to follow the tax policies of President Barack Obama and reverse three decades of giving tax breaks to the wealthy and to large corporations.
Under Republican governors Ronald Reagan and Pete Wilson, the highest income earners in this state paid taxes at a higher marginal rate than they do today. Now, an individual making $900,000 pays the same tax rate as someone making $50,000. Oil companies pay the same property tax rate as an elderly homeowner - and unlike Alaska and Texas, oil companies pay no tax on the oil they extract in California. This is absurd and it must change.
Republican legislators will scream and cry, but will they actually vote no on these popular taxes? If they do, we set up victories in 2010. If they vote yes, we help ease the existing budget mess.
3. Convene a Constitutional Convention. The state needs a broad range of changes to the way its government operates. But more fundamentally, it needs a constructive process to produce those fixes. We've gone about as far as the gimmicky special election approach can take us. A Constitutional Convention allows the entire state, whether they're delegates or not, to engage in a debate about the core issues of how our government should react to a 21st century crisis.
We don't believe a Convention should tackle social issues or human rights, but if it's focused on fixing our budget and government, on providing more democracy and participation in the public sector, then we can finally get this state moving in the right direction. Of course, the delegates need to represent the state's diversity, and voters will rightly have the final say. But it's better than the status quo, and will help provide a better state.
Finally, attitudes matter. It's time we got aggressive. Democrats should NOT accept cuts as inevitable. They should NOT assume Republicans are inflexible. The Zombie Death Cult is living on borrowed time. President Obama has shown that Republicans are unpopular and vulnerable. We would be fools to not take advantage of that unpopularity here in California. Remember that Republicans have been in steady decline in both registrations and election outcomes since 1996. We can beat the conservative attack on California - if we realize we've had the tools to do so all along.
Below the fold is the email we sent our members this morning. |
