KPIX Channel 5 in San Francisco commissioned a poll from Survey USA about the proposal being floated in Sacramento to triple the Vehicle License Fee as part of a deal to close the budget gap. The results were not surprising given decades of anti-tax rhetoric:

Support: 17%

Oppose: 74%

Not Sure: 9%

The crosstabs show the oppose numbers to be remarkably consistent – 68% of Dems oppose and 75% of liberals oppose.

It’s not easy to sell a tax increase without having done consistent work to show Californians why this is necessary. And in the absence of that long-term effort you get polling results like this that will likely put the kibosh on the current efforts in Sacramento to restore the pre-1998 VLF.

My own thinking has always been, and continues to be, that the Democrats need to stick to their summer budget proposal that emphasized higher taxes on the wealthy, a restoration of the 1990s-era tax brackets. That dovetails with what the Obama campaign successfully sold to the public, although obviously California is in no position whatsoever to offer tax cuts to anyone else.

This poll also shows us the need to work with Californians on the basics of tax policy – that in a recession, social services need to be funded instead of cut, that more government spending grows the economy.

Sacramento legislators need to get out of the closed meeting rooms and start taking their message to the public. The time to do so was decades ago, but if we are to solve this budget mess with anything that resembles progressive solutions, that work must be done now.

Over in the California Republican party, not only are they not afraid to take on moderates, they do it openly from the highest levels.  The board of the California Republican party passed a resolution by a vote of 14-2 condemning Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tax plan:

The resolution said the state’s $11.2 billion deficit has resulted from “massive overspending” and calls on the governor to withdraw the proposal, which it calls “not only injurious to our state’s economy but to the Republican Party.” (SacBee 10/24/08)

Well, one thing you have to say for the Republicans in this state: they are not afraid of letting their freak flag fly high.  They can’t hide their wingnuttery because that’s all they have.  From the top (Ron Nehring) to the legions of grassroots wingnuts fighting for policies that are bad for California, they are from the very extreme.

You know, last week, a friend asked me if I thought Arnold could win the primary for the Senate seat against Boxer in 2010.  Well, I think you have your answer right here.  No way does Arnold win in that party, they hate him.

Of course, that is not to say that Arnold isn’t a wingnut, it’s just that he has the contrast of Nehring and the gang to make him look mildly sane. The fact is that the CRP has nothing left in terms of how to deal with this wreck of governmental system that we have.  They will do their damnedest to ensure that we cannot build a working revenue system that ensures stability for the long haul.

Now, GOP, continue your wingnutty infighting, and then let’s chat about that 2010 Senate race.