Combined measure raises hope for a progressive victory
by Brian Leubitz
Governor Brown for a long time has known, and publicly stated, that he wanted to eliminate the other competing revenue measures. When he wasn’t able to do it by sheer publicity, apparently he found it necessary to strike a deal:
After weeks of battling in public and negotiating behind the scenes, Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Federation of Teachers have reached a tentative compromise on a November tax initiative, sources close to the deal said.
As currently structured, the deal would result in a smaller sales tax hike and larger tax increase on the wealthy than the Democratic governor wanted. CFT had been circulating an initiative with no sales tax hike and a two-step increase on earners starting at $1 million.(SacBee)
Now, Molly Munger still has her revenue measure that would raise taxes on pretty much everybody. And considering she just dropped another $300K into the account, it doesn’t seem like she has any interest in backing away now. It certainly doesn’t seem like she’s posturing, but considering where her measure is polling, it is a long shot at best.
CFT and the Courage Campaign worked quite hard on this more progressive Millionaire’s tax, and they both deserve a lot of credit for pushing the Governor on this.
Dems shouldn’t be in a position of advocating an increase on everyone’s sales taxes. It’s regressive, and gives the right wing all the ammo they need. Dems have spent years now building a state and national brand advocating doing something about income inequality by taxing the middle class and poor less, and taxing the rich more.
This undercuts all of that.
What the Governor wanted: A combination of taxes that would be uninteresting enough to fire up volunteers on either side, without any hint of a populist campaign that might make his millionaire donors uncomfortable. A “compromise” measure to be sold as shared sacrifice.
What the Governor got: A compromise combination of taxes that is uninteresting enough to fire up #occupy volunteers so as to guarantee there won’t be a populist campaign that might make his millionaire donors uncomfortable. A “compromise” measure that will be sold as shared sacrifice.
What Courage & CTF wanted: A populist measure to seize the moment and get the 1% to pay their fair share, while expanding the progressive coalition and making every Republican on the ballot uncomfortable.
What Courage & CTF got: Their marching orders.
If this gets needed tax increases passed
Yes, ‘ideally’ we could pass a ‘millionaires tax’
But, that may or may not get all the needed revenue
The Sales tax is regressive, but it is universal
Hopefully, this new package will pass (not a given) and all those Facebook millionaires will pay capital gains taxes on their new riches
And then the Democrats have to STOP SPENDING LIKE SAILORS
DRUNKEN SAILORS
Like during the dot com bubble
In California, expenses seem to rise to meet income
Brown’s proposal was a temporary, let’s-do-this-all-over-again-in-five-years measure.
The millionaires’ tax was permanent.
I haven’t seen anything about where the compromise is on that. If it’s permanent, then, hey, half a loaf is better than none. If it’s just the first of interminable yammering about the same old thing, then that sucks.
Here’s first hand report on the bad deal done….
The Unions, the Millionaires Tax, and the Road to Success
Ann Robertson and Bill Leumer
This winter the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) sent tremors of hope through its ranks by announcing it was going to spearhead an attempt to place an initiative on the California ballot – appropriately called the “Millionaires Tax” – that would raise taxes only on millionaires (3 percent on those making more than $1 million; 5 percent on those making more than $2 million).
The initiative carefully specifies that the money it raises – if it gets on the ballot – will go to public education on all levels (36 percent for K-12 and 24 percent for colleges and universities), social services for children and seniors (25 percent), public safety (10 percent) and infrastructure (5 percent). To qualify for the ballot, somewhere in the order of 800,000 petition signatures are required.
read the rest at:
http://workerscompass.org/2012…