There are some moments when you just notice the absurdity of some of the arguments we are stuck on. Let’s try this one from the servants of Howard Jarvis’ Corpse that appeared in the Bee today:<\/p>\n
“You still have more revenue coming in than any other state in the union,” David Wolf of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association told the committee. “You just can’t justify continuing to raise taxes.” (SacBee 6\/9\/09<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Really? This is what they are going with? California is a vastly larger economy than any other state. Of course we have more revenue than any other state. What exactly is the point of this statement, and why was it published in the story. We cannot pretend that this is merely a spending problem. making revenue untouchable.<\/p>\n
“I get the politics of this,” Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said, “but I don’t think we as legislators should be silent and feel we can’t talk about certain things when it’s the big elephant in the room.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If we don’t talk about revenue, then quite simply the will just won’t materialize. It’s not going to come from simple Republican mistakes or something crazy like that. We have to actually create the will through serious messaging work. Mark Leno and other progressives are doing that, but so far the greater conversation has been played on right-wing terms<\/p>\n
And instead of actually being “post-partisan”, Arnold is simply playing old-school special interest politics and rejecting all calls for additional revenue. No taxes on Chevron when they pull oil from the ground. No taxes on sports tickets, nothing new on tobacco or alcohol. Guess what the common thread is in that list? Yup, those would be the donors to his special election campaign.<\/p>\n
The Governor and the Legislative Leaders need to be honest here, if everything is on the table<\/a>, then everything must really be on the table. No more of this third rail politics shit, where people can’t discuss the real problems. Let’s have an honest debate, you know this time with facts that are actually relevant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are some moments when you just notice the absurdity of some of the arguments we are stuck on. Let’s try this one from the servants of Howard Jarvis’ Corpse that appeared in the Bee today:<\/p>\n
“You still have more revenue coming in than any other state in the union,” David Wolf of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association told the committee. “You just can’t justify continuing to raise taxes.” (SacBee 6\/9\/09<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Really? This is what they are going with? California is a vastly larger economy than any other state. Of course we have more revenue than any other state. What exactly is the point of this statement, and why was it published in the story. We cannot pretend that this is merely a spending problem. making revenue untouchable.<\/p>\n
“I get the politics of this,” Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said, “but I don’t think we as legislators should be silent and feel we can’t talk about certain things when it’s the big elephant in the room.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If we don’t talk about revenue, then quite simply the will just won’t materialize. It’s not going to come from simple Republican mistakes or something crazy like that. We have to actually create the will through serious messaging work. Mark Leno and other progressives are doing that, but so far the greater conversation has been played on right-wing terms<\/p>\n
And instead of actually being “post-partisan”, Arnold is simply playing old-school special interest politics and rejecting all calls for additional revenue. No taxes on Chevron when they pull oil from the ground. No taxes on sports tickets, nothing new on tobacco or alcohol. Guess what the common thread is in that list? Yup, those would be the donors to his special election campaign.<\/p>\n