Governor’s Reply, One and a Half Months Later, Taxes Coming

I want you to pay more taxes!

In the middle the December I emailed Governor Schwarzenegger informing him what I felt about the states spending problem and to tel him that a fix involving taxes was not the answer.  Today I received the following generic reply.

Thank you for writing to share your thoughts with me about the proposed tax increase to balance our budget deficit.  Your input is important to me during these challenging economic times.

Since I signed the 2008-09 budget, economic conditions have been deteriorating rapidly, and we are now facing a $14.8-billion revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year.  Without immediate action, our state is headed for a fiscal disaster.

On November 6, I called the Legislature into Special Session to close our projected shortfall, stimulate our economy, keep Californians from losing their homes to foreclosure and fix our Unemployment Insurance Fund.  Unfortunately for California, the legislators adjourned without solving any of these issues.  I have now called a fiscal emergency special session, and the Legislature has 45 days to send me bills addressing the budget.

To bring in new revenues and help close the $14.8-billion shortfall, I have proposed a temporary 1.5-percent sales tax increase, an expansion of the sales and use tax, an oil severance tax, an increase to the alcohol and excise tax and other revenue generators.  I have made tough choices I wish I did not have to make, and I know this is a terrible time to raise taxes.  But in an emergency like this, we have to take quick action to keep our problems from getting worse - even if it requires decisions we do not like.

I continue to urge the people of California to call their legislators, send them e-mails and postcards and tell them not to waste any more time.  If we attack these problems head-on, make the difficult choices and work together for the common good, California will pull through this challenging time.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

What does this letter mean?  to mean he is preempting an announcement coming shortly that he is brokered a deal between democrats and republicans to raise our taxes!  I later read this article and had a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach.

The Governor has been working hard to bring a deal together and has being working to cut costs.  But Mr. Governor new taxes are not the answer!

This is the time to call your state legislator and the governor and tell them to stop spending and to not even think about raising our taxes.  Tell them that they need to figure out how to cut costs, how to reduce waste and focus spending on important high benefit tasks. This is the time for the the people’s voice to be heard!  Call them, email them, write them, make yourself heard.  The people of California have to cut back and so should the government.