California Tea Party

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A big High-5 to celebrate the passage of the perfect budget!  A budget that extorts over $40 billion from the people of California.

Lou Correa and Darrell Steinberg High-5'ing the tax increases on us

“To preserve our independence, we must not let our politicians load us with perpetual debt. We must make our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people under the pretense of caring for them, the people will be much happier.”
- Thomas Jefferson

We cannot sit idly by as the government takes more and more money out of our pockets and the pockets of our children.   We must sent a clear message to Sacramento that enough is a enough.  That these taxes must be repealed.  That government must be reduced!

We must recall the leaders whom lied to us.  We must recall the leaders whom said by and did nothing to prevent this from happening.  We must 

Recall Maldonado!  
Recall Adams @ www.AtlasPAC.org
Recall Miller!
Recall Arnold!

There’s no question about it. This budget is a piece of crap! Crap disguised as stool. It’s time for us Californians to wipe ourselves clean. How can we stand by and continually allow ourselves to be crapped on. Arnold sitting on his stool, counting on us to sit idly by and allow him to do what he wants.

It’s time we treat Arnold, and our Legislators, in a comparable fashion. That is why we are urging our readers to TEA-BAG the Governator, the Assembly, and the Senate. Let them know how disgusted you are with their actions. Make sure your voice is heard; if you don’t you better be ready to double flush because more tax hikes are sure to come.

The Senate and Assembly have passed the budget.

Legalized extortion?

It’s time to mobilize and kick them all out!  The first one to be Able Maldonado.

What Maldonado got in return for his vote (from SacBee):

• A constitutional amendment establishing an open primary system.
  The measure will place on the June 2010 ballot an open primary proposal affecting congressional and state races in 2012 and beyond.
  Under the plan, the top two candidates in a primary would face off in a general election. Candidates would not participate in partisan primaries, but they would be able to retain their party labels on the ballot
• A constitutional amendment banning legislative pay increases during deficit years. This measure is intended for a May 19 special election ballot, along with measures to make changes to the California lottery and establish a “rainy day” fund.
• Legislative leaders rejected Maldonado’s proposal to eliminate legislative pay altogether when the budget is late, arguing the idea was unconstitutional.
• Elimination of the 12-cent additional gas tax, which was estimated to bring in $2.1 billion through June 2010. The money will be replaced with a 0.25 percent increase in the state income tax, federal stimulus dollars and more than $600 million in line-item vetoes.
• Finally, he succeeded in his personal crusade to eliminate $1 million in funding for state Controller John Chiang to pay for new work stations.

Did he really gain much?  The open primary will be crushed in the general election by special interests doing what they can to keep their puppets in power.   The legislative pay increases amendment must be approved by the people.  But the elimination of the tax tax increase is a win and so is the reduction of Chaing’s cubical fund by 1 million.  But are those two worth it?  I don’t think so.

Finally the Republicans get some backbone!

Around 11 p.m., a group of GOP senators, unhappy with the higher taxes that Senate leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto agreed to as part of a deal with the governor and Democrats, voted to replace him in a private caucus meeting in Cogdill’s office.

To the Republicans: Stand your ground on no new taxes!

Not having a budget might be devastating to the State Government but taxes will be a fatal shot in the heart for every California Tax Payer!

California budget negotiations hit a new snag - Los Angeles Times.

We will stay on this floor until we get it done

said a clearly frustrated Steinberg, who is generally known as the Legislature’s nicest member. “Bring a toothbrush. Bring whatever necessities you need to bring because I will not allow anyone to go home and resume their lives.”

Senator Steinberg, this is to little to late!  possibly it would have been a good idea to have the entire Senate together negotiating the deal in the first place.  if people are not involved they do not feel part of the solution and therefore are less willing to trust in the plan and vote in favor of the plan.

It’s time for drastic action, It’s time to cut programs! Not to raise taxes and give IOUs the the people and the companies the give this great state it’s life.  Mr. Steinberg, Mrs. Bass, Mr. Schwarzenegger, over the past few years I have not seen any improvement in the services the the State provides me, the tax payer.  So I say it is time to cut unnecessary programs and seek concessions in labor contracts.  It’s time for bipartison action to reduce expenses of the state.  The concequences of inaction will be devistating for the state and the world economy.  We cannot let your incopidence destry what millions have work so hard to build.

Furthermore it you must rein in Mr. Chaing, it is the duty of the legislators to set priorities on who gets paid and who does not.  And let me tell you, you need to figure out a way to keep as much money in the hands of the taxpayer as possible if you want any economic recovery!  Once again, it’s time to cut programs.

Budget deal in collapse | state, budget, republican, vote, tax - News - OCRegister.com.

The Capital Weekly is reporting that “California labor unions, business associations and other interest groups spent more than $558 million – about $764,000 a day –  to influence California government during the 2007-08 legislative session, according to state records analyzed by Capitol Weekly.” Capitol Weekly: Interest groups’ lobbying tally tops $500 million.

No wonder the leaked budget proposal has new taxes and no significant cuts in the expenses.  I am willing to bet that when the official budget is released we will see that very little was cut in ares where unions spend there money to influence.

According to the Sacramento Bee the leaked budget plan includes $14.3 billion in taxes, $15.8 billion in spending cuts (mostly by stopping  planned increases in spending) and $10.9 billion in borrowing. The state also anticipates billions in federal stimulus money, which would reduce each component of the solution if California receives more than $9.2 billion.  But taxes will be the last item on the list to be reduced.

The plan would raise sales taxes by 1 cent on the dollar and place a 2.5 percent surcharge on income taxes across the board. Drivers would pay more through a 12-cents-per-gallon fuel hike and an increase in the vehicle license fee from the current 0.65 percent of vehicle value to 1.15 percent.  They plan to tax our tax!  Or maybe they have called it a fee or surcharge to the income tax.  They plan to increase vehicle license and fuel costs which will likely provide the final fatal blow to California’s auto industry.

As a trade-off for new taxes, Republicans demanded a limit on future state spending. Under the tentative agreement, the restriction would require the state to place money into a rainy-day fund after reaching a limit determined by state revenues over a 10-year period.  This spending cap will be sent to the voters for approval.  If approved the tax increases will be effective for 5 years, if not approved only 2 years.  So we will be faced with the decision to live with a 3 year longer increased tax period in exchange for a spending cap.  That is of course if the voters are willing to even pass a spending cap.

And then the rube salt on the wound  George Skelton over at the LA Times comments that “taxes should have been raised a year ago. Make that years. The bite would have been a lot smaller. Maybe just a nibble.“  I don’t understand comments like this due to the majority of our taxes being percentage based.  With this percentage base, if the economy grows, tax revenue grows and government can then grow to fill the need.  The problem occurs when the government grows to big in a good economy like the past few years.  The reality is that government needs to be reduced to the size that is optimal for the current tax base.

How is it possible that the leaders of California think that removing more money from the pockets of the tax payers is good for the economy.  Yes is solves the states cashproblem but it will be fatal for the people of California and the long term welfare of the State itself!

Please call your legislators and the governor and tell them what you think!

Many state employees stayed at home today.  But for some reason that state thought it was a good idea to keep the State parks, museums and historic sites.  Interesting,  I guess they are giving the furloughed employees somethign to do on there day off!

For a list of offices that are closed see status of some state offices

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the four legislative leaders have continued their negotiations behind closed doors for weeks, bypassing open legislative committees and offering the outside world few details as a precondition of their talks.

They are asking the taxpayers to give on average $1400 per household in exchange for vague environmental and workplace changes as well as a ceremonial spending cap.  All this while the state controller office spends nearly 2 million dollars on cubicals (see purchase orders PO1 PO2) for a new office but delays tax refund payments.   The controllers expense was uncovered by Able Maldonado who released a press release.  The controllers office responding to the 2 million dollar cubical purchase with the following comment.

We would urge the senator to check his math, stop grand-standing and get back to work on negotiating a solution to the state’s $42 billion budget gap, and the lack of money to fund programs Californians depend on their legislators to provide,” wrote the controller’s spokeswoman.

And to make matter worse the controller and unions are still fighting the furlough order by the Governor.  These unions will continue to block the furlough putting those department closer and closer to a financial dooms day.

Our government is being run and controller by deceitful lairs who bend the truth to fit their needs whenever possible.   It is time to put a stop to this!

State’s Big Five keep talks secret for fear of dooming budget deal - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee.

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.