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California Establishment tries to blame public for its dysfunction
A new poll is out that's absolute catnip for the members of the California political and media establishment who like to say the ignorant public demands services via ballot initiatives but then refuses to pay for them with higher taxes.The Public Policy Institute of California survey found residents don't have a good sense of where state revenue comes from or what the state spends most of its money on. What does this unsurprising revelation translate into when interpreted by the Los Angeles Times? A snarky news story that said Californians who disdain our leaders and institutions should save a little distaste for ourselves. ... Those who favored the comics pages in decades past may recall the words of the possum philosopher Pogo: We have met the enemy, and he is us.'' Other coverage had a similar tone. This is nonsense easily refuted nonsense. For starters, the vast majority of ballot initiatives dictating state spending didn't spontaneously emerge as a result of voter concerns. They came from special interests. Then there's the fact that these initiatives aren't remotely the straitjackets they're made out to be. Nearly all their spending requirements can be bypassed with the same two-thirds vote it takes to approve the budget. As the Legislative Analyst's Office noted in September, Despite these restrictions, the Legislature maintains considerable control over the state budget particularly over the longer term.' Then there's the fact that the establishment argument builds off the bogus premise that petulant voters have kept California's taxes artificially low via Proposition 13 and through their support of the constitutional mandate that taxes can only be raised by a two-thirds vote. But the truth is California is among the most heavily taxed states in the union despite these obstacles. Its sales, income and gasoline taxes are among the very highest in the nation. Its corporate tax is the highest in the West. And even with Proposition 13, its property taxes are about the national average. Why does the media's echoing of the political establishment's claptrap matter? Because it reinforces a narrative that holds that Sacramento is dysfunctional because the public is dysfunctional; therefore, there's no point in even trying to fix the status quo. This is elitist garbage. Sacramento is dysfunctional first and foremost because legislators with gerrymandered districts face few if any repercussions for mismanaging the state. Their political futures, however, are at risk if they get in the way of the special interests who have such power in light-voting primary elections for open seats. This results in such policy atrocities as the bipartisan vote by the Legislature last summer to promise a future $11.2 billion payoff to schools even though the state is in the middle of a long-running fiscal catastrophe. The California Teachers Association said, Jump,' and lawmakers replied, How high?' So Pogo's philosophy doesn't apply to California's politics. But surveying the wreckage that is Sacramento, a Charlie Brown phrase comes to mind: Good grief! Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2010-02-09 |
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