California voters sent one heckuva message Tuesday, as they unceremoniously shot down attempts by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders of both parties to raise their taxes, again. The politicos wanted the additional revenues to cover their $44 billion worth of over-spending, aka the state budget deficit. Voters said no, decisively, with majorities of 60 percent or more against the five tax-and-spend propositions, including a $16 billion “temporary” tax increase approved in April by Schwarzenegger and the legislature. In what cannot be an encouraging sign for advocates in Washington of President Obama’s massive spending increases (and the inevitable tax hikes that will be required to pay for them), the only one of the six initiatives California voters approved was a cap on the salaries of elected officials.All of this came despite endlessly repeated warnings from the same public officials who got California into its present mess that, if the public voted no, their only alternative would be draconian cuts to education and public safety. According to the Tax Foundation, officials in Sacramento have been on a wild spending spree since 2000, the last time California’s budget was balanced without borrowing or resorting to one-time accounting gimmicks. Between 2003 (when Schwarzenegger took office) and 2007, state spending ballooned 31 percent – far beyond inflation (12 percent) and population growth (5 percent). Californians have seen this train wreck coming for many months.
Had the main initiatives passed, it would have imposed additional taxes in a state that already has the sixth highest tax burden in the nation without addressing the real problem, which is the explosive growth of state government. SchwarzeneggerÂ’s doomsday budget shortens the school year and calls for the release of thousands of illegal immigrants from jail, but does not significantly decrease the bureaucracy or address the $48 billion unfunded liability for unionized government employeesÂ’ health and pension benefits, leaving the formerly Golden State neck deep in red ink.
CaliforniaÂ’s rapid decline was self-inflicted with unsustainable government spending, capitulation to union demands, the third worst business climate in the U.S., years of excessive income taxes, and job-killing environmental regulations. This is the same toxic brew now fueling ObamaÂ’s national agenda. There are abundant signs that the voter rebellion seen Tuesday is already spreading beyond California.