Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

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Erik von Nein
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Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Erik von Nein »

This comes from an interview with Abel Maldonaldo, one of California's state senators (representing my area), done by a local newspaper.
New Times wrote: Mr. Maldonado returns to Sacramento
Abel Maldonado's vote gave California a budget, but shrank his own
BY COLIN RIGLEY

Sen. Abel Maldonado arrives to an interview without an entourage, only his family in tow. Maybe it’s fitting: He doesn’t have many Republican friends in Sacramento lately. His vote ensured that the Senate would pass a controversial budget that also came with more than $12 billion in tax increases. That vote has won him praise, and the wrath of his own party.

Maldonado, a moderate Republican representing the Central Coast, broke one of the cardinal rules in his party: never increase taxes. He described the mindset of his party as “the party of no.” No tax increases, ever, and party leadership made the message clear.

State Republican leaders swiftly punished Maldonado and five other legislators who voted in line with Democrats. Maldonado was almost publicly reprimanded for his vote (censured); instead, he lost access to party funds.

“What they’re saying to anybody that donates to the Republican party, ‘We’re only going to give money to people that we can manipulate,” Maldonado vented to New Times.

Backlash over the budget vote goes beyond fundraising. Maldonado hate sites have already sprouted online. There is a “Never Elect Abel Maldonado To Anything, Ever Again” Facebook page with more than 600 members. Another website is accepting donations for a “recall Maldonado” effort.

As the Legislature debated how to fill a $40 billion deficit, California’s bond ratings plummeted and confidence in the state’s economy dwindled. The state was on the verge of sending out IOUs instead of checks. Though far from perfect—or, far from beautiful as Maldonado puts it—his vote secured a budget. But the personal cost for Maldonado was severe. Asked if he feels separated from his party ideologies now, he said simply, “I do.”

Fellow Republican Sen. Dave Cogdill was voted out as minority leader for supporting the budget. Still, Maldonado said he feels particularly picked on. When he walks through the long marble halls of the Capitol, he said, things are different, his relationships have suffered, “and that’s all you have in Sacramento.”

Maybe it’s because he has nothing to lose, or that he now has a platform with which to raise his voice, but Maldonado’s tone and stern expressions seem to say: To hell with them—it was the right choice.

“I’ve got some rebuilding to do. But during the rebuilding process they’re going to come to my side; I’m not going to their side.”

Years back, Maldonado signed a no-new-tax pledge, something he seems now to regret, “because it should have said no tax increases unless there’s an emergency.” He described the Republican alternative to this year’s finances as one that would “decimate” state programs.

Now, for better or worse, Maldonado’s name is becoming more well-known, if not infamous. Former San Francisco mayor and legislator Willie Brown called him the most unpopular politician in Sacramento in a San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece. The Economist got him international recognition for being one of the few Republicans who would break party ranks.

Even as the senator sat on the steps of the SLO City Hall during an interview, a man walking by shouted at him: “Abel, get ’em shaped up, up there. Get Sacramento shaped up.”

Maldonado provided Democrats the long-sought two-thirds majority that was needed to pass the budget. Admittedly, he could have haggled an attractive concessions package for his vote. He was offered committee chairmanships, a new larger office, and other perks he declined to detail. “They offered me the world.”

What he got for his vote was the removal of a 12-cent gas tax and $1 million worth of furniture from the Controller’s Office budget (the state controller said money was needed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act), a ballot measure that would ban legislative raises during deficit years, and a ballot measure to create open primaries in California.

Conversely, he said, Republicans were willing to just sit idly for political gains and let the state go into bankruptcy.

“Well, they wouldn’t say it in public, but they would sit in committee hearings in our caucus and say, ‘You know what, Abel, why do you want to vote for this? Let’s let the state go off the cliff; let’s let the state go into bankruptcy to prove the other party was wrong all these years.’ And I was not going to hold the people of California hostage and I was not going to bankrupt the state.”


If his vote to approve the budget only earned him enemies right of center, the things he added in the budget likely riled members of both parties.

“There are two people that hate the open primary system: the party bosses on the Republican side and the party bosses on the Democrat side. They hate it because they won’t be able to control their members.”

He spoke extensively and excitedly of ending the hyper partisanship in Sacramento. If nothing else, Maldonado’s ostracism seems to have given him an example of how Sacramento handles its defectors.

The message seems clear from Maldonado’s perspective: moderates are not welcome. He said his early introduction to state office was, “Take your local government hat off, you’re 
in the Senate.”

And if Republican moderates weren’t scared off before, they probably will be now after Maldonado’s fall from grace.

“It sends the wrong message to anybody that wants to go up there and really focus on public policy that benefits all Californians.”

As for Abel, he has three more years in the Senate—maximum. Term limits prevent him from running again. If his party has its way, however, those will be his last three years in politics.

Staff writer Colin Rigley can be reached at crigley@newtimesslo.com.
I bolded the parts I thought were more interesting.

I don't agree with many of Abel Maldonaldo's stances, but I thought it was interesting that the party response was essentially to completely cut him off. It seems rather vindictive, considering they apparently just want the state to burn. It helps to explain some of the crap going on with getting a decent state budget passed, though.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by SirNitram »

Of course they want the State to collapse. Christ, they said so. Publically. It's a damn slogan.

"Government is not the solution, government is the problem."

So of course they want a state government to fail. Then you can have their solution.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Erik von Nein »

Well, yes. In this case, though, it's to prove a point about the opposition to gain more seats in the next election, not just to bring anarchist capitalism into the state.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Loner »

CA needs to go completely bankrupt. It spends too much money.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Erik von Nein »

Er, that would have all kinds of terrible impacts. Can you demonstrate how letting it go bankrupt would be better, over all, for the state (and the country, since California's kind of a big economy and all) to go bankrupt rather than salvaging what there is?
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Knife »

Erik von Nein wrote:Er, that would have all kinds of terrible impacts. Can you demonstrate how letting it go bankrupt would be better, over all, for the state (and the country, since California's kind of a big economy and all) to go bankrupt rather than salvaging what there is?

No he wouldn't, cause then he'd have to state empirically that he values numbers over lives.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Thanas »

Loner wrote:CA needs to go completely bankrupt. It spends too much money.
What a completely idiotic suggestion.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Good. Maybe this will finely send the message to any remaining non-yes men in the party that sanity and the public good are no longer welcome in the GOP. Then maybe the party will do the only thing likely to save it or American democracy, and finally just break up.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Loner »

I'd like to quote a recent article from the Mercury News shows how the budget of California currently stands:
California budget mess: Where did our money go?

By Paul Rogers
and Leigh Poitinger

Mercury News
Posted: 02/08/2009 12:00:00 AM PST

California is broke.

But lost in the day-to-day drama over IOUs, furloughs and huge deficits is a basic question many Californians might be asking: Where has all our money gone?

A Mercury News analysis of state spending since Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took office in late 2003 found that he and the Democratic-controlled Legislature have spent money well beyond the rate of inflation and California's population growth — $10.2 billion more.

Yet the programs that received most of that money are priorities that Californians broadly support or have demanded at the ballot box: tougher prison sentences for criminals, health care for uninsured children and an aging population, and a cut in the "car tax" that they pay every year to register their vehicles.

The problem, according to a report last week from the state auditor, is that Republican and Democratic politicians in Sacramento have shirked their responsibility for the past decade, papering over shortfalls that started after the dot-com bubble popped in 2001.

Like homeowners paying off one credit card with another, they used accounting gimmicks and more debt, rather than raising taxes or cutting spending, to balance the books. As the economy worsened and tax receipts plummeted — from $102.5 billion last year to an estimated $87.5 billion this year — the house of cards collapsed.

Recession's effect

"We got what we wanted and we've never figured out how to pay for it. And then we had this recession, and that made everything worse," said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy.

"Everybody's got somebody to blame, but in the end these are services people wanted," Levy added. "Look at the screaming when you close a swimming pool, let alone try to cut education."

The Mercury News analyzed state spending, line by line, from 2003 to 2008. The major conclusions:

# California's general fund under Schwarzenegger's tenure has grown 34.9 percent — from $76.3 billion in the 2003-04 fiscal year to $102.9 billion in 2007-08.

# But over that same period, population growth and inflation together grew by only 21.5 percent.

# If state spending had grown only at that rate, it would have reached $92.7 billion last year. Instead, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature spent $10.2 billion more.

"I wish it hadn't grown that much," said Mike Genest, Schwarzenegger's state finance director, "but in some sense, it was inevitable. Had we stuck with a very austere budget, we would have been in better shape.''

"But that would have meant real, permanent reductions in service levels, like schools and health care and prison guard pay, and that would have required herculean effort from the Legislature. And there was no chance of that."

Top Democrats cite voter initiatives as big drivers in the state's spending — like the 1994 "three strikes" measure that increased the prison population, or Proposition 98, the 1988 measure guaranteeing at least 40 percent of the general fund for education. Add to that, they say, some major lawsuits the state lost, including a federal case requiring more spending to upgrade prison health care at about $1 billion a year so far.

"If you factor out voter initiatives and court suits, the remaining part of state government grew at or less than inflation and population growth," said John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat who served as Assembly Budget Committee chairman from 2004 to 2008.

So looking at the past five years, where did that "extra" $10.2 billion of state spending above the rate of inflation and population growth go? The Mercury News found:

# The state prison system received the biggest share, about $4.1 billion of it. Corrections spending has increased fivefold since 1994. At $13 billion last year, it now exceeds spending on higher education. Tough laws and voter-approved ballot measures have increased the prison population 82 percent over the past 20 years. Meanwhile, former Gov. Gray Davis gave the powerful prison guards union a 30 percent raise from 2003 to 2008, increasing payroll costs.

# Public health spending — mostly Medi-Cal, the state program for the poor — received $2.9 billion above the rate of inflation and population growth. Part of that spike is due to an aging population; part is rising national health care costs. But state lawmakers also expanded Medi-Cal eligibility among children and low-income women a decade ago, increasing caseloads.

# Schwarzenegger's first act as governor, signing an executive order to cut the vehicle license fee by two-thirds, blew a large hole in the state budget. It saved the average motorist about $200 a year but would have devastated the cities and counties that had been receiving the money. So Schwarzenegger agreed to repay them every year with state funds. That promise now costs the state $6 billion a year, or $2 billion more than the rate of inflation and population growth since early 2003.

# Spending on a few other areas, such as higher education, general government, transportation and environment, also grew faster — by about $1 billion each — than inflation and population over the past five years. That was mostly to cover debt payments on bonds that voters approved for parks and highways, along with moves to limit university tuition increases.

# Finally, general fund spending on K-12 schools and social services, like welfare, actually grew less than the rate of inflation and population growth.

'What voters wanted'

Some budget observers say spending more than inflation and population growth is OK, particularly if the economy grows faster.

"The spending is not out of line. It's what voters wanted, and some programs grow faster than the rate of inflation," said Jean Ross, executive director of the nonprofit California Budget Project.

Conservatives call the spending an outrage.

"Like Reagan said, giving money to politicians is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Coupal noted that even though California's revenue has fallen dramatically this year, the state general fund still brings in about $90 billion in annual taxes. That's nearly 20 percent more than it received five years ago — and only about 12 percent less than the peak last year before the economy tanked.

"Most business and families could take 10 to 12 percent out of their budget. They do, because they don't have a choice," he said.

One of the state's most famous tax-cut crusaders, U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Granite Bay, said the problem is that California's bureaucracy has grown too large and powerful. Salaries are too high, it's too difficult to fire state workers, and the entire system needs an overhaul, he said, including outsourcing to private firms everything from nonviolent inmates to highway engineering.

"We've got to put our wardens back in charge of prisons, and principals back in charge of teachers, and introduce competitive pressures back into those systems," McClintock said.

But Laird, the Democratic former budget chairman, said it isn't that easy to reduce the size of government.

"You can call teachers 'bureaucracy,' but in fact they are teachers," said Laird. "If you cut teachers, class sizes go up." His solution: More taxes are needed.

Fixing California's broken budget system will require a wide range of reforms, many experts say, from making it tougher to qualify ballot measures to spending caps to reexamining the two-thirds vote requirement to raise taxes.

In the meantime, legislative leaders say a budget deal could come as soon as this week. The "Big 5'' — the governor and four legislative leaders — are expected to resume talks this afternoon. Any deal is nearly certain to include big spending cuts and higher taxes.

"Our society is moving in the direction of, 'I want more from government but I don't want to pay for it,' " Genest said. "Right now we have leaders making hard choices out of necessity, and we need to continue that."
I bolded some of the more relevant points made, and the article page has some charts to illustrate the areas of spending. From what I can see the problem this state has when it comes to budgets are two-fold. 1) State politicians (Democratic and Republican alike) spent more money then they should and when it comes back to haunt them, they would rather rely on taxing more and borrowing more money, instead of making necessary cuts to reduce the shortfall. 2) Bond measures are put up yearly for voters to vote on and pass.That means more borrowing which the state can't afford to do.

My earlier comment might be extreme, and I know the consequences of what will occur if the state does go bankrupt. However, if the legislature and the governor cannot or will not make the change necessary for the state to live within its means, then it should be burnt down and start everything over from scratch.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

And what about all the perfectly innocent people who will be fucked over if California is allowed to go bankrupt? I don't think its just the legislator and old Arnold who will be fucked. This isn't abstract theory we're talking about. Its people's lives.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

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The Romulan Republic wrote:And what about all the perfectly innocent people who will be fucked over if California is allowed to go bankrupt? I don't think its just the legislator and old Arnold who will be fucked. This isn't abstract theory we're talking about. Its people's lives.
Then what do you suggest should be done?
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The Romulan Republic wrote:And what about all the perfectly innocent people who will be fucked over if California is allowed to go bankrupt? I don't think its just the legislator and old Arnold who will be fucked. This isn't abstract theory we're talking about. Its people's lives.
Doubly so considering this is California we're talking about. The state has a bigger economy than most countries. If California goes down, it's going to bring a sizeable chunk of the country down with it.
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Loner wrote:
The Romulan Republic wrote:And what about all the perfectly innocent people who will be fucked over if California is allowed to go bankrupt? I don't think its just the legislator and old Arnold who will be fucked. This isn't abstract theory we're talking about. Its people's lives.
Then what do you suggest should be done?
I don't know. Economics is never something I've known much about. Beyond bailing them out and driving the country deeper into debt I don't know. But I do know that essentially telling the largest state to go fuck itself isn't an acceptable solution.

Maybe attach conditions to government money going to California to force the legislature to get their act together? Didn't they do that with some of the money going to bail out companies?
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by Mayabird »

How hard would it be to repeal all or any those voter initiatives? They're tying up a huge portion of California's budget. Or releasing all the non-violent drug offenders from prisons, since the prison budgets are getting out of hand? Or both?

Damn near impossible?
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Mayabird wrote:How hard would it be to repeal all or any those voter initiatives? They're tying up a huge portion of California's budget. Or releasing all the non-violent drug offenders from prisons, since the prison budgets are getting out of hand? Or both?

Damn near impossible?
I have a feeling that no legislator will be quick to let all drug offenders out, for fear of being labeled "soft on crime" by various politically powerful religious groups (and the general public).

Though hasn't their been talk recently of decriminalizing and taxing marijuana in California? I guess they must be getting desperate. :wink:
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Re: Vote for tax increases? Lose Republican state money.

Post by The Yosemite Bear »

Well no shit, we've been doing that with bond issues for so long that most people should have been able to see this comming 20 years ago. Hell I haven't voted for a single bond issue since I started voting at 18.

In one sense the fact that the whole con scheme has lasted this long is amazing, oh and it's both parties that have been doing it, and the damn stupid California voters who keep being stupid enough to keep acerbating the problem.
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