Let’s Look At The Issues

By Peter Ward

Two years ago, the state of California was close to being declared a national disaster area. Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger had left the state with a staggering $28 billion budget deficit. Unemployment was in double digit territory. Air quality in the southern part of the state was so bad it led David Letterman to say, “Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.”

Truthfully, the state of California was in such bad shape in 2011 that the 40 million people who live there decided to take the only action that would save them. They took back their state. They threw the conservatives out of office and told the Tea Party to set up camp elsewhere. Democrat Jerry Brown was elected governor and Democrats were given super majorities in both chambers of California’s legislature. The Democratic majorities in the state legislature are so large the Republican Party in California has been described as irrelevant. And now, just one year after Californians rid their legislature of most conservative blowhards, their state has come back big time. Instead of a $28 billion budget deficit, California has a good-sized budget surplus. Employment has jumped, jobs are back, schools are improved and even the air quality is better, much better.

This is not the first time Democrats have had to clean up the fiscal mess left by Republicans. In fact, Barack Obama is doing a pretty good job cleaning up the nationwide recession and the greatest fiscal mess since the Great Depression, the debacles that were left to him by George W. Bush.

So, how did Jerry Brown and the Democrats save California? Well, they did what conservative Republicans always say is unthinkable. They raised taxes. And what is really amazing is the way they did it. They didn’t just pass legislation to raise taxes like other state governments do; instead they asked voters to raise taxes on themselves!
The voters responded. They turned out in huge numbers at the polls last November, voted to raise their own taxes, and California immediately began its rapid rise from a strangling budget deficit and rampant unemployment. The Golden State is golden again.

It was called Proposition 30. It called for an increase in the state sales tax, which all people in California pay whenever they purchase almost any type of merchandise, and it raised the state income tax on wealthy Californians — those earning more than $250,000 a year, or about three percent of the state’s population. The state sales tax was raised from 7.25 percent to 7.50 percent. The state income tax on the wealthiest three percent of California residents was raised for the next seven years from 9.3 percent to the following rates:

• To a 10.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $250,000 but less than $300,000.

• To a 11.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $300,000 but less than $500,000.

• To a 12.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $500,000 up to $1,000,000.

• To a 13.3 percent tax rate on taxable income over $1 million.

Barely one year after voters in California elected to raise taxes on themselves, the state has made a full recovery! People are working again. The air is cleaner, too, because of progressive legislation enacted by the Democrats. Gun safety measures have been passed. Schools are improving dramatically. And even the wealthiest Californians — the ones that are paying an increase in state income tax — are happy, because they are now making more money than ever!

Right now, the U.S. Congress is in a stalemate that has caused a shutdown of the federal government. In looking to fix the gridlock in Washington, voters should look no further for an example of what to do than California, where Democrats in one year cleaned up the dire financial mess caused by a tax-cutting movie actor, Arnold Schwarzennegger, and his Republican teammates.

Right now, New York City residents are a month away from voting for a Mayor. The Republican candidate is calling for tax cuts like the disastrous ones George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzennegger enacted. The Democrat, Bill de Blasio, who is endorsed by our Union, has proposed a modest tax increase on the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay for pre-school for our city’s kids. Voters should look to California as an example of what to do, and they should vote for de Blasio.

And on November 5 all New York State voters will have the opportunity to vote for improved education and lower property taxes. They should look to California as an example of the great things that can happen when voters are given the chance to decide things for themselves, and they should vote “YES” on the casino gaming referendum.