Arnold’s “Budget Fix” Will Only Make Things WorsePaul Hogarthbyline‚ Nov. 19‚ 2008We all know the state’s in a fiscal crisis – with horrific budget cuts on the way. But the Governor’s solution (tax increases on poor people during a recession) will only make things worse. Yesterday’s SF Chronicle said that raising sales taxes in tough economic times is bad for small business, but it failed to mention it’s also bad for consumers. And eliminating the renters tax credit for our most vulnerable Californians further adds insult to injury – at a time when the blind and the elderly won’t get cost-of-living increases this year. While Arnold Schwarzenegger wants the poor, sick and elderly to bear the burden of our struggling economy, he still won’t ask the wealthy to pay an extra 1% in income taxes. Democrats proposed such a measure in this year’s budget, and prior Governors like Pete Wilson and Ronald Reagan approved such increases in past recessions. But while the state clearly has a “revenue problem,” it’s tough to argue with Republicans in the legislature who say we have a “spending problem” – when lame-duck politicians like Carole Migden get six-figure salaries to serve on the Integrated Waste Management Board (which everyone knows to be a patronage slush fund.) |