The Democrats who control the Legislature have fired their opening salvo against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spending blueprint, which proposed eliminating California's welfare program and cutting deeply into other state services, by proposing that the state rely instead on billions of dollars in new taxes to balance the budget. (Color me shocked!)
The Assembly's Democrats detailed a plan Tuesday that would tax oil companies and borrow billions from the nickel-and-dime deposits that consumers make on recyclable bottles and cans. Tax breaks for businesses that are scheduled to take effect soon would be delayed under the plan.
A day earlier, Democrats in the Senate had begun debating a nearly $5-billion tax plan that would delay the same corporate tax breaks and extend both a hike in personal income taxes and a reduced dependent-care credit that are set to expire in December. Vehicle license fees would rise by $1.2 billion. Taxes on alcohol would increase 60%.
The Assembly plan centers on raiding the state's recycling fund for the next 20 years and going to Wall Street for an $8.7-billion loan. The state would then levy a nearly 10% oil severance tax to help pay off the loan.
The Senate Democrats' approach is more straightforward. It would plug roughly a quarter of the state's deficit with tax increases.
This is the same crap they pulled in 2009, raising taxes on vehicle registration and pilfering other funds. Yet we are in a worse budget crisis than last year because we continue spending more. Are these people dumb? We are broke, you can't raise taxes into infinity to solve this.
Another step in the California's long trend of abandoning common sense.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...wed+Stories%29
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