There is more than one way for the State of California to take money from hard working families. It can raise taxes and fees on the State level. It can also cut back funding on mandated programs and force cities and counties to raise taxes for their residents.
For the State of California and the out of control Democrats running Sacramento, this is the best answer. Get others to do your dirty work. Then the Sacto Democrats will not have to take responsibility for the increases.
In the last couple of years the State has paid over $1,000,000,000 in fines to the Feds for incompetent and illegal management of Federal tax dollars. The voters passed a bond issue for affordable housing but is planning to give a billionaire in downtown LA tens of millions of dollars for a condo project for the very rich.
LAUSD knowingly builds one high school for $400 million, on top of a cancer producing methane field and another high school, for the arts for $260 million--this is downtown LA, which means the 1,000 students will be forced to drive or use government transportation to attend.
Note that the money given by the State to LAUSD should have gone to local districts, like Simi, Ojai, Ventura. Our children are being shortchanged by the corruption and incompetence of LAUSD.
In 2006 the voters agreed to a water bond. Yet the "leaders" in the Capitol voted to use part of the money to build motels in Lake Tahoe and an aquarium in Fresno.
State government has more than enough money. It is the incompetence and corruption of the system that is the problem.
The more money you give government, the more it has to play with. In five years the State budget has grown by 40%. Think you got your monies worth?
Enough said.
In the face of all this the city councils of Oxnard and Port Hueneme have decided to put increased sales taxes on the November 4th ballot. Instead, the city councils should be demanding the money owed to them by the State. They should be screaming to their citizens that Sacramento is wasting their money, abusing the families and businesses of the community.
Government has enough money, at all levels. What it has is a deficit of honesty, common sense and priorities. We give them bond money and they abuse it. The taxpayers give it money for education and the State allows LAUSD to waste it.
We have an important State Senate race in November. One candidate, Tony Strickland, as an Assembly member, consistently voted for tax cuts, honesty in government and limiting the spending of the State. He opposed deficit spending.
The Democrat candidate, Hannah Beth Jackson, was also consistent. She always voted for tax increases, more government spending and believed that government, not people can solve the problems of the community. She promoted deficit spending.
This is as clear cut an election as we have had. This election will decide whether the people of the 19th Senate District support bigger government, higher taxes and less money for families or do they believe they can make decisions for themselves?
As the voters of Oxnard and Port Hueneme vote in November, they need to think about the next time government runs out of money. Will the city councils ask for more money from families or demand more responsibility from State government?
Hannah-Beth Jackson = tax and spend liberal who has never met a tax increase she did not like.
With the Democrat controlled legislature mismanaging the state budget it is ONLY the GOP State Senate (2/3 rule to pass the budget) that is holding the line on massive tax increases.
This is why we need Tony Srickland to stop the likes of Hannah-Beth Jackson.
WARNING: This is not a blog, it is a paid political advertisement for Tony Strickland. It should be obvious to any reader right now that the author of this blog has one agenda only.
A vote for Tony Strickland is a vote for worst sort of corporate interests who do not have the well being of the public in mind. A vote for Tony Strickland is a vote against the environment, against consumers, and for for Big Tobacco, Big Oil, gambling and all those who have paid him to do his bidding.
On a list of the politicians in the United States who have taken tobacco money, Strickland is in the top 10. Strickland never met a polluter he didn't like. His campaign finances have been investigated numerous times.
Hannah-Beth Jackson has never promoted deficit spending. She is working for sensible solutions to our state's budget problems which will keep us from making serious cuts to education and will keep our teachers employed.
RE:warning
You don't like teachers, police, fire, local governent and state employees....??
Every one of their retirement dollars and most of their health care dollars....comes from investment in big polluting worldwide corporations....
All public employee reitrement dollars and most of the health care dollars are invested by the government into the big polluting corporations, here and overseas, in hopes of making these dollars grow into the big bucks necessary for public employee retirement and healthcare...it is done no other way....
Steve,
You should disable anonymous commenting here and expose the left wing zealots who comment under assumed names over and over again like on Dennert's blog.
And....Hannah-Beth Jackson is a former attorney who is bought and paid for by the trial lawyers and labor unions who own her.
She is a tax and spend liberal from Santa Barbara plain and simple.
This blog is no more politically biased than Dennert, Marie or Herdt! Isn't it a little more balanced to have someone espousing the RIGHT side of the issues? (pun intended)
Hannah-Beth Jackson has not said one word in her campaign so far about how she would solve the State budget crisis. She is too busy criticizing Tony Strickland and trying to associate him with big tobacco.
She has yet to respond to the questions posed to her campaign about her own acceptance of tobacco money through another State Senator (Ron Calderon), which is extremely dishonest and probably illegal. She has yet to respond to questions associating her campaign with public employee unions, trial lawyers associations, and the well-heeled, limousine liberals from Montecito, Summerland, and Santa Barbara.
Hannah-Beth Jackson doesn't pass the smell test in this election. She is clearly not the candidate for SD-19. The Assembly District (AD-35) she previously represented was far more appropriate for her brand of knee-jerk liberalism that sells well in the rich enclaves of Santa Barbara County.
@disclaimer
Yeah, you are right. 4 against Frank when you include the editorial board of the VC Star. :o)
I give them credit for finally balancing their political coverage even if it is a token move.
Meant for that comment to be TO DISCLAIMER, not BY DISCLAIMER . . wouldn't want to steal your name. Your views are way too liberal and extreme for me.
City governments do not need more money. They need to make better decisions on how the money they have already is being managed and spent.
This sounds like such a simple concept and it's one that we, as individuals, as well as businesses, small and large, adhere to in order to successfully manage they're financial resources and be able to continue to grow and prosper in the future.
City's should take a cue from the private sector. When revenues start to shrink, they need to cut expenses, pure and simple. Trying to increase revenues in a down market is a losing battle.
The State cannot tax its way out of its current financial crisis. It needs to attack it on the other side of the equation - cut programs and the cost of government. The size and scope of government must be brought into alignment with the resources available to support them. Otherwise, it becomes an annual crapshoot, which has been going on for far too long already.
Come on Stephen,
Who are Republicans to talk about unfunded mandates, what a pile of you know what. Let's talk about one of the worst unfunded mandates so far this century, "No Child Left Behind." The reason the states are having so much financial trouble, and this is all states not just ours, is the Bush administration and the enabling congress they controlled up until 2006 have burdened the states with their unfunded mandates.
Nice try, whoever posted with the same name later on.
Brian Dennert gives equal play to all candidates who send him press releases. Timm Herdt is an excellent news reporter who strives for neutrality. Marie Lakin writes about Ventura and has only posted once about SD-19 to my knowledge.
This blog is a non-stop advertisement for the Stricklands. The Star should be sending a bill to the Stricklands for paid political advertising.
@ The real disclaimer
What a joke. The VC Star is as left as they come.
BTW did Marie Lakin ever disclose whow much she donated to Hannah-Beth Jackson before she trashed the Stricklands?
@ Flap
Looks like she made a modest donation of $150 to Jackson back in December. She is certainly free to donate her money.
A better question would be how much are the Stricklands paying Frank for this column?
@TRD
She certainly is free to donate to whom she wishes. But, you would think she would disclose it, right?
She didn't.
Doesn't the VC Star have an ethics policy for their bloggers. I know they do for their reporters. I heard they actually pay their bloggers too.
Where is this disclosed?
With regards to Steve Frank, you will have to ask him.
Sorry Flap, but there's no ethical problem with donating to a candidate you support and also writing about them. It's no different than a letter to the editor.
How much have you donated to the Strickland campaign? You write about them nonstop in your "dental" blog. Or are you on their payroll too?
To answer some of the questions raised by the readers of this blog:
1. I have not donated to any candidate running for office on the ballot this year.
2. I very, very seldom run press releases for candidates or causes. In fact, since the start of this blog, June 23, I have received ZERO press releases. If someone would like to send one to me it should go to stephenfrank@sbcglobal.net. I will NOT run it, but might comment on it.
3. Currently I am professionally working on two November ballot measures and no candidates for office.
4. I am NOT paid by anybody, including the Star, to write this blog. I do take suggestions, from anybody, for articles.
5. I have always considered myself a majority. This blog will not comment on any other Star blog item or blogger. They can speak for themselves.
6. I will never delete comments I do not like or those that disagree with my values or concerns. I will delete any comments that use foul or abusive language.
Blogs and the Internet need to be open to debate and disagreement. Frankly Speaking is part of the New Media, not the lecture form of a newspaper article or TV newscast.
Thanks, Steve and you are certainly a breath of fresh air here at the VC Star.
I wish the other Star bloggers had your ethics.
Yes, it is SO ethical to falsely accuse firefighters and a candidate of a crime without checking out your facts first. Have we heard an apology yet?
The air smells if you ask me.
Anyone dumb enough to vote to raise his own taxes is dumb....
As a rule of thumb vote against ALL tax measures and bond issues....don't even waste your time reading them.....
And vote against all incumbents, too...one term is enough for anyone...