With California facing a $41 billion shortfall and the state nearly insolvent, a Republican Party activist has drafted a resolution to censure any GOP lawmaker who votes for a tax increase.
Jon Fleischman, a blogger and Southern California vice chairman for the California Republican Party, submitted the resolution to the party's convention, which will be held later this month.
If approved, the resolution would direct the party "to campaign and contribute funds against these pro-tax Republican legislators in primaries, and in general elections …"
While some Democrats have publicly denounced Fleischman's attempt at intimidation, we suspect that many are privately celebrating it.
If the Republican Party were to censure lawmakers who compromised to close the state's historic budget gap, it would tear the party apart and further diminish its chances to gain seats in the Legislature.
GOP money would be spent defeating Republicans instead of Democrats.
How's that for a winning strategy?
While it's tempting to urge Fleischman to keep pushing his resolution, this page has long advocated for a more relevant Republican Party, not a suicidal one.
This state needs GOP leadership that will advocate for fiscal sanity, entrepreneurship and civil liberties. Anti-tax jihadists like Fleischman seem ready to tank the state and take their party with it.
Fortunately, some Republican leaders recognize that the zealous fundamentalism of "no new taxes" actually undermines the GOP's ability to work on a wider agenda. A spending cap? Payroll reductions? Reforms to welfare, work hours and state contracting provisions? Why would Democrats agree to those if Republicans refuse to budge on taxes?
Here in the Sacramento region, Assemblyman Roger Niello is one GOP lawmaker who, while despising higher taxes, recognizes the need to keep his options open. That's good for his party and good for the state.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.