Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't be happy that the ballot measures he and leading Democrats are pushing for the May 19 special election took a gut punch in this morning's Los AngelesTimes from former LA Mayor Richard Riordan.
Titled "California's May ballot scam," Riordan's op-ed says the Republican governor and legislative backers of the measures could challenge Bernie Madoff for "swindler of the year."
The governor and Democrats say Props. 1A through 1E are needed to help balance the current budget problem and help future years by creating a rainy day fund that essentially would preserve revenue for down years.
But Riordan says both parties are blindly supporting the approach. Democrats, he writes, are supporting "propositions that will drastically cut services to the state's neediest...after legislators increased the state sales tax, a regressive tax that places a larger burden on the poor..."
And to my conservative friends: Will you be intimidated into voting for something you know is wrong? You should be against increases in taxes, not for ideological reasons but because they will be economically disastrous for California. The rich (and I am one of them) already have their mansions, airplanes and yachts. There is nothing morally or ethically wrong with increasing their taxes. But if the burden becomes too great, the rich will simply take their money (and the taxes they pay and the jobs they create) and move elsewhere. And it is the poor who will be hurt by such an exodus.
@Nyx.CommentBody@