The state is going to try and con us into paying more tax. As
usual, they are crying,
”
broke,
”
and will hold show meetings to preach to us about the virtues of
socialism.
Dear Editor,
The state is going to try and con us into paying more tax. As usual, they are crying, “broke,” and will hold show meetings to preach to us about the virtues of socialism. Hopefully the voters have learned from history to not fall for any tax hike or believe anything promised by the state. The latest gimmick is to dump most “services” back to the county level, reversing the state’s takeover of two generations ago, when the excuse was that some counties were too impoverished.
The roots of the problem go back to the early 1960’s when Gov. Moonbeam’s loser father was governor. People were moving to California in droves to escape their miserable, cold climates. Due to fast economic growth there was both low unemployment and unsustainable sprawl. Budgets for state entities such as parks and education were generous due to a temporary gush of money. This created a culture of, “I want everything free, and I want everyone else to pay for it.”
Last time Moonbeam was governor, people were being taxed out of their homes while he and his cronies were laughing in Sacramento. His failures and the inherent unfairness of taxing property resulted in both the passage of Prop. 13 (1978) and its support through more than three decades.
In 1991, they cried “broke” again, and increased the sales tax from 6 to 7 percent, promising to lower it back when the economy turned around. The tech boom came, the state was flush with money, they broke their promise, and the state employees (starting with the prison guards) all got fat raises from Gov. Davis (Moonbeam’s former chief of staff).
In 2009 they doubled our vehicle registration (property tax on cars) and raised the sales tax a full percentage point. And they’re running the same deficit; they refuse to cut anything. They expect us to fork over more and more money for the precious state employees and their show programs.
What does the state do for us to warrant all the money we already pay? We’re the third-highest tax rate in the country, and the deepest in the red. It’s more like, how much we are paying them to lie TO us. They continue to:
– compensate the fat state employees at double the rate of private-sector workers;
– keep non-violent, victimless offenders in prison;
– provide welfare, education, health care, and other services for illegal immigrants (creating incentive for more to come);
– let state employees retire after 30 years with 90% pension (while the rest of us will get I.O.U.s from Social Insecurity);
– pass more laws and unaffordable regulations than they can enforce; and
– tell us to “tax the rich,” when 60% of state income taxes are paid by a mere 3% of the people.
They will never enact any true reform. Shut the state down. Let it go bankrupt, and all the state employee contracts will be null and void. Standing in hour-long lines at the DMV to give money to the slugs is the favorite pastime of any ignoramus who supports any state tax hike.
Alan Viarengo, Gilroy
