For Immediate Release Thursday, February 19, 2009
PANORAMA CITY, Calif. — Libertarian Party of California Chair Kevin Takenaga issued the follow statement today regarding the budget deal agreed to this morning by the California legislature:
“The budget package passed by the California legislature this morning is an absolute travesty. It shows just how little concern the Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento have for ordinary, hard-working individuals and businesses in California.
“And make no mistake, even those Republicans who voted against it today share the blame. The state’s fiscal mess didn’t just happen overnight. It took years of arrogance, neglect, ignorance and willful disregard for taxpayers by both major parties to reach this point. The state’s $40 billion deficit was utterly predictable. Both parties were copartners in crime in approving ever larger spending plans that far outstripped the state’s rising revenues. Despite a slowing economy, the state still separated taxpayers from a record amount of their money last year.
“And even with record revenues, the state has fallen further behind in quality of life compared to low-tax states like Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Florida. Our government-funded educational system ranks near the bottom of the 50 states, our traffic is among the worst in the nation, we have more state employees per capita than we ever have, and Democrats and Republicans still think the problem is ‘not enough revenue.’
“Not only has the legislature threatened the future prosperity of Californians, but it will place on the ballot a proposed constitutional ‘open primary’ amendment that would prevent voters from choosing from a wide field of candidates in a general election. A ‘top-two’ system will effectively deny voters the opportunity to choose third-party candidates who could offer the best hope for a return to sound budget practices.
“Despite this double whammy, the Libertarian Party of California will again field candidates at the local, state, and federal levels in the 2010 election cycle who will offer policies that will prevent us from ever reliving this budget mismanagement nightmare. We offer the political choice that Californians desperately need right now.” The Libertarian Party of California fields candidates at the local, state, and federal level each election cycle. It also publishes the weekly Libertarian Perspective, an op-ed column authored by writers who strongly believe in freedom and individual liberty. Libertarians are socially tolerant and fiscally responsible, believe in personal freedom in both social and economic spheres, and in government small enough to protect those freedoms. For more information, visit the party’s Website at www.ca.lp.org .
