By: Dr. Vince Mamo
Voters overwhelmingly defeat Proposition 1A that would have increased taxes by 16 Billion dollars during a recession.
California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s promise on replacing Gray Davis was to oppose new and higher taxes. Contrary to his platform, California’s deficit has skyrocketed to over $20 billion dollars, placing the state in a position to be unable to pay income tax refunds, pensions, and other obligations of the state. Continuing in this fashion, politicians placed Propositions 1A-F on the table for California that would have raised taxes to create a rainy day fund.
The response to Propositions 1A-F has definitely shown that the glitter has started to fade from the eyes of the constituents. Propositions 1A-E were defeated by over 60% on each measure. The only proposition to pass was 1F (with over 74%), which limits legislators pay increases when the budget is not balanced. The people understand that they can no longer trust government with being fiscally responsible. How else can revenues of the state grown by 167% in the last 20 years, while deficits soared. California is one of the highest taxed states in the nation, yet is still going bankrupt. This can only be explained by the fact that government spending has nearly tripled in the same time frame.
It is this libertarian idealism that has really shown through in this last election. If people are accountable for themselves, so too must be government. Education on government spending and taxes is what is moving the people. More than anything people were complaining about the size of government and that it was too bloated, a core tenet of the Libertarian philosophy. The spending has got to stop. As voiced by Edmund Jenks: “Well, it isn’t so much the we are not being taxed enough money to run the Government, it is more about that they are spending way too much money to run the Government!” It is truly not only a victory for the Libertarian Party of California, but a voice calling out for all other party members across the country to listen to the party of reason.
