Pasadena Politics

Moving from the national scene closer to my home in California: Gov. Schwarzenegger.  The Recall Election which got him into office was essentially about the citizens of California being fed up with the State increasing spending and taxes, the catalyst being the increase of the car tax (politicians cleverly tried to slip it by as a ‘fee’ increase).  So we held a recall of Gray Davis and received Schwarzenegger who promised to get the money from Washington with regards to the Feds compensating for their lack of immigration enforcement and his promise to be a fiscal conservative.

Yet, things have gone Topsy Turvy the last few years with the Govenator now proposing a tax increase on the vehicle registration and otherwise desiring to increase spending due to a “revenue problem”. So… what happened to the “spending problem”?  He perhaps no longer views things as a fiscal conservative.

Now, part of the blame lies with the citizens of California in all this: They voted down his fiscal belt tightening proposals after the Unions waged a heavy campaign against them and this November voted to increase the State’s spending and debt with bone headed Bond measures: a High Speed Rail system and Children’s Hospitals for example.  So it would seem obvious that over half the people in California seem to think we don’t have a spending problem. Thus, in a sense, the Govenator’s idea to triple the car tax and increase the State sales tax by 1.5% makes complete sense.

Why aren’t there Bond measures to increase spending on seeing eye dogs for the blind?*  Because only a handful out of a thousand would vote for it compared to the hundreds that would vote for Childrens Hospitals. What chutzpa: you end run responsible spending by spending tax income first on frivolity and then ask to borrow money for the necessities such as education and infrastructure then ask for more money because there isn’t enough for the necessities. What a great example Government sets for us.

 Or, perhaps it is the other way around: What a great example we set for the Government?

*Now, seeing eye dogs for the blind are good (and I wish I could find the link to the article), but I am pretty confident that a nonprofit group or other individual(s) with money would take pity on them and otherwise fill in the gap government leaves behind: Do recall that Charities existed well before Government subsidies.