tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post962626275185724497..comments2024-03-28T03:10:19.013-07:00Comments on Fraggmented: Why I Don't Like Ballot InitiativesJohn Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07530526320973807452noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post-53544744886746449712011-12-21T21:21:24.139-08:002011-12-21T21:21:24.139-08:00Except that there haven't been "boom and ...Except that there haven't been "boom and bust cycles"; total revenue has increased pretty steadily since 1978. The problem is that spending has increased faster. And all revenue sources are affected by general economic conditions. What evidence is there that property taxes are more stable? You think property tax revenues aren't down across the country? Have you been paying any attention to what's been going on in the housing market in the last several years? <br /><br />Again, California already has one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country, and is one of the wealthiest states. The simple fact is that all this nonsense about Prop 13 is nothing more than an excuse for Sacramento pols not to live within their means. Oh, and by the way, businesses are already fleeing California's high tax burden. California is certainly near, if not well past, the peak on the Laffer curve. Higher taxes are not likely to bring in any more revenue at this point.<br /><br />All this about how California's taxes aren't high enough reminds me of James Ledbetter's <i>Starving to Death on $200 Million</i>, except that California is starving to death on $94 billion a year.RichardAKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post-11461506655340610162011-12-21T08:39:11.883-08:002011-12-21T08:39:11.883-08:00Actually California's budget problems stem fro...Actually California's budget problems stem from Prop 13 essentially freezing commercial property tax assessments at their 1978 levels, depriving the state of the most stable source of revenue and forcing us to rely on a regressive sales tax and income tax, both of which are heavily impacted by the current economy. This in turn causes dangerous boom and bust cycles that, again due to prop 13, the legislature essentially cannot address because of the 2/3rds requirement to pass any revenue increases.Entertained Organizerhttp://www.entertainedorganizer.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15742539.post-24873744923437303342011-12-19T16:17:29.060-08:002011-12-19T16:17:29.060-08:00You may be right about ballot initiatives in the a...You may be right about ballot initiatives in the abstract, but while your argument may be true, it is not valid. You have misdiagnosed California's problem. California has one of the highest tax burden's in the country (sixth highest, in fact, as of 2009). The California legislature has had no difficulty in levying taxes, unpopular or not, upon the people of California. The simple fact is that California has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. And that is at least mostly the fault of the state legislature, not of ballot initiatives. <br /><br />And the government has no right to force people to vote. On what grounds can one claim a "duty to vote"?RichardAKnoreply@blogger.com