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发帖数: 29846 | 1 By: Neeraj Chaudhary,
While Democrats celebrated Barack Obama's re-election on Tuesday, a more
portentous election took place in California.
Often touted as a leader in political and social trends, progressive
California swung even further to the left during last week's election.
Voters in the once golden state tightened their vice-like grip on businesses
and job-creators. Voters approved a series of propositions that make the
state a more difficult place to run a business and provide jobs.
The biggest headlines go to the passage of Proposition 30 which raises the
sales tax by ¼ percent for four years and retroactively increases state
income taxes for seven years on the three percent of California taxpayers
who make more than $250,000 annually. California's top tax rate now goes to
13.3%, by far the highest in the country. Interestingly, Proposition 30 was
competing for passage with another measure, Proposition 38, which would have
raised all state income tax rates. By rejecting the broader measure and
choosing to soak only those earning more than 250,000, California voters
have shown that class warfare is alive and well as a winning electoral
strategy.
In addition to the income tax increase for the wealthy, voters also agreed
to protect unions' ability to use payroll-deducted funds for political
purposes (Prop 32) and to raise taxes on multi-state businesses by
approximately $1 billion annually, spending a large portion of this money on
"energy efficiency and alternative energy projects" (Prop 39). This is
despite the fact that coal remains by far the cheapest source of energy in
the world. Combined with higher taxes, higher energy prices, a higher
corporate tax bill, and a continued ability for labor unions to influence
policy, this will likely act as a deterrent for businesses to create jobs in
the state.
But perhaps the most ominous election development was within the California
State Legislature. After the votes were counted, Democrats now control two
thirds "super majorities" in both the Assembly and the State Senate.
Combined with the power of famously left wing governor Jerry Brown, the
Democrats can now completely set the agenda in the state. The small
Republican minority will not be able to prevent Democrats from unilaterally
raising taxes or increasing spending. Progressives are chomping at the bit
to raise more revenue through the destruction of the decades old Proposition
13, which limited rates by which local governments could assess property
taxes.
In California, more than in just about every other state, many people have
come to believe that the Democratic Party is firmly in the pocket of
gargantuan public sector unions including the teachers, prison guards,
police, and municipal workers. These interests have never shown the
slightest regard for the needs of business or for fiscal sanity. It seems
their only agenda is to secure higher pay and fewer work requirements for
their members.
The last time any party in California held the governor's chair and a
supermajority in both houses was in 1933. But Democrats have for decades
controlled the legislature, albeit without a supermajority. In addition they
have had to deal with a series of Republican governors, including the most
recent "Governator", Arnold Schwarzenegger. Despite these obstacles,
Sacramento has managed to make California one of the least competitive
states in the nation. They now have the ability to approve spending and tax
increases without any Republican support.
In Washington, Democrats have not enjoyed that kind of power since 1978. In
fact, the last time any party was so firmly in control was during the
Johnson Administration in the 1960's (and to a lesser, and briefer, extent
during the first half of the Carter Administration).The ruinous policies of
Johnson's "Great Society," which many believe laid the foundation for today'
s fiscal disaster, would not have been possible if Republicans could have
mustered 40 filibuster votes in the U.S. Senate. Republicans finally got
that 40th vote in 1978 and have not lost it since.
For those of you who may have missed the news: California is in serious
trouble. According to Forbes magazine, pensions for the state and local
government employees are underfunded to the tune of $650 billion. That comes
to roughly $17,000 per Californian. The state's yearly operating budgets
over the last decade have featured deficits larger than the budgets of
twenty states. California now boasts the third highest unemployment rate in
the nation (10.2%) and some of the highest rates of home foreclosures in the
nation. The Wall Street Journal reports that the state has also borrowed $
10 billion from the Federal Government to pay for jobless benefits. In the
last year, five major California municipalities have either filed bankruptcy
or took steps to do so. Forbes also reports that since 1998, 4.4 million
taxpayers have left the state in search of better economic climates.
Sacramento politicians seem completely unaware that their state is fast
becoming an economic basket case. At present their biggest priorities seem
to be going into deeper debt to fund a high speed rail line that no one
wants and to saddle businesses with even more restrictive environmental
regulations. As a result, the trend of California employers pulling up
stakes for more hospitable markets has increased markedly in recent years.
Last week Los Angeles voters even had the poor sense to saddle one of its
stalwart industries, the adult film business, with unneeded condom
regulations. Many speculate that the industry may just decide to decamp to
Las Vegas.
It's hard to underestimate the power that this unilateral political control
offers, especially when it's wedded so firmly to the re-distributive
impulses of public sector labor unions. As a result, we can expect the
business defections from California to pick up speed. With tax paying job
creators increasingly taking their businesses to more hospitable
environments, look for California's already bleak fiscal picture to get even
worse. At some point, our nation's biggest state may become a national
albatross.
If state voting trends carry to the rest of the country, we can look forward
to continued class warfare, higher taxes, higher spending and a worsening
of the general business climate across the nation. Worse than the much-
ballyhooed fiscal cliff, it appears that California is headed off the
political cliff. The only silver lining is that we may now have a clear test
case that will illustrate the destructive nature of big government
solutions. When California finally runs out of steam, the left will have to
take all the blame. But given the size of the Californian economy, and its
importance to the rest of the country, we may not survive the experiment. |
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