Just received from the The Sac Bee.
April 26, 2009
Backers of 1A fall short of Democratic Party endorsement
By Shane Goldmacher and Peter Hecht
Delegates at the California Democratic Party convention on Sunday failed to endorse Proposition 1A, the measure Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have sold as the lynchpin of the May 19 special election budget package.
The delegates voted 58 percent in favor of endorsing the measure, which would extend tax hikes and constrain future state spending. The measure fell short of the 60 percent needed for passage, after the party’s resolutions committee had recommended support for the measure on Friday.The vote came after heated debate all weekend, as union groups mobilized delegates against the measure and the legislative leadership pressed for support.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, in a speech on the convention floor on Sunday, urged support for Proposition 1A. “Do not let the Democratic Party join forces with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association,” Steinberg said, citing the anti-tax group that is also opposed to the measure. Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association, argued for its defeat, calling it a “horrible policy.” Willie Pelote, the political director of AFSCME, gave an impassioned closing speech calling 1A the “most dangerous thing that I’ve ever seen.” “We need to stand against Republican tyranny,” said Pelote, blasting the concessions Republican lawmakers extracted during budget negotiations. California is one of several states to require a two-thirds majority to pass a budget. After the vote, Steinberg still said he was “happy” with the outcome. “The convention rules are a little odd, but I’m very pleased that 58 percent of the convention supports Proposition 1A,” Steinberg said. “The majority of folks recognized that there are billions of dollars in public investments at stake.
“Mike Roth, a spokesman for the No on 1A campaign, countered that, “The party spoke loudly and clearly that Proposition 1A is fatally flawed. They refused to put the party seal on a Republican plan that would do nothing to solve the budget crisis and would only make things worse.”
All told, there are six measures on the May 19 ballot.
Gilbert commentary: A “Republican Plan?” Help me out here.
How can it be a Republican plan when our side of the aisle is in the minority?
The entire story can be found at the following link:
http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/021842.html
Vote NO on all six measures
So Larry, By voting No, No, No, No, No and No, am I being Bi-Partisan?
Bigmarkod. I would say that you have common sense
Let’s see. We will raise taxes for two years to get the budget signed. Then we will immediately come back and extend the taxes for another two years to raise another $16 bil. This will make it easier for the voters to swallow.
On its face 1A is a spending cap, which was secured by the few Republican turncoats whose vote was needed for the tax hike. Hence it is credibly referred to as a Republican plan, even though it is opposed by most Republicans because of the linkage to a portion of the tax hike.
If we considered 1A in the abstract, without inclusion of the Trojan horse tax hike, it would not be a bad idea.
Ron. Any tax increase is a bad idea.
Oh for the good old days of Gov. Pete Wilson when CA actually had a surplus in 1998