Yesterday's conversation with Whitman was about the key issues facing California, and the most important one is the devastating tax burden driving out businesses and depressing growth while accounting for the 12% unemployment in the state. Step one in any recovery has to be stopping and reversing the enormous taxing appetite of Sacramento. So my first specific question was whether Meg Whitman had signed on to the Americans for tax reform pledge:
HH: One of your opponents, Steve Poizner, has said on other places he signed the no tax pledge and that you haven’t. Is that true? Haven’t you signed the ATR pledge?
MW: I did sign the ATR pledge. Yup, we faxed it in, and they have it.
HH: All right. So you are on record, no tax hikes under a Meg Whitman governorship?
MW: Correct.
That's exactly the right answer, but what about tax cuts?
HH: All right, in terms of cutting taxes, which taxes would you suggest be first to put to the legislature to cut?
MW: Well first, we have to cut the business taxes for job-creating business of all sizes. We’ve got to reinstate and reinvigorate the R & D tax credit, we’ve got to make sure we provide tax incentives and credits for companies that hire displaced workers. But across the board, we have to look at business taxes, because as you know, we have the highest business taxes in the country. And then we have to look at personal income taxes, because those are the highest also in the country, and we have put a burden on hard working Californians that is just almost impossible for them to work out from underneath. You know, Californians are tapped out. They have no more money to give to Sacramento, and by the way, to Washington, for that matter.
Again, clarity. Californians know that large Democratic majorities are blocking tax relief in Sacramento, but anyone who campaigns on a firm promise of rollback is going to win the votes of those who are not dependent on tax revenues for their pay checks.
And finally, we talked about the judge-ordered drought in California's Central Valley, where water deliveries were cut off early this year because a federal judge ruled that those deliveries could hurt the endangered delta smelt. At least 40,000 Californians have lost their jobs as a result, and the devastation to America's breadbasket has been awful to behold. Arnold has been impotent, and has refused to even call for the convening of the "God Squad" which is provided for under the federal Endangered Species Act. Here's myu exchange with Whitman on the issue:
HH: I’ll come back and talk budget in the next segment, but let’s stay for a second on the regulations you want to cut. Right now, the Central Valley is dying, Meg Whitman, because it can’t get water, because of a federal judge.
MW: Yup. Continued... |