FLASHREPORT

VOTE "NO" ON PROP. 29

Grover G. Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

[Publisher's Note: As part of an ongoing effort to bring original, thoughtful commentary to you here at the FlashReport, I am pleased to present this column from Grover Norquist.  Norquist is President of Americans for Tax Reform - Flash]

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With Californians already casting ballots for the upcoming primary election, I write today urging you to vote “NO” on Proposition 29. Prop. 29, if approved on June 5th, would impose more of what has made the Golden State a fiscal train wreck: job-killing tax increases.

At 10.9 percent, California’s unemployment rate is well above the national average. In light of the down economy, the last thing that California needs is another round of job-killing tax hikes; yet that is precisely what Prop. 29 would impose, more than doubling the state’s tobacco excise tax. It should be noted that sales tax and tobacco excise taxes in neighboring Oregon and Nevada are already considerably lower than California’s and that many of California's counties are within reasonable driving distance of border towns. Simply put, California’s problem is overspending and Prop. 29 is a job-killing tax hike that adds a new layer onto California’s already bloated bureaucracy and does nothing to rectify the state’s budgetary woes.

It is clear that California has a problem with overspending and not a lack of taxation. The Golden State is home to one of the highest state and local tax burdens in the country, yet lawmakers in Sacramento still can’t balance the budget because spending is on an unsustainable trajectory. From 2000 to 2009, CA spent $1.2 trillion. Had the state kept spending during that time in line with population growth and inflation, the state would’ve spent $300.5 billion less than it did during that period. Simply put, Prop. 29 is a job-killing tax hike that adds a new layer onto California’s already bloated bureaucracy, and does nothing to rectify the state’s budgetary woes.

In addition to voting against the job-killing tax increase that is Prop. 29, I urge you to keep in mind which candidates have committed to putting constituents ahead of special interests by committing to oppose any and all efforts to raise California’s already unacceptably high tax burden. Click here to see which candidates have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. If you don’t see your preferred candidate on the list, contact them today and ask them to sign the Pledge.

2012 is an important year. In the upcoming primary election, the most important thing CA voters can do to protect taxpayers is vote “NO” on Prop. 29 and “YES” for candidates who have signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.   
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Grover Norquist is President of Americans for Tax Reform.