Last September, the Board of Directors of the California Republican Party took the extraordinary step of passing a resolution urging Governor Schwarzenegger to stand with Republican legislators against tax increases. We did this in response to the Governor’s flagrant violation of the "no taxes" pledge on which he ran for office – twice.
Unfortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger did not, as the State GOP had hoped, stop being an advocate for higher taxes on Californians. On the contrary, not too long ago, the Governor had the audacity to propose over $4 billion in tax increase and new taxes.
In response to this, on Friday the CRP Board of Directors passed a much more direct resolution concerning the Governor’s obsession with increasing the tax burden of all Californians. The resolution passed on a vote of 14-2.
In America, political parties are defined by their candidates and officeholders. Governor Schwarzenegger, with his proposals to increase taxes, is doing great harm to the Republican brand name. Enough so that the party is making it clear — he does not speak for us.
It is my sincere hope, as an officer of the California Republican Party, that Governor Schwarzenegger will stop advocating for bigger state government, and join with his fellow Republican legislators in fighting for meaningful downsizing in state spending to match available existing revenues…
Whereas Legislative Republicans have uniformly made it clear that this is an overspending problem and raising taxes on Californians is not an option to resolve the situation; and,
Whereas in a previous resolution we have praised Legislative Republicans for their opposition to any new taxes; and,
Whereas in that same resolution we urged Governor Schwarzenegger to oppose any new taxes; and,
Whereas the Governor on November 6, 2008 proposed that the State Legislature increase taxes on Californians by $4.7 billion; and,
Whereas the proposed tax increases include an 1.5% increase in the state sales tax to last three years, a 9.9% oil severance tax, alcohol taxes by 5 cents a drink, and creating new sales and use taxes on appliance and furniture repair, vehicle repair, golf, and veterinary services, amusements parks and sporting events; and,
Whereas as a Republican elected official, we believe that it is not only injurious to our state’s economy but to the Republican Party for the Governor to be proposing any tax increase let alone billions of dollars worth;
Whereas we believe that adding new taxes or increasing existing tax rates will actually lead to lower revenues;
Be it further resolved that the Board of Directors calls upon Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to immediately withdraw his proposed tax increases; and,
Be it further resolved that we ask that the Governor honor the “no new taxes” pledge that he made during his campaign and oppose any future attempts by legislative Democrats to raise taxes; and,
Be it finally resolved that a copy of this resolution be transmitted in a timely manner to the Governor, all member of the California Legislature, all members of the State Central Committee, and the Capitol Press Corps.
(Below is the resolution that was passed, formatted for printing.)
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