The budget debate should center on how to reduce and cap ballooning spending, rather than how to increase revenue (“Panel OKs budget with tax increase; GOP will be hurdle,” July 9).California doesn’t need to raise taxes … and frankly can’t afford to raise taxes, especially considering the state has the third highest unemployment rate in the country.
Some in the legislature disingenuously argue there is a revenue problem, but the facts say otherwise. Since Gov. Schwarzenegger took over in 2003, the state’s general fund has grown by more than 33 percent, roughly $25 billion.
Saddling families and businesses with the weight of additional tax burden at this time would be a brutal policy blunder. If legislators really want to fix the fiscal problems, they need to inject tax and expenditure limits instead of continuing to parade the budget around as a revenue problem.
John Nothdurft ([email protected]) is the budget and tax legislative specialist for The Heartland Institute.
John Nothdurft joined the staff of The Heartland Institute in May 2008 and left in January of 2019.
