Category Archives: California

California Controller John Chiang announced that California tax refunds will be delayed at least thirty days. This will be the first real consequence of the budget fiasco in Sacramento that will be felt by the average Californian. With no end … Continue reading →

Republican legislators joined with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in a lawsuit attempting to stop the “user fee” tax increases. If you remember, Democrats tried a back door method of increasing taxes. Normally, a tax increase in California requires a … Continue reading →

Michelle Steele, a member of the Board of Equalization, in her newsletter reminded everyone that the BOE will be conducting Use Tax audits of small businesses. Use Tax is the equivalent of sales tax on purchases where sales tax is … Continue reading →

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released details of next year’s budget. Full details aren’t available but it appears that this budget would cut the number of state employees, increase the sales tax by 1.5%, add new taxes on alcoholic beverages, and cut … Continue reading →

I’m annoyed with both sides in the endless budget battle. The Sacramento Bee today points out the Democrats’ intransigence. Will anything come of this? Probably not. The Bee thinks that the Democrats’ union contributors don’t want a compromise on cutting … Continue reading →

I think that phrase comes from a song by the artist formally known as Prince. It’s also another way of looking at how dysfunctional California’s government has become. Meanwhile, nothing appears to be stopping the budget train from falling over … Continue reading →

Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the Democrats’ end-run budget on Friday, and the veto stands no chance of being overridden (it would take a 2/3 vote, and it’s certain that no Republicans would vote for it). So what’s next? First, Governor Schwarzenegger … Continue reading →

Democrats in the California legislature announced that they would vote this morning on a budget plan that would balance the budget by hiking taxes but doesn’t need a ⅔ vote to pass. (The state constitution requires a ⅔ vote for … Continue reading →

…So goes the budget fiasco in Sacramento. Nothing’s changed at all. Democrats don’t want to cut programs and Republicans don’t want to add new taxes. Governor Schwarzenegger now estimates the deficit at over $14 billion, and that the state could … Continue reading →

My friends know that I’m a skeptic on global warming. I don’t think that there’s proof today that anthropogenic (man-cause) global warming is a factor in the higher temperatures of recent years. Additionally, temperatures have fallen the last couple years. … Continue reading →