This
week I chose the LA Times article ‘California Sees Big Tax Boost In December’ because
I thought it spoke to many of the same issues raised in the assigned ‘Failed
State,’ and can easily be connected to one in the Atlantic online magazine. The
main issue in my chosen article is that the last six months have left
California with quite a bit more income tax revenue (8% more, in fact) than
even the most progressive liberal might have hoped the slight increase approved
by voters during Brown’s term would yield. This unexpected boon leaves the same
progressives and their less lefty relatives ready to spend the whole chunk,
much to the consternation of the Governor (not to mention the ‘Jarvis-Republicans’),
who has advised the Legislature to mind their P’s and Q’s, and save something for a rainy day. Or, in case
there Are No More rainy days. Or if all
the libertarian-wealthy leave the state in a new tax revolt. California finds
this surplus because we rely on a recent minor increase in the taxation of the
states wealthiest ‘people’ (a term I use lightly, in case some of these people
are corporate people, in which case they are not persons but people in the eyes
of the law). The main actors are Gov. Brown, his budget, the legislative body, and
the taxpayers of California.
The
article ‘Failed State’ addresses the lack of centrism in California politics
since around 1978, and attributes this largely to the passage of Prop 13 (“Proposition
13 drastically scaled back property taxes by revaluing residential and
commercial property at their 1975 values, allowing assessments to rise from
that point a maximum of 2 percent a year and to be taxed at a maximum of 1
percent that year”). This, the author says, has led to the last thirty years of
California being nearly ungovernable. Prop. 104, passed the next year, put a
limit on how much the state could spend, effectively handing power to
entrenched business and lobbying interests- ending partisanship in California
and leading to a ‘crumbling’ of schools, bridges, and other publicly-owned
resources. To again quote the article: “The business leaders even deny the
obvious--that, by calculating taxes on old homes and factories on the 1975
basis and new homes and factories at prevailing market rates, Proposition 13
has rewarded economic stasis and penalized new investment.” California has many long-term problems; most
seem to stem from Prop. 13 and the resulting ‘conservative populism’ preventing
tax increases of any kind (see again, Jarvis Republicans, whom I think of as
Norquislings).
In
my morning exploration of the news online January 25, I found this excellent
piece from the Economist (‘California has won breathing space…’) To quote the
article: “Campaigning in 2012, Mitt Romney compared California to European
basket-cases like Greece. He would not do so today.” This was something brought
up in class; to the point, an inconsequential increase in taxes did not make
the sky fall, but instead buttressed California against the current economic
turmoil. It goes on to make the point that ‘California is not cured’ and many
long term, even ‘chronic’ problems remain. One of these problems is the
reliance on a few wealthy for the revenue necessary to provide essential public
services; another is public pensions; another is rising poverty. My opinion? Drought
may be something that cannot be cured with an increase in property tax rates,
but SO MANY of the problems our state faces are symptoms of Prop. 13 and its ideological
antecedents. I agree with what I take to be the general tone of ‘Failed State’;
a repeal of Prop. 13 and a revaluation of the properties owned by the most politically-connected
industries might even lead to that new era of prosperity that Gavin Newsome envisioned
in his pre-state-of-the-state. Without raising income taxes.
Source citation: http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-tax-revenue-jerry-brown-20140107,0,5618656.story#axzz2rRQjDnca
FAILED STATE (assigned) http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21595005-california-has-won-breathing-space-under-jerry-brown-now-he-should-tackle-taxes-debt-and-red
Article Analysis
Assignment
First, read a news story from the newspaper or the Internet. Answer the following questions regarding your
news story: 1) What is the main issue, who are the main actors being discussed; Then, choose one of the assigned articles you read for
this week. Answer the following
questions regarding the assigned article: 1) What are the basics of this
article (who, what, when, how, why, etc.);
2) What is the overall main point the author is trying to convince you
of? 3) Do you agree with the author’s
argument? Why? Why not?
Finally, tie together your news
story with what you learned from the assigned article, textbook readings,
podcasts, videos, etc. for this week. Type
your answers in the box below using your own words, no outline or bullets,
complete sentences and paragraphs, single-spaced, full-page.
