Taxation: California's far-left government has done it again. Not realizing its real problems are excessive spending on misplaced priorities, excessive taxes, too much debt and a far-too generous welfare state, its legislature working in cahoots with Gov. Jerry "tax-and-spend" Brown has pushed through the largest tax hike in state history.
In California's one-party state — everything in the state, everything, is controlled by the Democratic Party and its union allies — the governor and legislature rushed through a massive tax hike on gas and diesel fuel along with higher car registration fees with hardly anyone realizing it.
The state's already highest-in-the-nation gasoline tax will rise 19.5 cents a gallon, while diesel will go up 20 cents. Meanwhile, car owners will also see their registration fees rise from $25 to $175, depending on vehicle value. Electric car owners get hit with a special $100 tax, since they don't use gasoline.
All told, the new taxes are expected to collect $5.2 billion a year.
Hand it to Gov. Brown: With talk of $120 billion in badly-needed transportation infrastructure improvements in the state, he got the legislature to propose and pass the biggest tax hike ever in just a week. Pretty impressive for a guy who has jacked up state spending by 53% just since 2010.
The problem is, the state has known about these problems for years, and collected taxes to pay for them. The problems didn't get fixed. Instead, the legislature diverts more than $2 billion a year to other things. That's called fraud.
Now it wants even more money. Oh sure, the bill supposedly guarantees the taxes will be used for transportation, but as any Californian who is even half-awake knows, the "lawmakers" in Sacramento will again break the law with absolute impunity. In a one-party state, laws are for the little people.
Since 2004, California has lost more than 1 million people, representing a $26 billion net income loss. And, since 2008, based on data from relocation expert Joseph Vranich, more than 10,000 businesses have either fled the state or reduced their investments. They include such household names as Northrop-Grumman, Carl's Jr. and Toyota.
California is already the highest-taxed state in the union. It recently passed a job-killing $15-an-hour minimum wage, and is now talking about a single-payer health care plan. With its new gas taxes adding to the soaring cost of living in the Golden State, expect a new exodus of people and businesses.
Sure, right now, the state is enjoying a tech boom. But it won't last. As wealthy taxpayers and businesses flee the state, who will pay all its bills? Even clever Jerry Brown hasn't figured that out.
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