Massive Tax Increase Gov Davis example essay topic

"Recall of a state officer is initiated by delivering to the Secretary of State a petition alleging reason for recall. Sufficiency of reason is not review able... A petition to recall... must be signed by electors equal in number to 12 percent of the last vote for the office. An election to determine whether to recall an officer and, if appropriate, to elect a successor shall be called by the Governor and held not less than 60 days nor more than 80 days from the date of certification of sufficient signatures, in this case, about 900,000.

If the majority vote on the question is to recall, the officer is removed and, if there is a candidate, the candidate who receives a plurality is the successor" (CA State Constitution). The question is, "Why does the voters of California want to recall the governor in which they voted in?" In short the people of California feel Gray Davis has failed the leadership test. His campaign was based on false information to the voters, and now they want to see justice. Since Governor Davis campaigned for re-election, he brought false information regarding the size and scope of the budget crisis facing California.

Davis has now admitted since his re-election to office that California is facing a $34.6 billion budget deficit. This is the largest budget deficit of any state in America. Everyday Californians learn of new hardships caused by the huge state deficit created by Governor Davis' out-of-control spending. Now the state is facing massive cuts in education and public safety and increases in every tax imaginable. Also, since Gray Davis has made the state unfriendly to businesses, and companies are increasingly moving jobs out of California. Massive Tax Increase Gov. Davis stated in his campaign that he would not raise taxes to balance the budget, but shortly after his election he announced a budget that contained $12 billion in new taxes.

He has also recently come to an agreement with Controller Steve Westley that would triple the states car taxes. The governor proposed a massive tax increase to help erase about a quarter of what he estimates to be a nearly $35 billion deficit. His plan raises state sales taxes by one percent, costing the average family at least a couple of hundred dollars per year, raising personal income taxes on the state's wealthiest resident by $2.6 billion annually and imposes an additional $1.10 tax on packs of cigarettes. These taxes will put a damper on investments. Businesses and wealthy individuals are already leaving the state at alarming levels and this budget will expedite the mass departures.

California should focus on creating conditions necessary for job creation and business expansions, not running businesses out of the state. The real source of revenue in a healthy economy should be through low taxes, reform of workers' compensation and a return to commonsense regulation. The new taxes and fees also severely impact the working families and local governments. The governor's proposal shifts $6 billion in costs to county governments by asking them to fund and manage key social services, public health, and criminal justice programs.

Local governments already facing their own dramatic budget shortfalls, will now have to take on additional responsibilities and provide these important service with the money generated from the sales tax increases. The money from these taxes will most likely be insufficient to pay for the programs, thus leading to more fees and taxes on the local levels. No cuts within the Prison System The idea of slashing education programs, cutting health services and eliminating construction projects designed to alleviate traffic, but direct counties to run a variety of child abuse and health care services that they are ill equipped to finance or handle with a shortfall budget, but increase funding for our prisons, does not please the voters. Davis' budget plan makes perfect sense if you " re a prison guard or a governor lining his bank account with money from prison unions. Meanwhile, if you are working within school systems or social services, you " re busy wrestling with budget cuts.

"Virtually every program in the state has been reduced", Davis said as he announced his plans to balance the state's budget. The governor had to qualify his statement with "virtually" because prisons are Davis's acred cow. Despite a $34.8 billion deficit, the Department of Corrections is actually slated to get a 1 percent increase in funding in the governor's proposed budget. The governor's budget even includes $220 million for a new state-of-the-art death row facility at San Quentin Prison. Furthermore, while Davis wisely suggested laying off about 1,900 state employees, he also called for adding 800 new prison employees, and potential contributors, to the corrections payroll.

Instead of cutting prison budgets, Gov. Davis is willing to place the financial hardships on taxpayers with a one-cent sales tax increase, an increased fees for driver's licenses; a cigarette tax increase that would force smokers to cough up an extra $1.10 per pack; and a personal income tax increase for the state's wealthiest residents The governor also passed the buck to cities and counties, forcing them to operate costly long-term health care and child abuse programs usually run by the state, and one can bet the new tax revenue that Davis promises for these new responsibilities will not be enough to cover the expenses. As a result, local governments will be forced to find ways, meaning increased fees and taxes, to fund the programs the governor is handing them. One will also find increased fees at the state's community colleges, where tuition will more than double. The state's community college chancellor, Tom Nussbaum, estimates 146,000 fewer students will attend community colleges next year because of the cuts.

Maybe that's the governor's grand plan, a less-educated population that is more likely to commit crimes. Eventually, the entire state could be one big prison. Think of all the guards and all the campaign contributions. California's prison health care costs rose from $282 million to more than $660 million in a recent four-year span. Last year, it was reported that California spends $4,222 per inmate on medical care each year. By comparison, an average of $4,637 was spent on health care for each American in 2000.

California's escalating inmate health care costs are even more perplexing when you consider that the majority of prisoners are men in their mid-20's to 30's, and as a group should be relatively healthy. The bottom line is that there are prison cuts and efficiency gains to be made if Davis is interested in looking. The governor is asking taxpayers to pay more taxes and fees. He's asking cities and counties to do more with less. He's cutting education by more than $5 billion.

If he is truly serious about cutting state spending and charting a course for long-term economic health, shouldn't he ask prisons to share the burden? Davis's Edison problem Southern California Edison contributed more than $300.000 to Davis' campaign, and now he is trying to save the battered utility company. Gov. Davis is struggling to orchestrate a multimillion-dollar bailout of this utility company. Edison claims nearly a billion in debt and is no longer creditworthy enough to buy power.

Davis' drive to bailout Edison is one of the biggest proposed corporate rescuers in U.S. history. This bailout is a huge priority for Davis, who has populated the top ranks of his energy team with Edison alumni. The State of California is in such a budget crisis why does Governor Gray Davis focus on increasing monies toward the prison system or a utility company in which both organizations contributed large sums of money toward his campaign instead of considering the welfare of the citizens of the state, which voted for him into office? His unskilled practices in handling of the energy crisis will cost ratepayers for years to come.

His lavish spending increases have busted the budget, and his fundraising tactics are borderline criminal. The citizens of California deserve justice and should not have to suffer through four more years of Gray Davis. The choice is clear, recall Governor Gray Davis, and put California back on the right track, instead of turning it into a huge train wreck..