Is Tax Me Madre a Little Sacramento?

.

(Mod: If you are looking for something to compare the mentality behind Sierra Madre's highest in the State of California double digit utility taxes to, you don't have to go any farther than Sacramento. Couple that with the nearly 100% in water rate increases here since 2010 and our little blue 1st place bow is clearly tied. That the current Mayor ofSierra Madre should actually complain about the lack of business here while at the same time pushing for a 12% UUT is, while mordantly comical, also typical of the disconnect fueling the California malaise. You know, the one that informs us that if we don't tax ourselves more than everybody else around our world will come to an end? Here is an interesting opinion piece from the Victorville Daily Press. I think it puts our predicament here into a proper California-wide perspective.) 

By the numbers (Victorville Daily Presslink): Here are some depressing numbers, courtesy of Richard Rider, chairman of an anti-tax group called the San Diego Tax Fighters.

Rider notes that prior to the passage of Proposition 30 last fall, California had by far the nation’s highest state income tax rate — 21 percent higher than the runner-up, Alaska, and 34 percent higher than Hawaii. Proposition 30, of course, only added to the burden.

We also have the highest state sales tax rate in the nation, 7.5 percent — and that doesn’t include local sales taxes. Our corporate income tax rate, 8.84 percent, is the highest west of the Mississippi, and we also have the highest gasoline tax in the nation at 71.9 cents per gallon. The national average is 49.5 cents per gallon. Which explains why the cost of gasoline in California tops $4 a gallon so much more often than any other state. In addition, the state demands that refiners brew gasoline especially for California, which also adds to the cost. And all economists are aware that fuel costs boost the cost of transporting food and other goods — and that cost inevitably finds its way to consumers.

California’s per capita property taxes ranked us 15th in the nation, but only because Proposition 13, which voters approved way back in 1978, limited property tax hikes. Without that, Sacramento’s tax-and-spenders would probably have us leading all other states in that category, too.

All of that helps explain why you read the other day that California’s real poverty rate (according to new census bureau standards) is by far the worst in the nation at 23.5 percent. We are 55.7 percent higher than the average for the other 49 states. That’s reflected by our jobless rate of just under 9 percent (August), which puts us near the worst in the country.

And our jobless rate is a consequence of the shrinkage in the number of California businesses. In 2012, the number of businesses in this state declined by 5.2 percent — in one year. No private-sector businesses, no jobs.

Writing in the Sacramento Bee the other day, Dan Walters said that while our “political elites may sneer at Texas and other states that lack our mild weather and scenic attributes, they should note that Texas’ poverty rate is just two-thirds of California’s and Iowa’s is just one-third.”

And consider this: In California, red-light camera tickets are $490. The next highest state is $250, and most are around $100. All of that contributes to the annual cost of owning a car. Here, it’s $3,066, which is $765 higher than the national average.

Are California’s politicians ashamed of any of this? It is, after all, their doing. Of course not. What they figure is, if the economy is bad, there’s one sure way to fix it: Hike taxes to raise more money, so more money can be spent to “stimulate” the economy. It doesn’t work for Barack Obama, and it darn sure doesn’t work for Sacramento, either.

(Mod: Richard Rider maintains a "CA Versus the Other States" data bank that is pretty informative. You can link to it by clicking here.)

Please sign this petition

(Mod: Our good and extremely hard working friends over at the no.710.com site have asked The Tattler to help them get signatures for a very important petition. This we are more than glad to do. Please read the information below and do the right thing. Thanks!)

SIGN THE LATEST NO 710 ACTION COMMITTEE PETITION AND HELP US REACH 5,000 SIGNATURES!

In September, a petition on Change.org asked the Governor and the California Transportation Commission not to fund or build the SR-710 tunnel or freeway.   It was promoted primarily through SR-710-related Facebook pages and was successful in gathering over 600 signatures.

The No 710 Action Committee urgently needs your signature on another petition.   It sends the message that we want the F7-X Tunnel removed from the EIR/EIS and that we have reviewed the history, purpose and need for the SR-710 North Corridor and support the development and implementation of a comprehensive 21st-century mobility and transportation alternative to the current limited and antiquated approach for the SR-710 North Extension.  It tells the recipients that we recommend a multimodal approach that may include implementation of Transportation System Management/Transportation Demand Management (TSM/TDM), Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail individually or in combination, but DOES NOT INCLUDE a surface freeway or tunnel connecting the 710 and 210 Freeways.

This petition will be delivered, via email, to: the Governor, California Transportation Commission (CTC), California State Transportation Agency, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).  With the CTC meeting in Southern California in December and the EIR/EIS process entering the last six months or so before the draft EIR/EIS report is released, we need to mobilize in full force!

Please sign the petition.  Then, help us reach our goal of gathering 5,000 signatures (or more!) by urging your family, friends, neighbors and any groups you belong to to do the same.  We have included instructions for doing this below.  You can just copy and paste these instructions into an email and send it to all your email contacts.  Let's really make use of the power of the internet and the worldwide web by spreading the word and encouraging our contacts to do the same!  We are recruiting all supportive groups and organizations to assist in gathering signatures, but we really need you to help us extend our outreach.

Instructions:

1.  Go to www.no710.com.
2.  Click on the words "Sign the Petition" that appear in the yellow oval.  This will take you to a page that shows all the   officials who will be contacted each time the petition is signed.
3.  Click on the words "Sign the Petition" in the yellow box on this page and you will taken to the petition at Change.org.
4.  Fill in the information at the right to sign the petition, and if you wish, leave your comments on why this is important to you.
5.  Finally, click on the red box that says "Sign".