Skelton: Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong

For decades, literally, I’ve been battling the tax-increase obsession of L.A. Times columnist George “Not Red” Skelton. His latest is another blast at one of the few things Arnold did right: the 2003 car tax cut (until Arnold raised it in 2009).

Skelton thinks it hurt the budget:

First, cutting the vehicle license fee, or “car tax.” Ironically for Schwarzenegger, it counted as a spending increase, costing roughly $5 billion annually.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

How many times do I have to keep saying it, Georgie baby?

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Ok, enough.

First, the car tax was illegal. Then-state Sen. Tom McClintock (whom voters ought to have elected governor, instead of Arnold) was preparing a lawsuit to overturn it. He also was preparing an initiative for the ballot in 2004 to repeal the hated car tax increase — which Gov. Gray Davis was recalled for imposing (among other bad actions).

But most important, by repealing the car tax, Arnold announced, in effect: California no longer will be quite as bad at robbing producers to feed the ravenous, bottomless pit of wasteful government. There are limits to how much businesses an citizens will be robbed to fund the state government’s massive pay, perks and pension for its workers.

The state economy took off. Unfortunately, after two years, Arnold got bored, listened too much to his leftist Kennedy frau, passed the AB32 jobs-killer, then tax increases. Then the national economy collapsed. And now here we are.

The problem with Skelton and others is that they’re static thinkers. They don’t see that the economy is dynamic. Raise taxes, and businesses and citizens flee. Cut taxes, and businesses and citizens stay, produce, and broaden the tax base.

What’s needed is imagination.

— John Seiler