Voters Want To Say "No"

Katy Grimes: While a new Field Poll just released shows that voters want to be able to vote on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax increases, they also want to say “no” to the taxes.

“Among all voters, 58 percent said they would vote in favor of the tax extension if a special election were held today,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

Most California voters, however, would not support paying new or higher taxes to help close the state’s $26.6 billion deficit,”

Apparently, 61 percent of all voters surveyed want the special election, and while 56 percent of Republican voters also agreed, 61 percent of the Republicans said they would vote against the tax proposal.

Voters want the ability to just say no to higher taxes.

And quite interestingly, the Field Poll found that voters do not support Brown’s proposal to use taxes to spend nearly $1 billion for early childhood development programs, or for the $861 million in taxes for mental health services.

It seems that voters believe that everyone needs to share in the budget pain.

And Brown’s response? Still critical of the Republicans who either don’t want the tax measure on the ballot at all, or want other options included such as tax cuts or regulatory reform, Brown said, “Unfortunately, now the more extreme elements of the Republican party are about to brand any Republican legislator a terrorist and some evil being if they give the people the right to vote. And if it comes to a situation in America where letting the people vote becomes an act of terrorism, we’re in a very serious situation when a major party thinks that way.”

Read more about the field poll here. And, HERE is the actual poll from U. C. Berkeley (#2368)

MAR. 16, 2011