Republicans Still Don't Get It

06 Apr, 2011 by CalWatchdog Staff

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John Seiler:

Yesterday John & Ken on KFI-640 here in Southern California talked with Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, Republican of Hesperia. John & Ken attacked Republicans for being spineless.

Donnelly said things had changed, that the GOP now was courageous and united to cut government and protect taxpayers. As an example of this, he cited how Republicans — all of them in his telling — united to defeat Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed $1.7 billion cuts in redevelopment funding.

John & Ken are usually pretty astute. But they got rolled here.

For one thing, there was no unity. Longtime redevelopment foe Chris Norby, R-Fullerton, was the sole Republican voting to end the funding.

For another, redevelopment is one of the oldest scams around. As my colleague Steven Greenhut wrote last week:

California voters ought to at least understand where the overwhelming majority of GOP Assembly members stand — in this instance, on the side of big government, higher taxes and uncontrolled debt and against property rights, individualism and freedom. As the party blathers about luring minority and working-class voters, let it be clear that the GOP sided with the developers and government planners, folks who usually want to drive minorities and working-class people off their properties.

The Democrats, awful as they usually are, may be right: The GOP is the party of big business and privilege.

Also, as I keep pointing out, if Republicans don’t agree to cut that $1.7 billion in redevelopment cash, they either will have to raise taxes $1.7 billion to pay for it — or cut another $1.7 billion somewhere else, such as from schools, cops or health care for the poor.

With a $12 billion budget deficit, there’s no surplus for anything.

In a nutshell, redevelopment means grabbing and tearing down your house, or Jose’s muffler shop, or Sally’s boutique — paying a fraction of what the property really is worth — to erect a big-box store.

And Republicans wonder why their party is such a pathetic failure in California.

April 6, 2011