Gov. Brown goes back to school

Oct. 29, 2012

Katy Grimes: Some say that Gov. Jerry Brown is getting schooled on Proposition 30. Others say he’s rekindling his youth.

Either way, Brown is spending a great deal of time on college campuses these days trying to influence the young malleable minds.

But he’s not doing the kids any favors; Brown is filling them full of bad information about Proposition 30, his tax increase measure which would raise taxes on many of their parents.

I don’t suppose that Brown has told the college kids that his tax increase measure would also raise the sales tax on everything they purchase, including the gas they put in their beater cars.

Prop. 30 would increase the state sales tax by a quarter cent, and increase personal income tax on individuals earning more than $250,000 a year. Brown says that Prop. 30 will fund public education and public safety, but there are many disputes over where the money will really go. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association says, “Prop. 30 is a flawed ballot initiative that raises taxes on all Californians as much as $50 billion dollars over the next seven years, doesn’t guarantee any new funding for schools, destroys small business, kills jobs and includes no reform.”

College tour

Brown has been up and down the state visiting college campuses in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Bakersfield, Salinas and Sacramento. Brown has even stopped by a few elementary and high schools, preaching to the choir of teachers.

Support dwindling for Prop. 30

It doesn’t appear that even the young malleable minds on college campuses can save Brown’s tax increase measure. A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll shows that only 46 percent of registered voters now support Prop. 30, and 42 percent oppose it.

The poll showed a nine point drop in just one month, and “a sharp decline from support of 55 percent of voters last month and 64 percent in March. Thirty-three percent of voters opposed Prop. 30 in March, and 36 percent opposed it in September.”

“The challenge for Governor Brown is that even though Californians seem more willing to raise taxes than has been the case in many years, they still don’t believe that state government will spend their tax dollars wisely,” said Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll and director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. “The governor simply has to find a way to convince voters that he is fiscally responsible enough to be trusted before they’ll vote for his initiative.”

Support for Prop. 30 has fallen across party lines, according to the poll. “Among registered Democratic voters, support for the initiative fell 5 percentage points in the last month, to 64-23. Among Republican voters, support fell 8 points, to 20-71. Among voters without party affiliation, support also fell 8 points, to 50-36.”

Back to school

Brown’s attempt to show solidarity with college students may have the right look, but the college students can’t save Prop. 30. Next, look for Brown to try to unionize the students, should he ever try to pass another taxing initiative.

Even Rodney Dangerfield, the star of Back to School, understood: “I don’t get no respect. The way my luck is running, if I was a politician I would be honest.”