Tag "Democrats"
Back to homepageBrown Signs Punitive Amazon Tax
(This is an updated Washington Examiner story from June 29.) JUNE 30, 2011 By KATY GRIMES With the California legislature having just passed a flawed budget full of accounting tricks, budget gimmicks and money grabs, one area of small business
Read MoreDemocrats Pass Hinky Budget
JUNE 29, 2011 By KATY GRIMES With a surprising lack of debate between parties, the California Legislature passed the budget late last evening, and only with a majority vote, attempting to close what began the year as a $26.6 billion
Read MoreShallow Cuts For Lifeguard Pensions
Katy Grimes: With the recent discovery that many Southern California lifeguards receive the same fat pensions as other “public safety” officers and fire fighters, the public outcry at the absurdity is apparently paying off. The Newport Beach City Council is
Read MoreBrown, Leg Conjure Up Phantom Budget
JUNE 28, 2011 By KATY GRIMES In the shadow of the 2009 tax increases set to expire this Friday July 1, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democrat party leadership announced Monday that a majority-vote budget deal had been reached. There
Read MoreSales Tax Hike Expires This Week!
Katy Grimes: Finally some good news! California’s 1% sales tax surcharge is set to expire Friday, July 1 making our sales tax 7.25 percent, down from 8.25 percent. A press statement just released today by Board of Equalization Member Senator
Read MoreJohn Chiang Blazes Future of CA Politics
JUNE 27, 2011 By JOHN SEILER As they said in old-school physics, nature abhors a vacuum. Passed last November, Proposition 25 marginalized California Republicans by dropping from two-thirds to a majority the threshold for passing a state budget. That left the
Read MoreCA Overdue For Part-Time Legislature
JUNE 27, 2011 The latest budget drama shows how California needs a part-time Legislature. It hasn’t had one since the late 1960s. Since then, few budgets have been balanced while meeting the June 15 constitutional deadline. In the past 24
Read MoreInternet Tax Would Kill Small Businesses
JUNE 23, 2011 By KATY GRIMES A bill awaiting signature by Gov. Jerry Brown could hasten the spread of Internet taxation bills across the country, putting small business owners at a disadvantage with compliance of more than 7,500 different taxing
Read More'Amazon Tax' Would Kill 25K CA Businesses
JUNE 21, 2011 By KATY GRIMES A growing number of states, including California, are demanding that online retailers such as Overstock and Amazon collect and pay sales tax. eBay, the world’s largest online auction company and not necessarily a retailer, is
Read MoreState's Ongoing Nutty Budget Battle
The following first appeared in the City Journal California. JUNE 20, 2011 By STEVEN GREENHUT Watching the California budget drama unfold reminds me of the “Seinfeld” episode in which George Costanza pretends he has to sign papers on a house he’s leasing
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