By John Seiler

The big news in California the past week was not the mayor’s race in Los Angeles. It was the defeat in that election of the half-cent tax increase, Measure A, by 55 percent to 45 percent

Just a week ago, polls showed the tax winning. People seemed to be supporting increasing the city sales-tax rate to 9.5 percent, which would have been close the tops in the state, supposedly to pay for increased public safety. By contrast, neighboring Orange County gouges at 8 percent.

Instead, voters seemed to understand that the money would go to bloated city pensions. That the city should reform pensions and cut waste instead of hitting the taxpayers again.

And it comes just months after L.A. County voters defeated Measure J, a half-cent tax for transportation, 66 percent to 34 percent.

So voters in one of the most liberal, pro-tax, Democratic Party areas in the country defeated taxes that would have added one cent to their sales tax, raising it to 10 percent.

Maybe there’s a little hope California is not as much Taxifornia as was feared.