I happened on this one during my Sunday morning check of the West Coast weather (since I have to head out there this week--beach weather? Baseball weather?). California is often cited as the place where national trends start. True or not--here's some good news: Californians are ready to have taxes raised to preserve a decent society.
From the LATimes:
California voters agree with Gov. Jerry Brown that tax increases should help close the state budget deficit, and they want to vote on his plan for raising the revenue, according to a new Times/USC Dornsife poll.
And:
Sixty percent of those surveyed, including majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, said they back such an election. The alternative being pushed by most GOP lawmakers — forgoing an election and balancing the budget by cutting more from state services — was supported by just 33%.
Support for the cuts-only approach dropped to 25% when voters were informed that it would probably require reductions in school funding, according to the survey conducted for The Times and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
I have not been tracking closely Jerry Brown's general campaign on the topic (maybe others can weigh in) but, from at least this article, it seems as if he's had the courage to actually say "taxes have to go up". It is true that he isn't running for election this year and the tone might be a bit different if he was. And it is also true that he already pretty much cut fairly deeply into the state's services.
But, the people appear to be drawing the line:
Among all voters, there was little appetite for the specific spending reductions lawmakers are making to tame the deficit. Cuts in welfare grants and healthcare programs for poor children, both of which have already been approved, were backed by just 26%. Cuts in higher education, also already enacted, were favored by 42%, and among Latinos, support for higher education reductions dropped precipitously, to 28%.
What was interesting, as well, is that people are not very optimistic about the economy but they either believe that more cuts will hurt them personally and/or they feel that society as a whole--the neighborhoods they live and the people with whom they share streets, communities, schools and parks--has taken a bit enough hit:
Most voters continue to take a grim view of the direction the state is heading and of the California economy. Only 19% of respondents said the state was going in the right direction, compared with 70% who said things were pretty seriously on the wrong track.
Road map for Democrats in Congress each time the Ryanites raise their foolish ideas to eviscerate the country?