Lessons From California For Arlington County?
One of the editorials in today’s Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) focuses on California and “what one-party rule is doing to (the) once-golden state.” (emphasis added) Specifically, IBD wonders:
“As the financial crisis in California gets worse, it's pretty clear the real problem isn't the budget at all, but a political system that has resulted in a dysfunctional one-party state.”
The financial newspaper provides this background:
“California's $41.8 billion budget deficit expected over the next two years is a record. No other state even comes close. But despite what the state's politicians say, it's not because of the recent economic downturn. It's because of them.
“The state has a budget crisis for the second time in a decade largely because the Democratic-held legislature has spent money wildly and without any real purpose.
“A reasonable response from a mature group of individuals might be to cut spending — especially since polls show that most Californians don't believe their taxes should be raised. Instead, they've chosen to thumb their noses at the people's will. It shows the danger of what is in effect California's one-party rule.”
After listing several examples of the high cost of just about everything, IBD writes: “ California's tax base is so narrow — 1% of the population pay 50% of income taxes — that you can't "tax the rich" and get more revenue, a long-held Democratic fantasy. California individuals today bear the sixth-highest tax burden in the nation. Raising taxes won't do anything but drive off productive workers and kill the economy.” IBD concludes:
“Members of California's one-party ruling class better start listening to their businesses and productive, overburdened taxpayers, or pretty soon they won't have an economy to fund their government. Then they'll have done the impossible: turning the Golden State into dross.”
One-party rule and the high cost of government. Hmmmm? Have you checked the voting results in Arlington County recently? If you haven’t, take some time and browse around the county’s voter registration office. And is it possible that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) is onto something with his decision to endorse government reform proposals that would “dump” the equivalent of county supervisors, eliminate other elected officials, and consolidate Indiana’s smallest school districts, according to a report in the Indianapolis Star.