2008 California Election Forum

• #1 Rhode Island
• #2 New Jersey
• #3 New York
• #4 California

Because of such high taxation, businesses and wealthy taxpayers are leaving California. This means fewer jobs, less innovation and less opportunity.

And it winds up hurting the poor and low-income citizens the most—but it also affects all of us. And the irony: increasing taxes drives business and people out of the state, which inevitably causes less tax revenue.

First, the liberal Democrats and Arnold Schwarzenegger overspent.

Now, with a $14 billion debt crisis, they are talking about raising taxes. And California is already one of the highest-taxed states in the U.S.

And, they talk about "taxing the rich." It's anti-Christian-envy rhetoric that is not just immoral, but counterproductive.

What's happening is that businesses are leaving California, resulting in a loss of jobs and opportunities.

And now...so are individuals.

Here are a few examples:

• Tiger Woods fled California, saving himself $4 million in 1 year.
• Natalie Gulbis made $1.5 million and moved to Nevada to avoid the abusive California tax.
• Scott McCarron left California for Nevada.

Of course, with our great weather, it's hard to think about leaving friends and families, relocating a business and moving to a no-income-tax state such as Florida, Texas, Nevada, or other lower-tax states. But the taxation in California is out of hand.

Liberal Assemblyman Paul Koretz represents wealthy locations in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. He says, "I have not run into in individual in my district who doesn't like the idea of paying a little more in taxes to shore up the education system."

And Assemblywoman Fran Pavley of Los Angeles said, "If you lived along the Pacific Ocean or the Santa Monica Mountains—yeah, you can't find that in Nevada."

It's becoming class warfare, and the politics of envy will cripple California.

Many of the Republican candidates for president are advocating a big change in the tax system, to make it less abusive, more fair and to increase economic growth for all.

Basically, the IRS is out control:

• Its auditors are heartless and arbitrary
• It becomes more complicated and expensive each year

This year, it took the average American 24.2 hours and $207 to fill out their 1040 form. This is up from 23.3 hours and $179 three years ago.

However, if you're self-employed, it takes 80 hours. I know I had to spend over $5,000 on the tax return for my business and hundreds of employee hours.

6.654 billion hours were spent in America on federal tax returns this year! And Americans spent $102 billion just for tax preparation, software and related expenses.

And unless something is done, it will get worse.

Part of our evaluation of each candidate for president (and other offices) is their position on tax simplification and reduction.

The Department of Veterans Affairs conducted a nationwide study to examine the future use of its facilities.

One of the facilities in West Los Angeles has 387 acres and 91 buildings...of which over 21 are partially or wholly vacant.

Its recommendation was to reduce the wasted space and modernize the facility (and establish other important services for Vets) with the estimated 4 billion dollars it could raise.

The facility would keep 108 acres (huge!) and the remaining 200-plus acres could be leased out, raising money for better Vet care.

But the politicians and liberals in the area objected.

So Senator Feinstein slipped an earmark provision in the Vet bill to ban the VA from selling or leasing anything. What a waste of taxpayer money and an injustice to our Vets.

By Craig Huey

On April 30, Californians will celebrate Tax Freedom Day. It’s the day the average Californian stops forking over hard-earned money to the federal, state and local government and starts taking it home.

Last year, California was the 7th highest-taxed state in the nation, but this year we’ve gotten even worse at 4th highest.

In fact, you spend more days working for the government (121 days) than you do for food, clothing and housing combined (108 days). It's no wonder entrepreneurs, businesses and over-taxed Californians are simply fed up and fleeing to nearby tax-friendly states like Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.

The federal government takes and takes

In 2008, Congress snuck 11,610 pet projects (or earmarks) into your federal budget—the second highest number ever and a whopping 337% increase over 2007.

Earmarks like $211,509 for fruit fly research—in France. $188,000 for the Lobster Institute of Maine. And $148,950 for the Montana Sheep Institute.

Spending is so out of control, the total federal debt is now $9.4 trillion. Worse, liberals want the Bush tax cuts to expire. This means the largest tax increase in history is coming…with the child tax credit to be cut in half, the 55% death tax and the mortgage tax penalty returning—all totaling an average tax hike of $3,000 per household.

Every time you get gas, you pay local, county, state and federal taxes, increasing your bill for each fill-up.

U.S. households on average spend $511 per year on gas taxes. If you drive more than "average," of course you pay more.

The latest company to leave California, blaming a high increase in costs, is Interstate Bakeries Corporation (Wonder Bread, Roman Meal, Hostess Cakes, Drake's). The company's departure will leave 1,300 Californians out of work.

Besides the growing tax and regulation burden, Governor Schwarzenegger's California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 mandates a 25% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. A by-product of bread baking is carbon dioxide.

Look for more companies fleeing.

The total of all household's property taxes, sales taxes and state/local income taxes is $7,130. This is the national average. California is much higher.

I recently wrote an article for The Daily Breeze on Tax Freedom Day 2007. If you didn't get to read it, click here to read it.

Here is an article I wrote for The Daily Breeze newspaper.

Warning: You're Working Even Longer for the Government This Year!

You may have heard that last week marked Tax Freedom Day. It's the day the average Californian stops handing over his or her hard-earned money to federal, state and local governments and starts keeping it for themselves.

This year California Tax Freedom Day arrived on May 7, 2007—two days later than last year. That adds up to 126 days of the government spending your money, instead of you. Just 4 years ago, California Tax Freedom Day came to citizens 15 days earlier on April 22.

Worse in 2007

California ranked the seventh highest-taxed state in the nation. Last year, California was ranked two positions better. It's getting worse for California.

It's no wonder entrepreneurs, businesses and over-taxed Californians are simply fed up and fleeing to nearby tax-friendly states like Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.

This year, the government will take 32.7% of the nation's income. You spend more days working just for the government (126 days) than you do for food, clothing and housing combined (105 days). How did we get into this tax crisis?

Critical Problem Areas

The problem is with the federal, state and local governments. In 2003, President Bush's tax cuts gave the economy a robust jump, and...Get the full story. Sign up for a FREE all-access membership by clicking here.

In the last election, one of the candidates we endorsed was Michelle Steel for Board of Equalization.

The Board of Equalization is filled with antibusiness bureaucrats who have hated and destroyed both small and large businesses over the years. Without mercy, logic or justice, they have treated businesses as enemies, costing jobs, destroying opportunity and lowering our economic growth.

Here is what Michelle recently said about one aspect of the Board's unfairness:

"First, the Board of Equalization is assessing tax penalties on companies for tax bills over 9 years old. Even worse, the company is required to pay interest over the entire period. This strategy discourages the state to delay the hearing as long as possible.

"Why would any company risk appealing to the Board of Equalization if their tax bill could double from interest penalties?"