News

ARTICLE: A "Bah Humbug" With Holiday Tax Increases

tgaul — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:43:55 -0800

World Mag quotes HJTA president Jon Coupal in their coverage of California's 10% increase in income tax withholdings. Just as predicted, the May budget "solution" was really just kicking the deficit down the road, leaving the burden eventually to fall on the shoulders of already overburdened taxpayers. CA legislature's financial negligence strikes again.
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ARTICLE: Taxpayer Perspective On The Water Bond Package

tgaul — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:02:41 -0800

Jon Fleischman of the Flash Report explains how the new water bond package will allow for billions of dollars to be spent on the states water crisis. While the state's water issue needs to be addressed, placing such a costly piece of legislature in front of voters, in the middle of this recession, is probably the worst way to go about it.

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ARTICLE: The Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy-Services Paradigm

tgaul — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:26:04 -0800

This article from the urban policy magazine, City Journal examines the failure of California’s burgeoning and costly public sector to deliver on its promise of a better society. The author, William Voegeli is a visiting scholar at Claremont McKenna College’s Salvatori Center.

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ARTICLE: Sneaky way to murder Prop. 13

sgvirtzman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:27:15 -0800

Steven Greenhut, Director of the Pacific Research Institute's Journalism Center, argues that proponents of a “constitutional convention” to revamp California’s complex constitution have a hidden agenda. They want to end the two-thirds vote to raise taxes, and then end Proposition 13. This op-ed piece appeared in the Orange County Register.

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ARTICLE: Paying for Paradise

sgvirtzman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:26:14 -0800

In this investigative piece, CBS13 Sacramento went undercover to report on more than 52 CALTRANS workers who attended a 4-day convention at a luxury resort in Desert Springs...in violation of the department own internal policy, and a travel ban ordered by Governor Schwarzenegger. The estimated cost to California taxpayers: more than $28,000.

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ARTICLE: Speakers tackle taxpayer issues at COLAB event

sgvirtzman — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:25:10 -0800

The Santa Maria Times filed this report about a taxpayer event sponsored by the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business. Speakers included HJTA President Jon Coupal, Steve Milloy, the publisher of JunkScience.com and Damien Schiff, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation.

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ARTICLE: What Life Would Be Like Without Prop. 13

tgaul — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:34:44 -0700

This article in the Chicago Tribune explains how Cook County property taxes will be rising by a median 20% and as high as 46% in some neighborhoods. This is what happens when property taxes, tied to sky-rocketing property values, are not protected by legislative efforts like Prop. 13.

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ARTICLE: Better Late Than Never to Fix Harmful Labor Unions

tgaul — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:10:25 -0700

In this editorial on FlashReport.org, Ray Haynes explains how while serving as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee PERS, he stood firm against the Government Employee Unions’ numerous requests for higher pensions, knowing that this would lead to bankruptcy of the state. Finally, individuals such as State Treasurer Bill Lockyer are realizing that Haynes' position is right. However, as Haynes suggests, the Legislature needs to embrace the same position and start limiting the power of the labor unions. Read more >>

ARTICLE: The Double–Dipper Database

tgaul — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:16:15 -0700

As this article in the OC Register shows, the state government is facilitating double-dipping in the pension funds by providing a job database, called Boomerang, exclusively for state retirees. Almost 5,600 people are now drawing double checks from the state, while thousands remain unemployed and the state struggles to stay afloat.

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ARTICLE: OC Double-Dippers Rake in $.5MM a Year

tgaul — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:22:48 -0700

The OC Register reports on a handful of state employees who collect both their pension fund from their previous state job and a salary from their current state job, adding up to nearly half a million a year. In some cases, this means that when they retire, they retain two, full state pensions a year.

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