Jerry Brown's 2011 Budget Fix Falters as Voters Abandon His Tax Hike; Arnold Schwarzenegger Had it Easier
Jerry Brown's budget is in trouble with legislators, a new poll shows voters turning sour on it, and he may have to delay placing it on the ballot until November -- essentially allowing the California government to continue overspending by millions of dollars a week for the next seven months.
Governor Jerry Brown needs some Arnold applause
It's all bad news today, with the Public Policy Institute of California poll showing a nasty drop from 53 percent to 46 percent among likely voters who back the governor's proposal to extend tax hikes for five years. Compare Jerry Brown's dilemma with where Arnold Schwarzenegger stood during his third month in Sacramento, getting interrupted with 36 rounds of applause by the legislature as he called to cut $14 billion:
And we all know how little Schwarzenegger achieved on the fiscal front, failing to reign in overspending or save enough for a rainy day, and leaving behind a huge deficit that Jerry Brown eagerly said he could tackle when he ran against Meg Whitman for governor.
But now, Brown has run into several brick walls. The Sacramento Bee is reporting that he may simply try to bypass the feuding legislature and go straight to voters in November.
A central part of Brown's plan to close the towering $26.6 billion deficit that Arnold left him, however, is to extend significant tax increases on vehicles, income and sales that were supposed to be temporary.
For awhile there, voters were open to the idea. But no more, according to this PPIC poll of the likely voters in the California.
The poll shows that a bare majority of 51 percent of likely voters want the legislature to put Brown's plan on the ballot -- and then they plan to vote it down, with just 46 percent willing to pass it.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
