Jon Coupal is the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
California is known as the world capital of the car culture. The automobile played a central role in creating the California Dream, giving people the freedom to travel, to live where they choose and to experience the exhilaration of the open road. Now, if Senator Mark DeSaulnier gets his way, you’ll have to pay a...
By Jon Coupal
Once again it is time for taxpayers to get a good grip on their wallets because Sacramento politicians are looking to extend the “temporary” taxes imposed by Proposition 30, approved by voters less than two years ago. There is nothing more permanent than a temporary tax. They are as immortal as a vampire and nearly...
By Jon Coupal
Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown delivered the keynote address at a sustainability summit hosted by the Los Angeles Business Council. While the summit focused on California’s environmental, energy and water policy, we have to wonder whether the governor will exert the same effort in support of fiscal sustainability now that he has called a special...
By Jon Coupal
Liberals and good government advocates frequently decry citizens’ mistrust in government, especially in California. Over the last decade and a half, numerous surveys have confirmed that voters distrust government on several levels including waste, corruption and lack of responsiveness to legitimate public needs. The recent criminal exploits – both actual and alleged – of three...
By Jon Coupal
Suppose you pick up your typical California newspaper and see headlines like, “State Unemployment Far Below the National Average” and “State Running Healthy Surplus; Gov. to Return Money to Taxpayers.” You just might find yourself paraphrasing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “Sutter Brown, I’ve got a feeling were not in California anymore.” (For those...
By Jon Coupal
A proposal supported by some members of the Los Angeles City Council begs the question: Just what do we pay taxes for? Los Angeles City Officials want to increase sales taxes for which, in return, they will repair the streets. Councilmembers Mitch Englander and Joe Buscaino are promoting the plan, while Councilman Herb Wesson was...
By Jon Coupal
It’s good to be in with the “in” crowd, especially when the “in” crowd is made up of Sacramento politicians capable of doling out millions of dollars in tax credits. Those currently in with the “in” crowd include any industry or company that can somehow attach “green” to their credentials. This helps explain why the...
By Jon Coupal
A statewide survey commissioned by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association shows Californians continue to support Proposition 13 and the two-thirds vote requirement to boost taxes on property owners. By nearly two to one, voters agree that reducing the two-thirds vote to 55% to pass local bonds would place an unfair burden on owners of property....
By Jon Coupal
Is it possible that the California Legislature is finally coming to grips with the public employee pension crisis? We certainly hope so. For years, our political leadership has behaved more like ostriches with their heads buried in the sand regarding the many billions of dollars of “unfunded liabilities” in California’s pension funds. Unlike most retirement...
By Jon Coupal
Government employee union leaders are grinning from ear to ear. Governor Brown wants to hire an additional 1,600 employees and jettison some state contracts with private sector workers. It’s been said that all government work should be subjected to the “Yellow Pages test.” If a service provider can be found in the phone book —...
By Jon Coupal
A handful of far-left, Bay Area activists think they have come up with a clever plan to chip away at Proposition 13. Specifically, they are attempting to persuade local school boards and city councils to pass resolutions in support of removing Prop 13 protections for business property. While “resolutions” are not laws, they nonetheless can...
By Jon Coupal
Shortly after Jerry Brown was first elected governor, nearly 40 years ago, he famously said, “This is an era of limits and we all had better get used to it.” In keeping with this theme, it is now taxpayers who look at Governor Brown’s proposed 2014-15 budget with reduced expectations. In fairness, there are aspects...
By Jon Coupal
Thirty years of political engagement in California politics has led me to the realization that the middle class is woefully underrepresented in this state. Not only that, but this injustice seems amplified with every passing year. This column has covered the lack of meaningful representation for ordinary citizen taxpayers for more than a decade. Indeed,...
By Jon Coupal
Editor’s Note: As Jon Coupal explains in detail, Prop. 13’s “coattails” are alive and well in California. In a special election a few weeks ago in Southern California, Susan Shelley, a moderate Republican whose sole message was “protect Prop. 13” has lost by a margin of less than 1%, in a district where Democrats outnumber...
By Jon Coupal
a new form will got here