Politics – Schwarzenegger urges ‘creative’ revenue increases without tax hikes -
Schwarzenegger’s January proposal included some new revenue, though none as substantial as Hill proposed through ending tax breaks.
The governor’s budget proposed a new 1.25 percent fee on homeowners insurance, as well as an $11 increase in vehicle registration fees, neither of which the governor considers tax hikes.
The Republican governor campaigned on a no-new-tax pledge during his 2006 re-election effort, but some Republicans have charged that raising fees or closing tax loopholes is the same as increasing taxes. Schwarzenegger insisted Tuesday that he remains an anti-tax advocate.
“I am not a believer in raising taxes because you cannot raise your way out of this problem,” he said.
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Democrats Propose Doubling Tax before it Exists!
The rocketing cost of fighting California’s wildfires has prompted Democratic lawmakers to double the homeowners insurance surcharge that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed earlier this year for disaster preparedness.
Under the new proposal, homeowners in “high-risk areas” – which, between fires, floods and earthquakes, covers about 95 percent of the state – would have a 2.8 percent surcharge added to their policies.
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Former Mayor Jerry Brown’s $118,000-a-year adviser, Jacques Barzaghi, got $13,500 from Oakland developer John Protopappas – whom Brown appointed to the Port Commission –
for feng shui consulting on various Protopappas projects.
Brown also defended Barzaghi, his friend and confidant, when Barzaghi was hit with a sexual harassment claim that eventually cost the city $50,000.
It wasn’t until Barzaghi’s sixth wife frantically phoned 911 in a domestic violence spat - to which then-Police Chief Richard Word personally responded – that Brown finally cut his close friend loose in 2004.
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Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Mayor Villar and Chief Bratton raised fees to hire 700 new policemen.
Instead, they hired 300 and kept the change for other interests and activities.
Each LA City Councilperson has TWENTY well-paid assistants.
