Calif. GOP gov hopefuls spar on taxes, immigration

By JULIET WILLIAMS and MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writers
Monday, March 15, 2010 at 8:34 p.m.

COSTA MESA, Calif. — The two Republicans seeking their party's nomination for governor sparred Monday over what kind of tax cuts would best stimulate California's faltering economy and whether the state should cut off services to illegal immigrants.

The kickoff debate of the primary campaign proved a test of conservative credentials on issues from global warming to party fealty in often pointed exchanges between former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman and state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Whitman said California should eliminate taxes on manufacturing and startups as a way to create private-sector jobs.

Poizner is pushing a plan that would cut income, sales and corporate taxes by 10 percent. He said Whitman's targeted tax cuts would not go far enough and allow lawmakers in the state Capitol to pick which industries and people benefit most.

"Only massive overhaul will do," Poizner said. "That's why one of the centerpieces of my campaign is to cut taxes broadly across the board."

Whitman called that approach irresponsible, given the $20 billion budget deficit projected for California through June 2011.

"That will be a $30 billion deficit - $10 billion on top of the $20 billion we already have," she said of Poizner's approach. "We cannot afford it."

Poizner said his plan would net California $7 billion in the first year.

Monday's debate, organized by the Orange County-based Republican group New Majority California, offered both candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves to voters.

Whitman, a billionaire, has a 30-point lead in early polling after spending millions of dollars on television and radio advertising. Poizner, a Silicon Valley multimillionaire, has criticized her for running a tightly choreographed campaign and, until recently, keeping her distance from reporters.

Many voters remain undecided, making Monday's debate perhaps the most important point in the campaign to date. It gave both candidates a chance to outline their positions in a public forum and demonstrate how they handle criticism.

Poizner took an aggressive approach in arguing that he is the more conservative candidate, despite both candidates' history of supporting Democratic candidates and causes. Both have veered to the right as they campaign for GOP primary votes.

Repeating a point he made during the state party convention over the weekend, Poizner said California needs to "turn off the magnets" of state-funded services such as health care and education that he said draw illegal immigrants.

"We just really differ here. I want to end illegal immigration once and for all. ... Meg doesn't want to go that far," he said. After the debate, he told reporters he'd support bringing an anti-illegal immigration initiative to voters if reforms aren't enacted in the Legislature.

He did not specify what that initiative would say, but his remarks echoed the debate over Proposition 187 in 1994, which denied publicly funded social services to illegal immigrants. A federal court later found the law's provisions unconstitutional.

Whitman has said she does not favor eliminating education and health care for children who came to the country illegally, saying they should not be blamed for the actions of their parents. She also said Poizner has flip-flopped on the issue.

"Steve's done a complete about-face from where he was in 2004-2005," when he endorsed President George W. Bush's immigration proposal that called for providing a pathway to citizenship.

The winner of the June 8 GOP primary will face state Attorney General Jerry Brown, a former two-term governor who has no serious challenger in the Democratic primary.

Whichever Republican emerges to run against Brown faces an immediate challenge. Republicans represent less than a third of registered voters statewide, meaning Whitman or Poizner will have to take more centrist views if they hope to appeal to the 20 percent of California voters who are registered as independents.

Both GOP rivals have focused their campaigns on taming the state's annual budget deficits and creating private-sector jobs. They're counting on those themes resonating with voters angry over lost jobs and a persistent national recession.

In the Republican primary, however, the fight for conservative voters is central.

"There is one liberal Republican in this race, and it is not me," Whitman told reporters after the debate.

Yet both candidates have previously supported Democratic candidates and causes, including Whitman's one-time endorsement of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, a liberal icon seeking her fourth term in 2010. Whitman now says she agreed with Boxer's stand in 2004 against Internet taxes. Likewise, Poizner has explained a campaign donation he made to Al Gore in 2000 by saying it was made by his wife and bore his name because the money came from a joint account.

Poizner had the last remarks of the night, challenging Whitman's position on abortion when she was unable to respond. Poizner said he wants to stop government funding for abortions; Whitman supports government funding for abortion for lower-income women.

Both Poizner and Whitman favor some abortion rights, but Poizner has hardened his position since he ran unsuccessfully for state Assembly in 2004. At that time, Poizner also supported government funding of abortion for low-income women and earned a 100 percent rating from the pro-abortion rights group Planned Parenthood.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the last year of his second and final term.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... migration/