On radio at 3pm: Hey, the economy is weak, I have an idea, let's kill it off with more taxes!



Sadly, that seems to be all that's on Gov. Schwarzenegger's mind these days.



I'll be going on KFI 640's John and Ken Show at 3pm to discuss Schwarzenegger's tax increase plans -- AGAIN. To listen live: http://www.kfi640.com/cc-common/ondeman ... l?world=st.



Yesterday, while calling an unprecedented post-elections special session, the governor called for increasing sales tax collections by more than 21 percent (a few months ago, it was 14 percent), by increasing the base tax rate from 7.25 percent to 8.75 percent plus, extending the tax to certain services, such as entertainment and sports tickets and auto repair. In addition, Schwarzenegger wants to tax domestic oil production, making California oil less competitive than foreign oil and thus making imported oil cheaper. This makes for stunningly bad economic and energy policy.



He also wants to raise taxes on beer by 5 cents a bottle, which is just plain mean and ticks me off.



Rather than raise taxes on a shrinking economic pie, why not grow the base by attracting more jobs to California? I have been proposing for the last few months a plan to open up California's territorial waters to new oil leases. This oil can be extracted with slant drill technology that would require no new offshore rigs or manmade islands – the technology is so good now, we can offset a mile or so inland and get at more than $70 billion worth of oil off our coast. The new royalties on that oil would largely solve our budget gap. It would also create jobs and offset oil imports from nations that hate our guts. Come on, let's do something intelligent for a change!



All the best,


Chuck DeVore
California State Assemblyman, 70th District
www.ChuckDeVore.com