this letter appeared in the San Fran Chronicle:
Pay up for a livable California
Friday, January 18, 2008
Editor - When Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor, he immediately repealed the increase in vehicle registration fee that Gov. Gray Davis had used to help close the budget gap. This returned money to the pockets of Californians with cars (I received a check for $1) and took $4 billion from our state's budget. This is roughly the amount he now wants to cut from our public education.
Faced with a $14 billion budget gap and a "no new taxes" mind-set, Arnold is proposing far reaching and drastic cuts to education, Medi-Cal, state parks, prisons, etc. The economic ramifications will hit the state hard.
I can barely afford to live in California, the state in which I grew up. We had our son with the help of Medi-Cal. It is hard for me to feel empathy for people who complain about a 1.5 percent tax increase on their $100,000 car when there are families that will lose their ability to have a home if these cuts go through.
In order to live in a First World country, with a decent standard of living, we need to be willing to pay for it. My wife is from Germany and there, students go to college for free, moms get paid to stay home with their newborn children, etc. We need to break this ridiculous notion that taxes are bad. You get what you pay for.
DANNY BOYER
Larkspur
