KEVIN'S
AGENDA

THE MONNING RECORD
Asleep at the Wheel

In December, Bill Monning received a seat on the Emergency Budget Committee that was tasked with addressing California's budget nightmare. He used his first opportunity to address the media by telling the Santa Cruz Sentinel that the Republican stance against higher taxes was not productive, but represented "the tyranny of the minority".

Tyranny? Let's take a look at the product of the budget committee:

• $15 BILLION in spending cuts - including California's most important responsibilities like educaton and health care
• $12.5 BILLION in new taxes - including higher sales taxes, income taxes, and license fees
• $5.4 BILLION in new borrowing, further eroding the state's credit rating

The Republican Record? Governor Schwarzenegegger vetoed $1.3 BILLION in wasteful spending, and the six Republicans who eventually got the budget passed, Republicans who months earlier were called "tyrannical" by Bill Monning, pushed for the common sense ballot measures that will provide us long term solutions such as a "rainy day fund" and legislative pay freezes.

What else does Monning want to tax? According to his own answers to Project Vote-Smart, he wants to "Greatly Increase" Corporate Taxes and Gasoline Taxes, and "Slightly Increase" Income Taxes, Sales Taxes, and Vehicle Taxes.

California is in a mess - losing jobs to neighboring states and our young people to states everywhere. Tired of politics that is about partisan sniping and not about solutions?