Raising Taxes During a Fiscal Crisis

George Skelton spends much of his column today rejecting the comparison Arnold has been trying to make between himself and FDR, while I wholeheartedly agree with Skelton on the preposterousness of the comparison, I would like to focus on the elected officials who match up more closely with our governor. LAT:

The historical figure that Schwarzenegger should be trying to emulate is Ronald Reagan, a fiscal conservative but pragmatist.

I know, I know, but bear with Skelton.

To plug a huge deficit his first year as governor in 1967, Reagan raised taxes by a then-record $1 billion. He never had to worry about red ink again. Back then, the total budget was only $5 billion. The budget Schwarzenegger just proposed hit $141 billion, even with 10% across-the-board cuts.

We are only short about $15 billion, way less of a percentage of the total budget than what Reagan increased revenue by during his tenure. There are other Republicans that Arnold should be comparing himself to.

A more recent role model for Schwarzenegger should be his political mentor, Pete Wilson. In 1991, the new governor faced a $14-billion hole in a $43-billion general fund. (Schwarzenegger's proposed general fund is $101 billion.)

Wilson raised taxes by a staggering $7 billion -- on income, sales, cars, liquor, candy. Name it. Then he filled the rest of the gap with cuts and magicians' tools.

Schwarzenegger's draconian plan "is a wake-up call for the public," says Assembly Budget Committee Chairman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). "This is reality. If you don't like it, what's your alternative?"

The alternative is raising taxes, because the cuts are flatly unacceptable.

Pitney says: "I don't think taxes are avoidable."

Schwarzenegger still thinks they are. Or so he says. I believe him -- believe that he's living in denial.

The governor should think hard about who he is and how he wants to be remembered. I doubt it's reflected in the budget that bears little resemblance to the statesmanlike policies of Reagan and Wilson -- let alone FDR's New Deal.

We shall see if the insider calculation that Arnold is doing this just to raise support for taxes or not is true. In general, I think Skelton has this right. Arnold rarely thinks three steps ahead, so it is hard to believe that he has planned this out as a major scheme, then again I don't really believe he wants to drown the government in a bathtub. It just doesn't make good photo-ops.