Spillover from the budget mess

Re “All smoke and mirrors; Schwarzenegger missed chance to level with voters,” Column, May 21

Kudos to Michael Hiltzik for “telling it like it is.”

As a public school teacher for four decades, I can verify that the deterioration of the school system began with the passage of the Jarvis-Gann Initiative and has continued ever since. California’s class sizes are among the highest in the nation, and our per pupil expenditure is embarrassingly low.

What is it that Republicans, especially the rich ones, don’t understand about the fact that we all have to pay for government services? Let’s all share that burden equally.

Kris Evans

Laguna Beach

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Hiltzik cogently outlines a plan to save our state, starting with repudiating Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lie that Californians are overtaxed, with the rich unfairly targeted.

As he writes, we need to reform our government by eliminating the two-thirds legislative requirement to pass a budget or raise taxes, removing legislative term limits and reversing Proposition 13 -- all contributors to the gridlock we’ve experienced for so long.

Lois Gordon

Santa Monica

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Thank you for putting Hiltzik’s excellent article on the front page above the fold. It should be required reading for all Californians old enough to vote.

Susan Guilford

Orange

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Arnie can’t lead if it isn’t in the script; he’s an actor without an ounce of ad-lib-ability.

And we, the public, bought his lines. Shame on all of us.

Michael Hayne

Tujunga

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California voters’ knowledge of government policy is negligible; they simply don’t have or don’t want the expertise to shape efficient, effective governance.

Their understanding of any particular initiative is limited to the latest glossy ear- or eye-catching radio or television spot put forward by whichever special-interest group is behind or against the proposal.

The governor needs to call for a constitutional convention to enact reforms to end the budget process gridlock.

Steve Peterson

North Hollywood

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I have taught urban affairs for over 30 years, but rarely have I seen a column about state and local government that was so on target with facts and frankness. I don’t vote in California; if I did, I would look for a candidate to whom I could hand your column and say: Run on it.

Robert J.S. Ross

Southborough, Mass.

The writer is a professor of sociology at Clark University.

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The big-government love affair is the final straw. When your front-page story calls for raising my taxes, I figure I’ve been paying for a subscription to Pravda. You’re just another failed enterprise that is angling to get some bailout money.

I’ll start by going green and saving a few trees by canceling my subscription. There is nothing in your paper that I can’t get for free on the Internet.

Eric Taylor

Sunland

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Hiltzik convinced me. Californians are undertaxed. I propose that we remedy the situation and add a $5 tax on every issue of The Times. That should go a long way to reducing the budget deficit.

Gregory F. Wirzbicki

Yorba Linda

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You did not mention that unemployment is running at record levels; how many government jobs have been eliminated?

First, we need to consolidate and eliminate agencies and departments. Pension and retirements benefits are so out of control it is tragic.

With e-communications, we could do away with half the legislators and their staffs, and this state would operate better.

David Goldberg

Westlake Village

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Correctly, your columnist spreads the blame evenly among all of us, starting with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 until the special election last Tuesday.

As you point out, the wealthy are not taxed unduly, as conservatives argue -- and those who will finally suffer most are the poor. Unions also share in the blame.

Sadly, the Golden State has become the Tin Land

Allen Bundy

Gardena

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It’s bad enough you have Hiltzik writing in the Business section. Now you have to put him on the front page? He is always against business, which he knows nothing about, and for high taxes, which he claims aren’t high enough.

Michael G. Bernier

Santa Clarita

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The vote shows again how irresponsible the masses can be. When I was growing up, California was the envy of the nation. Now it is in full decline, partly due to too much reliance on direct democracy. The public does not have the measured judgment needed to make good choices about most things.

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, but if you leave it up to the public, they will always oppose a tax increase. And where does that leave you in terms of providing the services that make for a functioning society?

Henry L. Haynes

Phoenixville, Penn.