A new Field Poll of California voters confirms my worst fears — it’s not for nothing that California is home to Disneyland, and more specifically Fantasyland. Voters don’t want to increase state taxes, but don’t want to cut state expenditures either. Go figure. Especially in a severe recession with tax revenue falling and demand for services (e.g., unemployment benefits, MediCal) rising, it’s no wonder we have a huge state budget deficit. I can do no better than to quote a recent comment on the news article article announcing the survey results on the Sacramento Bee website:
“As usual the voting public want it both ways: They don’t want any tax increase whatsoever but only propose cuts in two area, prisons and parks and even the majority for those cuts are small. The public is still disconnected from reality in that they think that government can forever run well on no increase in spending or go an entire lifetime without ever seeing a tax increase. Don Rumsfeld tried to run the Iraq war on the cheap and look where it got us.”
— efsully
Amen. (I would, however, comment that I think the Iraq War would have been a mistake even with a bigger budget.)
Here’s the summary article on the poll: Summary of Field Poll results on California taxation and expenditures
and here’s (for those who are true wonks) the actual polling data: Field Poll on California voter attitudes on taxes and spending
Just the facts?? 