EconomyBeat.org » California

California cannabis

Jon Brooks — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:37:08 +0000

A California voter initiative to legalize marijuana has officially qualified for the November ballot. From the web site Ballotpedia:

Supporters of legalization are focusing on the benefits they say would flow to the state from taxing marijuana; when marijuana is illegal, it is not taxed. If it was legal, the government would be able to collect the state’s sales tax on it. This would add money to California’s coffers during a time that the budget is out-of-balance.

The domestically grown marijuana crop in California is worth an estimated $14 billion a year, making it an attractive target for taxation in a state with an unstable economy and budget deficit in the tens of billions. According to the state’s Board of Equalization study, the state might generate $1.3 billion in taxes if marijuana is legal and taxed.

Tax Cannabis 2010 is the pro-legalization campaign’s official site, at which you can listen to a radio ad currently running in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles, where medical marijuana dispensaries have already proliferated. The state legalized medical marijuana in 1996.

Law enforcement groups and all of the gubernatorial candidates, including Democrat Jerry Brown, widely caricatured as Governor Moonbeam during his first stint as the state’s chief executive in the 70s, oppose full-scale legalization. Here’s a site from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization.

And hyere’s one of our most clicked-on links (no idea why), a graphic of potential tax revenue from marijuana production state by state, including the number of marijuana-related arrests in the U.S.

Taxing California

Jon Brooks — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:41:22 +0000

Of all the dysfunctional state governments, California’s may be at the top. California has a $20 billion budget deficit, but the state cannot raise taxes or pass a budget without a 2/3 majority vote in the state legislature. That law was enshrined in the state constitution in 1978 through Proposition 13, which also capped property taxes, reducing them by an average of 57%. Thus, it is nearly impossible to raise additional revenue in the state. From Time magazine:

What has brought California to such a perilous state? How did its government become so wildly dysfunctional? One obvious cause is the deep recession, which has caused tax revenues to plunge for all states. But California’s woes have a set of deeper reasons: direct democracy run amok, timid governors, partisan gridlock and a flawed constitution have all contributed to budget chaos and people in pain. And at the root of California’s misery lies Proposition 13, the antitax measure that ignited the Reagan Revolution and the conservative era. In Washington, the Reagan-Bush era is over. But in California, the conservative legacy lives on.

Lots of anti-tax folks, of course, like it that way. But now there is a push on to repeal the two-thirds majority requirement via the same initiative process that instituted it. The California Democracy Act would change just one word in the constitution in two places. The sentence “All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a 2/3 vote” would become “All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote.”

Here, George Lakoff, a linguist who works with Democrats on framing issues and who is the campaign chair of the initiative campaign, talks about the initiative and the problem of governing California:

George Lakoff speaks about the California Democracy Act (2010-02-19) from Edwin Rutsch on Vimeo.

For a diametrically opposed view of taxes, government, and everything else, check out the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an organization dedicated to continuing the work of Howard Jarvis, who spearheaded the original initiative, and to protecting Proposition 13 and expanding anti-tax policies.

Video: California student protest

Jon Brooks — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:50:31 +0000

On Thursday, thousands of California students protested the severe budget cuts to education at all levels that have been enacted due to the state’s fiscal crisis. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The historic day of demonstrations in the Bay Area and beyond was largely peaceful, with students and others carrying signs like “Chop from the top,” a reference to what they see as puffed-up executive salaries… But…(m)ore than 150 protesters were arrested on Interstate 880 in Oakland after using an exit ramp to walk onto the freeway and shut it down for nearly an hour. Many wore black, identified themselves as anarchists and carried a banner that read, “Occupy everything.” The action just before 5 p.m., which backed up rush-hour traffic for miles, came after a peaceful rally at Oakland City Hall. Police in riot gear chased and tackled some demonstrators. One was taken away in an ambulance after falling from the freeway onto a road below, witnesses said. Police said the man was expected to survive…

Hundreds rallied at the state Capitol in Sacramento… Some students at Oceana High School in Pacifica formed an “SOS” on a beach, while in San Francisco more than 50 Commodore Sloat Elementary fifth-graders boarded a Muni bus to the State Building. Each wore a handmade sandwich board sign protesting budget cuts to schools…Many of the day’s protesters, including Jennie Lew, said the issue was personal. Wearing a “Pissed-off parent” T-shirt at San Francisco State University… she said she and her husband were struggling to keep up with rising tuition. The couple are graduates of UC Berkeley and were educated on federal aid and scholarships, Lew said, becoming members of what she described as the “educated middle class.” Now, she said, her sons’ graduation dates have been delayed because classes have been trimmed and teachers laid off…

California’s $20 billion budget gap this year, on top of $60 billion last year, has resulted in soaring tuition at the University of California and California State University. Courses are jammed, and many students can’t get in at all. Lecturers have been laid off and employees furloughed. CSU wouldn’t let new students enroll at all this semester. More than 200,000 students will be turned away from community colleges next fall because there won’t be enough classes for them, community college Chancellor Jack Scott said. According to the California Teachers Association, school districts across the state have issued almost 19,000 pink slips to public school teachers, warning that they may lose their jobs at the end of the semester.

Dramatic video from the protest on Thursday and also from one in November, posted on the Occupy Everything YouTube channel:

The shutdown of Interstate 880

The occupation of Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley (November)

Intelligence Squared: Economic debates

Jon Brooks — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:33:25 +0000

Ever hear “Intelligence Squared“?

Rethink your point of view with Intelligence Squared U.S., a live debate series in New York City. Intelligence Squared U.S. is a public charity supported by individuals and foundations who share our mission of raising the level of public discourse on the most critical issues of the day. Launched in 2006, IQ2US can be heard on over 200 National Public Radio (NPR) stations across the country, and seen on the Bloomberg Television network… IQ2US brings together the world’s leading authorities on the day’s most provocative issues. Witness an exciting battle of ideas, wit, and persuasion as the experts on both sides challenge your convictions. Best of all, your vote decides who has carried the day.

Some past debates:

California is the first failed state (Jan 19, 2010)
For the motion: Andreas Kluth, Sharon Waxman, Bobby Shriver
Against: Lawrence O’Donnell, Van Jones, Grey Davis

Obama’s economic policies are working effectively (Nov 16, 2009)
For: Lawrence Mishel, Steve Rattner, Mark Zandi

Against: James K. Galbraith, Allan H. Meltzer, Eliot Spitzer

Blame Washington more than Wall Street for the financial crisis (Mar 17, 2009)

For: Niall Ferguson, John Steele Gordon, Nouriel Roubini
Against: Nell Minow, Jim Chanos, Alex Berenson

Universal health coverage should be the federal government’s responsibility (Sept 16, 2008)

For: Art Kellerman, Paul Krugman, Michael Rachlis
Against: John Stossel, Sally C. Pipes, Michael F. Cannon

Oaktown blues

Jon Brooks — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:37:59 +0000

Oakland, California sits right across the Bay from San Francisco. The city has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state at an official 16.3% and, by some accounts, sits at No. 3 in the entire country in terms of crime. The murder rate per capita is 3.5 times the national average.

So it’s no surprise that some long-time residents are leaving. Spotted on Facebook:

Dear City of Oakland,

You probably haven’t even noticed I’ve left so I thought I’d write you this note. Even though I am glad to have moved on I also miss you, (my friend said this would happen). Life with you was not always bad though remembering the bad makes it easier to move on. I feel like I really tried to make it work but you are so stuck in your ways. To be honest, if you didn’t have so many guns I might have stuck around. But the guns, well, those scare me. And when you broke in my house while I was sleeping and stole my laptop with all my photos on it, well, that was messed up. I never really forgave you for that, even though I sort of understand why stuff like that happens sometimes. In the beginning I thought I could change you, silly, I know. But then I realized I just didn’t feel like working that hard, so I guess this is partially my fault.

I think you knew I would leave someday, didn’t you. You saw white flight written all over my face when I moved in, even as I was signing a 30 year mortgage. I wish things were different, but truth is I had to do what’s best for me. So I guess you were right cause now I’ve moved on.

Things are different here, or maybe I should say they are more the same, which I guess I was looking for in a way, but didn’t want to admit. Believe me I’m not proud about this, I just want to be honest.

Well, I just needed to let you know you will always have a special place in my heart. Please look out for my friends across the street, the ones from Yemen, and all of their 7 children. I don’t think I’ll meet anyone like them here. And watch out for all the rest of your kids too, I wish I could have done more for them. I really hope I will someday, you know, once some time has passed and we can be friends again.

Ok , well, that’s all I needed to say, I wish you all the best, really.

Be safe.

Love, Janis

Video of California student protest

Jon Brooks — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

It’s one thing to read the Twitter feed from yesterday’s nasty student protest at the University of California Regents meeting at UCLA, it’s another to see the video. This was posted by a group called the National Inflation Association. Student groups are angry at an expected 32% hike in UC tuition in response to the state’s severe budget crisis.

The protest continues today, and AP is reporting students have taken over a building on the UCLA campus.

Jesse Cheng, from the Office of the UC Student Regent, is back on Twitter covering today’s session.

The Web in action: University of California protest

Jon Brooks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:07:55 +0000

This is pretty dramatic. The University of California Office of the Student Regent is Twittering the UC Regents meeting in which the University system’s overseers are expected to vote for a tuition hike. As noted in our last post, students have called for a three-day strike to protest the increase.

Last Tweet, 26 minutes ago:

police have entered the meeting to remove the students, the students aren’t moving, aren’t speaking

California student strike

Jon Brooks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:40:27 +0000

California is suffering a severe budget crisis, and the state university system is taking its lumps. The University of California Regents are meeting over the next three days to vote on student fee hikes to cover budget shortfalls.

From today’s San Francisco Chronicle:

Meeting in Los Angeles, the regents are expected to approve a 32 percent student fee increase, the eighth hike since 2002, pushing annual tuition above the $10,000 mark for the first time. Under UC President Mark Yudof’s proposal, students would begin paying an incremental 15 percent increase as soon as next semester. The regents also are expected to vote on fee increases to 44 graduate programs. UC officials say the fee hikes are necessary to close this year’s funding gap of $535 million, largely the result of reduced state funding and inflation…

You can follow on-the-spot accounts of meeting on this web site or via Twitter.

To protest the increase, UC student groups have called for a three-day strike, starting today. The UC Solidarity web site is the online organizing hub for the action.

Here’s an affecting if somewhat melodramatic video promoting the strike.