Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing a 1 1/2% increase to California’s already high sales tax, which of course is in addition to its income tax, along with some cuts in the most visible services. There is an $11 billion gap in California’s approximately $100 billion state budget.

Someone needs to explain to politicians that bureaucrats living high off the hog while unemployment blows through 10% (which it will, it is already over 7% in California) are not going to be real popular. Especially as a higher sales tax will probably deal a fatal blow to an already struggling state economy. The river of money flowing down the drain of state and local government needs to be slowed. Much of it is due to excessive compensation at all levels, driven originally by aggressive unions and then spreading to the non-unionized positions in “fairness.” Grow a pair, Arnold, stand up to the unions, and tell them they will have to share the pain that everyone else is feeling. It is too easy to stick it to the citizens, you know they have no power as a result of years of gerrymandering and the “two-party system.”