Politics Blog
By Wyatt Buchanan
Monday June 16, 2012

The campaign to pass Proposition 30 — Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax raising measure — released its first web ad Monday and guess what: Not once is the word “tax” mentioned.

The one minute, 39 second ad features people including Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin and California Federation of Teachers secretary treasurer Jeff Freitas, along with others, talking about Brown’s actions so far in office, such as his vetoing a budget last year and cutting back on state issued cell phones and cars.

Translation: You can trust Brown with your tax money, though, again, the T-word never comes up. In its place are “the plan asks the wealthiest to pay their fair share” and that it “asks everyone to do their part.”

Prop. 30 would increase the sales tax by a quarter of a percentage point for four years and increases the personal income rate on a sliding scale for those making more than $250,000 per year. The income tax increase would be in place seven years. You can read a detailed breakdown here.
The ad makes some dubious claims as well.

First is that, “For every dollar in new revenue, the plan makes $3 in spending cuts.” The proposition actually requires no cutting in spending and significantly increases revenues. The Department of Finance estimates that the increased taxes will generate at least $47 billion over its life span, and by no means are there plans to cut $141 billion in state spending.

Upon inquiry, we got this response:

To read entire story, click here.