Speaking before a meeting of over a thousand members of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in 1992, former President Ronald Reagan told the audience, "We tax reformers bear our scars proudly." The recipient of the Howard Jarvis Lifetime Tax Fighter award was referring to his own effort to control spending, Proposition 1, which was rejected by voters in 1973.  Read more >>

All right, Sherman, let's set the Wayback Machine for February 16, 2004. Listen, we can hear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saying, "By voting yes on Proposition 58, you are basically taking the credit cards, cutting them up and throwing them away so that the politicians over there (at the Capitol), those big spenders will never ever get the state into this kind of trouble again."  Read more >>

In Hollywood, when a studio is having problems with a screenplay, they often call on a skilled writer known as a "script doctor" to improve portions of dialogue, pacing or, in extreme cases, even the story line. Hollywood veteran Arnold Schwarzenegger apparently is having problems with one of his own productions, Proposition 1A on the May 19 special election ballot, a measure that would cost Californians $16 billion in additional taxes. So our governor is trying to rewrite the script himself. But in politics, this function is called a "spin doctor."  Read more >>

As portrayed in the 1970s movie about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Tora, Tora, Tora, Admiral Yamamoto states, after the attack, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." Turns out there is little historical evidence suggesting that the Admiral said any such thing. However, the line is illustrative of a self-evident truth: You don't kick a rabid dog; you don't poke a tiger with a stick; and you don't walk into a biker bar and start insulting Harleys.  Read more >>

All those who favor putting the brakes on Sacramento's ability to overspend, please raise your hands. I see that is most of you. Those against? I see a couple of public employee union bosses over in the corner are opposed. Well those Sacramento politicians who made a "deal" last month to resolve the budget process with a tax increase that will cost the typical California family over $1,100, are offering another deal they hope will appeal to the majority of you.  Read more >>