re: #2 Political Atheist

When Gov Arnold made very similar proposals including a vote on tax increases he was laughed at and humiliated by the legislature. What a difference party affiliation makes.

No, the difference is not having enough Republicans in office to block getting 67% of the vote to increase taxes. Arnold couldn’t do that because of his party.

Sure, there are crazy liberals in the CA Assembly and Senate. Fortunately, CA voters tend to vote in moderates for governor. If, say, Gavin Newsom were governor now, we’d be screwed, cubed. Fortunately, Brown is rational, as was Arnold, but unlike Arnold is able to beat the crazies in his party into submission most of the time.