Of Arnold and Taxes

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's comments on the Eric Hogue show late last week are looming large given the results of the latest Field Poll. The key initiative in the Governor's "year of reform" remains Prop. 76, the Live Within Our Mean Act, which would empower the governor to make mid-year budget cuts if the budget fell out of whack. Without such power, Schwarzenegger hinted that raising taxes may be necessary to right the fiscal ship of state. Governor:"Absolutely. Absolutely. Then we have to look at raising taxes. Because this is the only option we have in order to create the money. This is why I tell people, vote yes on Proposition 76, and make sure that we do everything we can to pass this proposition so that we force our legislators once and for all to live within their means and not to continue spending money and to keep making promises to people that they can't keep." Well, the latest Field Poll shows that only 19 percent of likely voters support the initiative. Despite the Governor's penchant to (insert corny movie star reference here), 19 percent is a helluva number to overcome in an initiative campaign. The governor's tax comments could motivate the Republican base to come out in full force to support Prop. 76--or they could alienate loyal Reeps from a governor whom some believe has already strayed too far from the party platform. The Chronicle has a good graph of the poll results here.