"But there's no way that the California Supreme Court (which is still stacked with Republicans) is going to reverse Schwarzenegger on the Car Tax. People were really, really pissed off about the tripling of their license fees. Even the Democrats were looking for a way to undo the tripling, except that their way was to find a replacement tax or to make the tax progressive (i.e., keep it high for luxury cars but reduce it for cheap cars)."
I know you are right about the CA Supreme Court, but can you honestly say that some court in CA (probably Federal) will not find someway to overextend its authority to overturn this?
I know you are right about the CA Supreme Court, but can you honestly say that some court in CA (probably Federal) will not find someway to overextend its authority to overturn this? Federal courts can't do anything; the issues raised are purely state issues. And even the 9th Circuit Court is going to tread carefully, after the huge embarrassment of last year in which an en banc panel had to overrule a three-judge panel, to allow the recall election to proceed.
The fact that these plaintiffs took their case directly to the California Supreme Court is pretty strong evidence that it was a publicity stunt, pure and simple. If they actually thought they had even the slightest chance of prevailing, they would have first venue-shopped for a pliable, extremely-liberal lower-court judge (heaven knows there are enough of them in California) to issue an injunction, and thereby try to change the dynamics of the situation in their favor.