Free Republic

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown started using robotic telephone calls and mailers to gather signatures for his ballot initiative to raise taxes, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association plans to launch its anti-tax campaign today on the conservative "John and Ken" talk radio show. The taxpayers group this morning posted a red banner on its website inviting viewers to join a "Don't Sign the Petition" campaign. The banner links to a campaign website opposing Brown's effort to raise the state sales tax and income taxes on California's highest earners.

Today, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association blasted the phony budget proposed by the Democrat majority in the legislature. ... (They use)illegal maneuvers and gimmicks: a CALFire surcharge on home insurance policies is illegal; stealing of $1 billion from California’s First Five funds is illegal; the $1.2 billion .. from the sale of State office buildings has already been determined to be illegal. “If self-serving lawmakers attempt to circumvent Prop. 13 and the will of the people,” said Coupal, “We will see them in court.”

In a close election race against former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina, California Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer is facing new ethics complaints over asking teachers to send their students to work for her campaign. In an Oct. 27 letter to California education authorities, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), a non-profit group urging lower taxes, said, “In abject ignorance of California state law, the political campaign of Senator Barbara Boxer has openly solicited teachers employed by [Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)] to urge their students to volunteer for her campaign.” The HJTA letter refers to a letter obtained by the...

Californians heading to the polls in November will vote whether to derail the state's landmark greenhouse gas emission law. Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced this afternoon that the measure to delay Assembly Bill 32, the 2006 law mandating the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, has qualified for the ballot. Proponents, who needed to submit at least 435,000 valid voter signatures to make the cut, reached the threshold for qualifying through the random sample process. The measure, called the California Jobs Initiative, calls for delaying implementation of the regulations until the state unemployment rate --...

WASHINGTON — A pair of anti-tax groups on Thursday accused Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina of deceptively implying their endorsement in a campaign mailer sent to voters this week. The mailer primarily touts the endorsement Fiorina received recently from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. But the piece also includes a section with the header "Conservative Leaders Speak Out," using the names and logos of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Tax Limitation Committee, along with quotes criticizing one of her rivals for the GOP nomination, former Congressman Tom Campbell. Though the mailer does not claim an endorsement of...

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has issued a campaign mailer featuring quotes from Sarah Palin, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Tax-Limitation Committee. It includes a photo of Palin as well as logos of the two fiscal conservative organizations. But only the former Alaska governor is backing Fiorina. Both the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the National Tax-Limitation Committee have endorsed Assemblyman Chuck DeVore,

Meg Whitman may not be fond of referring to herself as a Republican in her ubiquitous radio ads -- and Steve Poizner was the GOP guv candidate snuggling with the right-wing at the CPAC confab last week along with US Senate candidate Chuck DeVore-- but it was Meg who snagged some big time conservative love Monday when the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Group PAC endorsed her. Wrote HoJar prez Jon Coupal Monday: "High taxes and out-of-control spending have pushed California state government to the brink of bankruptcy, and we need strong leadership to put California back on track. Meg Whitman is...

oday the campaign of conservative State Senator Sam Aanestad will announce their endorsement by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC -- a major and significant endorsement in any race for public office in California, but an especially powerful one in a Republican primary. This imminent endorsement should not come to a surprise to anyone who even remotely follows California politics because there are only two candidates running for the GOP nomination -- conservative Republican Sam Aanestad and liberal Republican Abel Maldonado. There is no need for us to lay out the case for why HJTA is backing Aanestad in this...

Open Space Authority to Return Assessment Funds San Jose, CA, May 29, 2009 – Property owners who have property within the jurisdiction of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority will soon be able to claim refunds of an assessment charged by the Authority on their real estate tax bills between 2002 and 2008. In 2001, the Authority approved a $20 annual assessment on single-family homes located within the Authority’s territory to help purchase and maintain open space and parkland. Higher amounts were charged for multi-family and commercial properties. The Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, and...

I'll be posting pictures, as I receive them.

You and every other Californian are being targeted by Sacramento politicians to pay more, much more, in taxes. On top of the just approved highest state tax increase in U.S. history, the politicians want you and your family to pay an additional $1,000 or more per year. To get your money, the politicians have placed Prop. 1A on the May 19 Special Election ballot. This giant tax increase is disguised as a "Spending Cap" and "Budget Reform." Prop. 1A is a TAX EXTENSION of the new taxes just approved — taxes that have already made us the highest taxed state...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Taking inspiration from a landmark 1970s tax revolt, a determined group of activists say the moment is right for another voter uprising in California, where recession-battered residents have been hit with the highest income and sales tax rates in the nation. And like Proposition 13, the 1978 ballot measure that transformed the state's political landscape and ignited tax-reform movements nationwide, they see the next backlash coming not from either major political party, but from the people. If the anti-tax crusaders can galvanize voter discontent, they hope to roll back the latest tax hikes, impose permanent, iron-clad...

IN MY OPINION (Column) 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.” Although Proposition 1A was put...

Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Contact him through the organization's Web site, www.hjta.org. All right, Sherman, let's set the Wayback Machine for Feb. 16, 2004. Listen, we can hear Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger telling voters that Proposition 58 would basically take the politicians' credit cards away so that those big spenders would never ever get the state into this kind of trouble again. While Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine may be a fantasy recognizable to fans of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, the words of the governor were actually spoken. Californians listened, approved Proposition 58 and, based...

The pictures told the story. They were laughing, back slapping and sharing high fives all around. It could have been Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang celebrating a successful train robbery. Only these were malefactors of another sort. They were members of the Legislature expressing their joy immediately after agreeing to make California taxpayers the most overburdened in the nation for at least the next two years. Lawmakers and the governor, who was equally eager to get his hands on the new tax revenue, sought to make the bitter medicine taste better by promising the new taxes were temporary --...

CODE RED -- THIS IS URGENT! Dear Taxpayer: A BUDGET DEAL WITH HIGHER TAXES IS IMMINENT. THE AGREEMENT WOULD INCLUDE AN INCREASE IN THE SALES TAX, CAR TAX, GAS TAX AND AN INCOME TAX SURCHARGE. A VOTE ON THESE TAX INCREASES IS EXPECTED FRIDAY. THE ONLY WAY TO HEAD OFF THESE TAX INCREASES IS PRESSURE FROM TAXPAYERS! Please call or e-mail your representatives now and tell them not to punish taxpayers and the California economy with tax increases. You will find contact information at http://www.hjta.org/node/470/ . It is especially important to contact Republican lawmakers, all but one of whom signed...

In perhaps one of the most brazen political moves in California history, Democrat leadership yesterday unveiled a budget proposal that would shred the California Constitution by raising billions of new taxes without the required two-thirds vote. The tax hikes in the proposal would include a 2.5% surcharge on anyone paying personal income tax, an additional three quarter of one percent sales tax, an oil severance tax and replacement of current taxes on gas with even higher “fees.” We have no idea who is providing legal advice to the Semocrats, but they should have been informed before launching this silly proposal...

It is no surprise that fiscal conservatives in California are appalled at the breathtaking assault on taxpayers proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Both activists and elected leaders – usually Republicans – have responded with either derision or laughter (with perhaps some expletives mixed in). Given that the Governor could find not a single legislator from either party to carry his last budget, it is safe to assume his latest proposed mix of cuts and revenue enhancements will receive similar treatment at the Capitol. But his proposal to expand the sales tax to include a number of services has another problem: As...

T A X P A Y E R U P D A T E . . . from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (www.HJTA.org) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HJTA's 2008 Ballot Recommendations Propositions 1, 3 and 10 on this November's ballot, if approved, will add another $32 billion -- including interest -- to our alreadysubstantial debt burden. Vote no on Propositions 1, 3 and 10. With state and local governments massively in debt, HJTA also urges voters to reject all local bonds. HJTA recommends approval of Proposition 11. This will make legislative elections more competitive and politicians more responsive to average voters.

Jarvis Taxpayers Association Endorses Proposition 11 The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has announced the endorsement of Proposition 11 to stop the conflict of interest of lawmakers drawing their own districts and choosing the voters they want to help ensure their reelection. "The current system fixes elections so that fewer than five percent of state representatives face a challenge to their reelection," said HJTA president Jon Coupal. "This has resulted in a climate where lawmakers do not have to be accountable to voters for effectively addressing problems like on-going budget deficits and out-of-control spending." Proposition 11 will take the power to...