Just days remain until the Nov. 2 election and divisive rhetoric and misleading attack ads seem to be the weapon of choice for both candidates. Both Jerry Brown, the Democratic candidate for governor, and Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate, say the fiscal vitality of the state is their top priority. However they couldn’t have more different plans about how to bring about the economic growth needed] to solve the state’s economic challenges.
In the most recent debate, both candidates agreed that California’s government had grown too large and expensive to sustain and is in need of reform. Instead of elaborating on their different plans to fix the state’s fiscal situation, they spent most of their time attacking each other, successful avoiding any substantive debate on the issues.
Brown has been involved in politics in California for 40 years, serving as Governor from 1975 to 1983. He is indeed a career politician although certainly would describe himself as a career public servant. Whitman, on the other hand, is fresh out of the private sector where she worked as CEO of eBay and as a board member of Goldman Sachs. Whitman has not voted for 28 years, according to public records. She also embraces “trickle-down economics.”
The embodiment of this belief is her desire to eliminate the capital gains tax. The elimination of this tax may encourage businesses to relocate to California or ones that are here to expand but will leave another huge hole in a state budget that already looks like Swiss cheese. According to thinkprogress.org, eliminating this tax will cost the state an estimated $4 billion to $4.5 billion annually. Eliminating this tax will disproportionally benefit wealthy individuals and businesses because 95 percent of this tax is paid by the wealthiest 5 percent of Californians. The California Tax Payers Association claims that this tax cut constitutes a conflict of interest since Whitman will not have to pay an estimated $8 million to $41 million annually on her investments.
Neither candidate is perfect or even desirable as governor, but one thing is certain: California cannot afford to trust an outsourcing millionaire to balance the state budget without making harmful cuts to public education.
