California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

By Jon Coupal

Have you ever gone to a hotel and soon realized the official room rate was only the beginning?  Many hotels seize the opportunity to shakedown their guests with unreasonably high charges for necessities like parking, food and internet access.    If the song “Hotel California” were released today they might be more accurate to call our state a costly place instead of a lovely one.

California today has the nation’s highest sales taxes and highest gas taxes, the highest corporate tax rate in the West and one of the nation’s highest income taxes.  And that does not even count the billions of dollars drained from the state’s business owners through regulations by bureaucrats determined to completely tangle any well intentioned entrepreneur in an unending web of red tape.
The upcoming November 2012 ballot is already promising to be a tax-fest with out of touch billionaires and tax-raising politicians readying initiatives that extend their hand into your wallet.  Just over two years ago, California’s political establishment was proposing a $16 billion tax increase in Proposition 1A.  But, with a strong grassroots campaign run by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, Prop 1A was defeated by taxpayers by a nearly 2 to 1 margin.  In fact, Prop. 1A lost in every county in the state, even going down to defeat in San Francisco. 

The loss of Prop 1A is further evidence that, while California has a reputation as being a very liberal state, the truth is that voters are not so easily pigeonholed.

True, on social issues, the Golden State is probably the polar opposite of states like Alabama.  But on fiscal issues, voters even in recent years have shown a healthy skepticism of government overreaching.

Today, California’s overtaxed citizens are no more in the mood to be shaken down by the political elite today than they were in 2009.  While we have a hard campaign ahead of us – certainly no cakewalk  – the burden will fall on those seeking more tax dollars to prove to voters that they deserve it.  If we can get our truthful message out with a strong public education effort, we believe voters will be convinced that the political elite and tax eaters simply do not deserve more of our money.

Since 1978, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association’s has represented steadfastly the interests of California taxpayers through ballot campaigns, a full time presence in the Legislature and an active litigation capacity in the courts.  Our advocacy has saved the average California family of four about $57,000 and our defense of Prop 13 has saved all California property owners over $528 billion.  Our Association is supported through the small contributions of our 200,000 members who make our efforts on behalf of California taxpayers possible.  Membership is only $15 a year and we welcome small businesses to join as well as individual citizens.

Our Association is the state’s leading voice for sanity, demanding our leaders exercise some restraint and discipline instead of grabbing our wallets and running around gleefully with a roll of red tape tying up any productive activity they see.

To learn more about HJTA, please visit our website at www.hjta.org.

Jon Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA).  HJTA, with offices in both Los Angeles and Sacramento, is the largest taxpayers association in California with a membership of over 200,000.  Founded by the late Howard Jarvis, the author of Proposition 13, HJTA’s name is synonymous with tax relief and the uncompromising defense of the California homeowner.