☆ Joffe: increasing the sales tax rate is unnecessary
Which way will voters go, when it comes to backbreaking sales tax hikes on this year’s ballot? Wrapping up our election series, Opportunity Now takes a look at CoCo Tax President Marc Joffe’s warning on X that sales tax rates in several Alameda County cities could soon climb to 11.25%. But they don’t need to: Fixed rate sales, and even property taxes, generate increasing revenue that consistently beats inflation. Raising the rate is unnecessary, he argues, when government can (or at least should) run much more efficiently.
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☆ Starchild: “Just say no” to giving politicians more money and power
For an ongoing series, we’re asking local leaders how this year’s election will shape the direction of governance. In an Opportunity Now exclusive commentary, SF Libertarian Party Chair Starchild warns that excessive power is a drug, and voters can help wean politicians off the supply:
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☆ Fact check: media’s 4 biggest deceptions about the transit tax
Leaning on SPUR’s contentious “Bumper to Bumper” report, The East Bay Times (aka Merc) again goes big with the scare tactics. But how much of this projected catastrophe is grounded in reality? In an Opp Now exclusive, transit expert Tom Rubin fact checks four of the most dubious assumptions behind SPUR's predictions.
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☆ Connolly: price pressures, media bias are clouding out a moment of progress and prosperity
What does this November’s election say about which way California and the nation are headed? As part of an Opportunity Now exclusive series on this November’s election, SV Log Cabin Republicans President Shane Patrick Connolly says that despite many reasons for optimism, acute price pressures and media bias weigh on voters and will favor the out-of-office party.
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☆ Guan: deceptive ballot language to fuel tax hikes across California
In an Opportunity Now exclusive comment for our series on the election, Silicon Valley Chinese Association VP Tony Guan predicts we’re headed toward bigger government with a billionaire’s tax very possible, and only cautious hope for voter ID reform.
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☆ Moses, Christensen: what’s in a union deal?
So SJ’s tentative agreement with the public sector unions may prevent a strike. But that’s “a very low bar,” says The Municipal Financial Crisis author Mark Moses in an Opportunity Now exclusive commentary: did the city surrender its authority in the deal? If so, why? CPC’s Lance Christensen points to a “conflict of interest” when councilmembers who are endorsed by the unions then ratify milestone agreements with the unions.
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☆ Lawler: CA dream is in peril as taxes keep increasing
The state’s lavish handout regime comes at a cost -- ever increasing taxation that threatens the opportunity and prosperity that once made California attractive. So says former Monte Sereno Mayor Liz Lawler in an Opportunity Now exclusive comment for our ongoing election series: the tax-and-spend tyranny of Sacramento’s supermajority is matched only by voters’ willingness to endorse it.
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☆ Stroll: CA pols are silent on the issues that matter
When it comes to homelessness, cost of living, infrastructure, and expensive legacy transit systems, politicians have been strangely silent. So says former State Assembly candidate Ted Stroll in an Opportunity Now exclusive comment for our series leading up to this year’s election:
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☆ This local campaign season suggests politicians have lost the ability to build coherent narratives
Our Susie Murillo takes a look at the debris from this year's campaign material and notes that everyone's infected by social media's Everpresent Now. An Opp Now exclusive.
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☆ Rubin: November’s tax-heavy ballot could lead to a “revolt”
Is there a “silent majority” that is tired of the tax hikes? California financial expert Tom Rubin joins an Opportunity Now exclusive series exploring where we’re headed this November. He warns local governments it might soon be much harder to keep raising taxes.
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☆ Khamis: “I haven’t seen a wolf”
In an Opportunity Now exclusive series, local leaders weigh in on what this election cycle reveals about the bigger issues shaping Silicon Valley’s direction. We caught up with former SJ Councilmember and SVBA President Johnny Khamis, who marvels at voters’ trust in government no matter how dubious a tax hike may be:
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☆ Coupal: a pivot to collectivism might devastate California
What does this November’s election say about where the state is going? As part of an Opportunity Now exclusive series, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal warns that a move toward even higher taxes and regs could further hollow out the middle class. He says an electorate so under informed by California’s struggling school system only perpetuates the downward spiral:
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