If you pay taxes in California, Jerry Brown thinks you're a "freeloader." He doesn't think you're doing enough to contribute to the good of the state, despite paying the highest taxes in the country.
A couple of weeks ago Brown came down to Southern California to visit and defend Senator Josh Newman, who we're working to recall because of his vote to pass the gas and car tax.
Brown said:
“Roads require money to fix. Republicans say there’s a magic source of money (but) it doesn’t exist. You want to borrow money and pay double? Or do nothing? Or take money from universities? The freeloaders, I’ve had enough of them."
There's no twisting what he said. He doesn't believe you're pulling your weight, so he's punishing you.
Dan Walters' from the Sacramento Bee thinks Jerry Brown's "freeloader" comment was absolutely correct. In fact, his latest piece is called "Jerry Brown rightly tags anti-tax motorists as ‘freeloaders.’"
Here's a bit of Walters' piece:
"Roadways should be maintained with taxes and fees on those who use them. The user-pays principle is long established and fair, and deviating from it, as we have done by floating bond issues repaid from general revenues, is bad public policy.
The package averages 1.6 cents for each of the 330 billion miles Californians drive each year, maybe a few dollars a month for the average motorist.
Anyone who drives this Memorial Day weekend and doesn’t want to pay to maintain roads is, as Brown says, a freeloader."
The big problem is that we can't trust our government with our tax money. That constitutional amendment that "guarantees" the money will be used for roads? That's no guarantee at all. The money will be siphoned off and go to other worthless causes.
SB 1 is a lie.