Californians In Rotten Mood As Tuesday’s Election Nears

Californian voters are in no mood for tax increases to ease California’s budget woes. And that’s the way they vote next Tuesday on a series of budget-related propositions, that’s clear from new Rasmussen Reports telephone polling in the state:

Seventy-three percent (73%) of California voters oppose raising state income taxes to eliminate the budget deficit.

• Raising the state sales tax is opposed by 69%.
• At the same time, 69% favor major cuts in government spending to eliminate the budget deficit. Just 16% oppose the spending cuts.

 There is strong support for one concept that will be on the ballot next week. Ninety percent (90%) of voters say legislators should not get a pay raise if they fail to pass a balanced budget. Just five percent (5%) disagree. In fact, most California voters want to go even further. Seventy percent (70%) believe that if the legislators can’t balance the budget, they should take a significant pay cut.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that California now has a $15 billion-plus deficit and warned that it will grow even larger if voters reject next week’s budget propositions. The propositions stem from a February compromise budget agreement.

There’s one tax, however, that California voters do not strongly oppose. Forty-five percent (45%) say the state should legalize and tax marijuana, but 46% disagree.

Some legislators and others say the problem really lies with the voters who want more government programs but aren’t willing to pay enough in taxes to cover them. However, 84% of California voters say the bigger problem for the state is the unwillingness of politicians to control government spending. Only eight percent (8%) put more blame on voters’ unwillingness to pay enough in taxes.

Fifty-two percent (52%) also say the state’s elected officials are most to blame for California’s budget problems. Fifteen percent (15%) say labor unions are most to blame, followed by 12% who blame the economy and 11% who see other special interest groups as being chiefly at fault. Just three percent (3%) say California voters are most to blame for the budget crisis.

 Schwarzenegger is taking his share of the blame for the state’s financial crisis, too. Just 7% say they Strongly Approve of the Governor’s performance while 38% Strongly Disapprove. Those numbers are down from the already low ratings earned by the Republican Governor in March.

In January, California voters were evenly divided over whether they preferred tax hikes or spending cuts.