by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright June 21, 2003
All Rights Reserved.

alifornia Gray Davis all but guaranteed his own recall, approving a three-fold increase in vehicle license fees, trying to close the state's whopping $38.5 billion shortfall. While it seems like a quick fix for the current budget crisis, throwing the electorate to the wolves might backfire this time around. What started as a GOP hail Mary, has now become a real possibility. Multimillionaire Rep. Darrell Issa (R-San Diego) hopes to be the beneficiary to Davis' demise, kicking in $700,000 of his personal fortune to obtain 900,000 signatures on the recall petition due Sept. 2. While Issa has high hopes to be the next governor, his right wing views and poor name recognition work against his candidacy. Regardless of who's the next heir-apparent, Issa must be given credit for beginning a recall drive many thought impossible. Raising vehicle license fees should do Davis in.

      After last November's 5% victory over conservative GOP gubernatorial candidate William ["Bill"] Simon Jr., Davis was given one last chance. Simon lucked out after Davis' political consultant Gary South successfully upended popular, moderate Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan in the GOP primary—though truth be told, Riordan didn't help matters feuding with former Calif. Gov. George Dukemejian. With many fits and starts, ups and downs, Simon missed a "golden" opportunity, and now waits in the wings hoping for another shot. Most experts had Riordan easily winning a match-up with Davis by over 10%. That was then, this is now. As the slate of potential GOP candidates grows, Riordan continues to lurk in the background, though Rep. Darrell Issa, financier Bill Simon Jr., and, yes, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger clearly take center stage. One thing's for sure, Gov. Gray Davis' days are numbered.

      Closing ranks behind Davis, Calif. State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and Treasurer Phil Angelides announced they would not run in a recall election. Both Lockyer and Angelides plan to run in the Democratic primary for governor in 2006. Taking their hat out of the ring now attempts to rally the troops around Davis. Once the recall becomes a reality, Davis will be left high-and-dry by fellow Democrats hoping to avoid a political train wreck. Calling the recall "a profound threat to democracy," Lockyer hoped the effort would fail. With Davis now tripling the vehicle license fee, all bets are off, making the recall more likely. Democrats have already hedged their bets, floating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Calif. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante as a potential candidates, should the recall ballot get approved. By hiking the vehicle license fee, Davis has virtually cooked his goose.

      Floating $11.5 billion in bonds to keep the lights on, Wall Street told Sacramento that they must have a sound plan in place to assure continued credit worthiness. Without a solid plan, the state could go bankrupt by the end of summer, when the money runs out. Wall Street never imagined that bilking the state's registered car owners was the way to go. With tax revenues shrinking, the governor's plan hits the auto industry with a sledgehammer and state's economy with the wrecking ball, practically assuring further drops in tax revenues. Though Davis blames the state's fiscal crisis on the stock market meltdown started in March 2000, the state's power crisis didn't help matters. Most people don't blame Davis for the rampant piracy by out-of-state power companies. But they do blame him for mismanagement, ignoring the problem until the state's major utilities hemorrhaged into insolvency.

      Most voters know Davis didn't cause the 2000 stock market crash or California power crisis, costing the state, according to Davis himself, over $9 billion, or nearly 25% of the current budget shortfall. But Davis is responsible for ignoring the problem, and giving Loretta Lynch and the Public Utilities Commission the green light to pass whopping rate hikes onto consumers. Now Davis kicks car owners in the rear end with the biggest vehicle license fee increase in the state's history. "Without the increase, we would face a severe public safety emergency," said Davis, insisting that the "car tax" was the only way to preserve essential funding to counties around the state. "I will not preside over a public safety emergency," suggesting that tripling vehicle license fees was the only way of closing the state's $38 billion deficit. By punishing the little guy—just as he did in the power crisis—Davis assured the success of the pending recall effort.

      Passing a whopping vehicle license fee increase, Davis showed another spineless bout of leadership, dramatically increasing his chance of recall. With state Democrats running scared, the "car tax" was the wrong way to solve the state's fiscal crisis. There's still plenty of room for cutting fat out of California's bloated state government, including, as do other states, increasing unpaid "days off" for all elected officials and non-essential government agencies. With the state still teetering on recession, whacking the auto industry practically guarantees lower tax revenues. Like the national economy, the state must stimulate its economy not find more ways to wreck it. "We are operating today on borrowed cash," said Finance Director Steve Peace, urging the State Department of Motor Vehicles to hike vehicle license fees. With myopia like that, it's no wonder California's in bad shape.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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