Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Page 7
AFFAIRS OF STATE (Column)
Recalling the Governor Is Only Half a Solution
By DAVID KLINE
It’s not unusual for a disgruntled Californian to file recall papers against a sitting governor, but Ted Costa’s effort is gaining more attention than most.
Costa, head of an anti-tax group called People’s Advocate, is well known in political circles, so when he began collecting signatures to force a statewide vote to recall Gov. Gray Davis, political insiders took notice. This wasn’t just some quack with a grudge, nor a political neophyte who couldn’t possibly put together a successful recall campaign.
No, unlike the recall efforts launched by unknowns during Gov. Pete Wilson’s tenure and during Davis’ first term, this one couldn’t be dismissed as a political stunt with no chance of success.
Just as important as the relative strength of the hunter is the relative weakness of the prey. Davis’ popularity has been plummeting year after year, and his January budget proposal managed to alienate just about everybody.
The liberals are opposed to Davis’ call for billions of dollars worth of cuts in government spending, and they are mad that he didn’t support their plan for a large increase in the car tax. They also complain that he has approved raises for prison guards at the same time he plans to cut money from public schools.
Conservatives, meanwhile, note that Davis was governor during a period when state spending greatly outpaced population growth and inflation, and that he has broken numerous promises to control spending. Now, the governor has proposed an $8 billion tax increase, which would be the largest tax hike in state history and is a direct contradiction to his campaign promise not to “advocate new taxes.”
Critics from both the left and right also note that Davis has used accounting tricks worthy of Enron executives to try to paper over his fiscal mismanagement. Wall Street’s bigwigs saw through the smoke and mirrors, though, and downgraded California’s credit rating — an action that will cost taxpayers billions in higher interest payments.
Somehow, Davis managed to dupe enough voters to win re-election by a paltry 4.9 percent margin — an especially sad showing considering Davis’ power of incumbency and his record-setting campaign spending. Immediately after the election, even his Democratic Party supporters turned against Davis, so his popularity rate is even lower than the vote totals indicate.
In short, it seems very likely that Costa will be able to collect the 897,156 valid signatures he needs to force a recall election. And once that happens, it’s very possible that voters will dump the man whose fiscal bumbling has taken the state from a $14 billion surplus to a $34 billion deficit in four short years.
And there’s no question about it, Davis deserves to be ousted. He has demonstrated absolutely no skill at managing the state’s money, and he compounds his shortcomings by refusing to acknowledge his mistakes or accept even a hint of responsibility. Voters would be wise to end his political career before he can do more damage.
The question is, what happens then? Whoever is elected to replace Davis will face the same massive budget problem, and will have to deal with the same divided legislature.
A liberal governor would have the support of the legislature’s majority, but still couldn’t pass a budget without support from Republicans, who oppose tax-and-spend policies. A conservative governor would face the opposite predicament. A middle-of-the-roader would just follow Davis’ failed blueprint.
The only solution would be to follow up a recall with a complete overhaul of the legislature. Since the conservative wing of the Republican Party has been consistently correct in predicting the cost of enacting the Democrats’ tax-and-spend policies for the past four years, it would make sense to give them a crack at leading the state out of the mess it’s in.
Recall Davis, yes. Then start replacing the men and women in the legislature who aided and abetted his fiscal assault on the taxpayers.
— Capitol News Service
Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company