Upset that conservative writer George Will had chalked up "all that is wrong in California at liberalism's doorstep," Klein used a January 10 Swampland blog post to slam the columnist for failing to assign any blame on the 1978 property tax-limiting Proposition 13 and the resulting "public pathology that we've inherited from the Reagan Era" whereby "the public wants a modified welfare state, excellent schools, a clean environment, low college tuitions...but it's not willing to pay for them."
But the problem with Klein's argument is that reliably blue-state Californians -- or rather the ones who haven't moved out in disgust -- are all too willing to shoulder a high tax burden, as data from the Tax Foundation shows:
- California's state/local tax burden is above the national average
- California's 2010 business tax climate ranks 48th
- California's top individual income tax rate is the fourth highest in the country
- California's corporate income tax rate is the highest in the West
- California's sales tax rate is the highest in the nation
But what about Klein's point on state and local property tax? The Tax Foundation notes that "[d]espite Proposition 13, California ranks in the middle of the pack when the states are ranked on combined state/local property tax collections" with the Golden State ranking "28th highest nationally" in terms of per capita state/local property taxes ($1,030.60).
Far from being a "Reagan Era" pipe dream of low taxes and regulation, California is a textbook example of how tax-and-spend liberal policies are doomed to fail.
