Brown, HSR and Tax Increases

Brown, HSR and tax increases

I ask the question again.  Does Brown really want tax increases?  [Similarly, does Clinton really want Obama re-elected?]

Whatever you think of him, he is not stupid.  Brown probably realizes how disastrous the large tax increases would be on California’s economy, and they will raise much less revenue than projected.

Since Brown believes he cannot say “No” to the unions, perhaps High Speed Rail is a way of giving the voters a big, blatant example of wasteful government spending to encourage them to vote “No” on the tax increases.  Making the proposal more extreme than his original proposal and including a sales tax increase may be another way of covertly undermining the tax increases.

If the voters say “No,” Brown can go to the government employee unions and the Dems in the Legislature and say “we tried and the voters said no.”  We would like to raise taxes, but we can’t.  We now have to make big changes in how California government operates.  No more sacred cows.  There is no choice.” 

Maybe the above is too devious and cunning even for Brown, but the question keeps occurring to me.