Gray Davis may escape the recall....by resigning:
Will Gray Davis quit?
Robert Novak (archive)
June 21, 2003
townhall.com
WASHINGTON -- Prominent California Democrats are pressing to get Gov. Gray Davis to resign rather than face a recall that may replace him with a Republican governor in a special October election.
Oakland Mayor (and former California governor) Jerry Brown, in Washington this past week, speculated that Davis could instantly destroy the recall movement by resigning. That would elevate Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to the governorship. Sen. Barbara Boxer has sketched the same scenario in private conversations with fellow Democrats.
These Democrats express skepticism that Gray would voluntarily surrender the prize that he sought his entire political life. Nevertheless, he could derail the recall at any time prior to the actual balloting by just quitting.
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And nothing like a retrogressive tax increase to fuel the flames:
sacramento.bizjournals.com
11:46 AM PDT Friday
Car tax tripled, now faces challenge
California's vehicle license fees, which are based on the value of the car or truck, tripled Friday as state officials allowed a controversial provision of a law which had been gradually lowering them to kick in.
That provision sends the fees up to previous levels in times of state budget difficulties. California would face a possible budget deficit of as much as $38 billion by the end of the coming fiscal year if spending and revenue trends were to continue.
The increase could boost the annual fees by an average of about $130.
The trigger for the increase had been a political hot potato as Gov. Gray Davis and some other elected officials tried to find a way to increase the fees without opening themselves up to voter backlash.
But state Sen. Tom McClintock, an opponent of the fee increase, on Friday filed paperwork with the state attorney general to collect signatures on two measures to lower or eliminate the fee.
One measure would be a constitutional amendment eliminating the vehicle license fee entirely. The other, which would need fewer signatures to get on the ballot, would lower the fee to $1 a year, an aide to the Thousand Oaks Republican told the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal.
Over 598,000 valid signatures would be needed in the case of the constitutional amendment, and nearly 374,000 to put the measures on the ballot.
© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.
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