Letters to the editor

Editorial Board wrong on car tax

The Nov. 3 Daily Bruin editorial included a comment that Mayor
James Hahn made to the Los Angeles Times that said that “only
one in 10 Californians understands how the car tax works.”
The Nov. 3 majority opinion shows that those other nine people are
sitting on the Daily Bruin Editorial Board.

The car tax increase of 300 percent is not in line with the
spirit of the California Constitution, but those in Sacramento
imposed it on the California taxpayers anyway. This tax increase
was irritating enough to bring out voters in droves to punish the
figurehead responsible.

The Daily Bruin Editorial Board thinks it is OK to keep this tax
in order to fund necessary services ““ but where is the rest
of the money that is supposed to be paying for these essential
services? I would guess that the money is being wasted elsewhere.
It is repeatedly pointed out that California doesn’t have a
revenue problem, but it sure does have a spending problem.

I hope Gov.-elect Schwarzenegger conducts an audit to find out
where the wasted money is going. Failing state programs deserve to
be cut, not have more money thrown at them. The Editorial Board
should be outraged by Sacramento holding essential services
hostage, instead of going on record supporting the unpopular car
tax.

Kenneth Shigemitsu

UCLA Medical Center