Coyote Blog

In his regular email, Bill Leonard recounts a story told by the California governor to the legislator that may be even more apt than he intended:

The Governor told a delightful story to the Joint Session of the Legislature regarding the animals at his home.  It seems that the pet pony and the pet pot-bellied pig work together to knock the dog's food canister off the kennel then using feet, hooves and snout, they pry the lid off to get to the food.  The Governor's message: if my pony and pig can co-operate like this, then certainly the Governor and the Legislature can cooperate.

But I got to thinking about the dog.  His food was gone, taken without his permission.  So who is the dog in the Governor's analogy?  I am hoping it is not me and the millions of other taxpayers who lose our canisters of food every time the Governor and the Legislature cooperate on taxes.

I am afraid the dog is probably the rest of us, and this is exactly how politicians think - how can we all cooperate to get down to the real business of government -- taking more of the dog's food.

California is one of the toughest states in the country to do business in.  Bill Leonard, a member of the California BOE*, takes a refreshingly free market approach for a left-coast politician.  From looking at his site, he and I may not see eye-to-eye on immigration, but he has been a lone voice of sanity on tax and regulatory policy in California for several years.  If you are interested, his email newsletter is generally filled with news and commentary on how California tax and regulatory law is changing and how these changes may affect local businesses.  You can sign up for his newsletter here.

*  You know your state is in trouble when the department of taxation and revenue calls itself the "Board of Equalization", though I am told this originally referred to equalization of tax policy across counties rather than having the redistributive overtones it has today.