SJ City Council's tax-happy posture out of step with vast majority of populace

Cover of Tax Dollars at Work: Understanding Government Spending and Where Your Money Really Goes, by Charles Nehme, 2024.

A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll press release shows that an overwhelming % of voters think gov't expenditures should be cut and expenses should be more closely examined. Meanwhile, SJ City Council, along with ostensibly fiscally accountable reps Mahan, Casey, and Mulcahy, continue to lobby to make it easier to raise taxes.

Voters Overwhelmingly Support Cutting Down Government Expenditures but Are Sensitive Around Data Privacy

• 67% of voters say the current level of U.S. federal government debt is unsustainable.

• 83% of voters favor reducing government expenditures over increasing taxes, and 77% say a full examination of all government expenditures is necessary.

• 70% of voters say government expenditures are filled with waste, fraud, and inefficiency (Democrats: 58%; Republicans: 78%; Independents: 75%), and 69% support the goal of cutting $1 trillion of government expenditures.

• 60% of voters think DOGE is helping make major cuts in government expenditures.

• 58% of voters say DOGE employees should not have access to sensitive information on Americans who benefit from government expenditure programs; including names, social security numbers, addresses, and incomes (Democrats: 75%; Republicans: 39%; Independents: 63%).

Go Deeper:

• Local biz community split over tax policy mirrors polarization at national level
• Deficits, taxes, contentions—oh my!: CA taxpayer experts on what to look out for in 2025
• L.A. fires shine light on broader CA'n issue of misguided, unsustainable spending

Read the whole thing here.

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