California's tax commission

Last year, California's governator, with legislative heads, formed a tax commission whose assignment was to study California's tax system and try to come up with improvements. Specifically, the commission was to solve the boom/bust cycle of tax revenues which relied in large measure on about 150,000 individual California taxpayers to pay most of California's bills.

The commission announced its findings yesterday and today there are two op-ed pieces on the Wall Street Journal's op-ed page reflecting positively on the commission's work. Californians should be so lucky.

Judging from the legislature's past work, it isn't likely that the commission's recommendations will be adopted. Lord knows, Democrats and Republicans in California's legislature can't seem to agree on the time of day. But Californians can always hope.

One thing that scares this Californian (formerly a Texan): The commission argued for a new 4 percent tax that would replace the sales tax. But 4 percent taxes have a way of becoming 5 percent taxes, then 6 percent, etc. Some way must be found to prevent this happening.