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NEWS ADVISORY January 5, 2009 Contact: Kevin Akin 951/787-03 18 kevinakin1950 AT hotmail.com www.peaceandfreedom.org Governor's proposed sales tax hike a 'savage attack' on working people; emergency tax on state's richest people needed, says Peace and Freedom Party SACRAMENTO - The Governor's sales tax hike that appears ready for adoption by the Legislature is a "savage attack on working people," said the Peace and Freedom Party today, and urged instead an "emergency 5 percent tax" on California's richest one percent to help resolve state's budget crisis. "The truth about the latest California budget proposals is ugly," said Peace and Freedom Party State Chair Kevin Akin. "The truth about the legislature and the governor is even uglier. They don't represent the voters who elected them. They represent the very rich people and corporations who bankroll them, who control both the Republican and Democratic parties, and who give them plum jobs when they leave office if they have been obedient. As a result, the budget proposals they are about to approve are a savage attack on working people," he added. Pointing out that the centerpiece of the new budget proposals is a sales tax increase coupled with cuts in services and programs, Akin said: "The sales tax is a regressive tax that falls far more heavily on working people and the poor. Together with the Governor's proposal to reduce the per-child income tax exemption by a brutal two-thirds, this would result in the worst shift from progressive to regressive taxation in California's history. The Legislature should blush with shame for even considering this contemptible implementation of the most savage dreams of the corporate rich for victimizing poor and working Californians. Instead, these corporate stooges appear set to enact this plan." The Peace and Freedom Party, Akin said, supports sharp increases in income taxes on the richest five percent of Californians, with highest rates applying to the few who make the most money. The party also proposes an emergency five percent tax on the wealth of the top one percent. "If the legislature and the governor will not enact the needed taxes on their rich bosses, the people must act by initiative." Akin summarized the budget-related proposals of the Peace and Freedom party as:

• Raise income taxes on the most prosperous five percent of taxpayers - the highest rates on those making the most.
• Lower sales taxes, and aim for their elimination. End property taxes on modest owner-occupied homes, take the cap off property taxes on corporations.
• Enact an emergency five percent capital tax on the richest one percent of Californians.
• Ban the wastefully expensive contracting-out of state, county and city jobs.
• Release non-violent drug offenders and others serving excessive sentences; transfer 25 percent of prison funds to education.
• Enact a universal single-payer health care plan; eliminate the parasitic insurance racket from health care for better care at less cost.
• Eliminate the undemocratic 2/3 vote requirement for budget and finance decisions by the Legislature.
• End the stranglehold of the big-money Democratic and Republican parties by enacting proportional representation in the Legislature, giving a voice to all points of view in Sacramento.

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