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Arnold advisor says raise property taxes { August 15 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Arnold's Adviser's Remarks Draw Rebuke
Posted: August 15, 2003 at 2:21 p.m.
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Comments by a key Arnold Schwarzenegger adviser that California's property taxes are too low drew sharp rebukes Friday from fellow Republicans, and highlighted the dilemma for a rookie candidate tarred with views of his advisers.
The comment of billionaire Warren Buffett deflected attention from a new Field Poll showing Gov. Gray Davis more vulnerable than ever and his approval rating at a historic low.
Even Davis joined the criticism of Buffett, Schwarzenegger's economic adviser, who bumped his candidate into a controversial light with remarks in the Wall Street Journal about one of California's most sacred tenets, the 25-year-old tax revolt called Proposition 13.
"Lord knows we have some things in California that cost a lot, but property taxes are not one of them and nobody is going to change this," the governor said at a Los Angeles elementary school.
Buffett suggested the landmark initiative has warped the state's tax system and may need reforms that include higher property taxes. Buffett said he pays $14,401 in annual property taxes on his $500,000 home in Omaha, Neb., but only $2,264 on his $4 million home in Laguna Beach.
Fellow Republican candidate Bill Simon, who Davis defeated last year, immediately called on Schwarzenegger to renounce Buffett's suggestion.
"He needs to let the people of California know today and just as loudly whether he supports his adviser's scheme for massive property tax increases," Simon said in a statement.
A spokesman for Republican candidate Peter Ueberroth said he believes Proposition 13 must remain intact. Schwarzenegger supports the anti-tax initiative and was a keynote speaker at its silver anniversary gala earlier this summer, said spokesman Rob Stutzman.
"He is an admirer of Howard Jarvis and has referred to him as the original 'Tax Terminator,"' Stutzman said. "Turning around California's economic crisis requires a breadth of knowledge and skill that Mr. Buffett obviously is as fully qualified as anyone on Earth to contribute."
But the situation demonstrated a key campaign danger faced by the bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-candidate with little or no record of public policy positions. Political analysts say advisers' opinions can easily become grafted onto the candidate.
"He takes the risk of being perceived as an empty vessel, a smart but empty vessel, into which Warren Buffett, George Shultz and Pete Wilson, can pour their ideas," said Mark Petracca, a political science professor at the University of California, Irvine.
Petracca said Schwarzenegger is clearly following the Ronald Reagan model of surrounding himself with bright and well-respected people, but added it may not work if people don't know Schwarzenegger's core beliefs. The key danger of being known for a melange of advisers' ideas is that some may "violate the core beliefs of people in California."
Proposition 13, which limits property tax hikes to no more than 2 percent a year, is considered politically untouchable in California.
University of California, Riverside political science professor Shaun Bowler suggested Buffett's remarks may be a campaign "trial balloon" to gauge public response.
"If it ends up just attracting venom on (Los Angeles radio station) KFI, then he'll say, 'This is just Warren Buffett speaking,"' Bowler said.
Meanwhile, a statewide poll released Friday showed the number of Californians supporting the effort to recall Davis has grown over the last month.
The nonpartisan Field Poll found that 58 percent of likely California voters want Davis out of office, up from 51 percent last month. Fully 68 percent believe Davis will be recalled in the Oct. 7 special election.
The survey results were almost uniformly bad news for the embattled Davis. His approval rating has plummeted to an all-time low, with just 22 percent of voters saying they like the job he is doing as governor.
"Movement is always the most significant element of a poll like this, and we are seeing continued movement toward the recall," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. "And attitudes toward the recall are very firm, since people have come to their judgments of Davis over a long period of time."
A large majority of voters who support the recall -- 65 percent -- said they believe that electing a new governor would move California in a new direction. But only 40 percent said recalling Davis would help solve the state's budget problems.
Despite the results, Davis projected optimism Friday and said he always has overcome expectations of political doubters.
"This election has turned into something of a Hollywood movie and I assure you it will have a surprise ending," Davis said.
The poll, based on telephone interviews with 448 likely voters, was conducted Aug. 10-13 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger added actor Rob Lowe to his list of high-profile advisers, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. The longtime Democratic activist and former "West Wing" star is a friend of Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver. He joins Buffett and Shultz, a former U.S. secretary of state and treasury, on the campaign team.
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On the Net:
California Secretary of State: http://www.ss.ca.gov
California Voter Foundation: http://www.calvoter.org/
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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