New California law

[nastynewt]

If you live in California:

This past weekend in California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed Senate Bill 585 but signed Assembly Bill 962 into law.

SB585 would have prohibited the sale of firearms and ammunition on the property or inside the buildings that comprise the Cow Palace in Daly City, just outside of San Francisco. Simply put, SB585 was a stepping-stone to banning gun shows on all publicly-owned property in California.

Unfortunately, the Governor did sign AB962. This bill requires individuals purchasing ammunition be fingerprinted and registered at the time of sale, mandates that dealers keep these records and make them available for inspection by the California Department of Justice. Ammunition retailers would also have to store ammunition in such a manner that it would be inaccessible to purchasers.

Finally, mail order ammunition sales are prohibited under AB962. Over twenty years ago, Congress abolished similar requirements because ammunition sales records were found to be useless for solving crimes. AB962 is a dire threat to our Second Amendment rights in the Golden State.

 

[flemgunner]

Just one more reason I dont live there anymore

 

[Gus McCrae]

More ammo for me?

 

[Witiku]

There will be a premption challenge. It will fail, hopefully.

 

[flamatrix99]

I loved living in Calif and hated to leave but thier crazy laws and propositions drive me crazy.

 

[CEHollier]

No way could I ever live in California. Property is too expensive, (small business, property, personal state taxes are too high), antigun legislation, illegals are bankrupting the state, and every time the state legislature passes a law it is to punish a law abiding tax paying citizen for something criminals are doing. I recently read an article on Cali's anti business attitude. Many fortune 500 companies have stopped any further expansion into California, only if absolutely necessary. Others are leaving in droves. This is what happens when idiot liberals come into power. They encourage bad behavior by rewarding it and discourage responsible behavior by taxing/punishing it. They want the citizens to rely on them for everything. Problem is the people paying for this mess are leaving the state and only the welfare culture will be left behind. I would not move to California if someone gave me a house and property. I would sell it and put the monies into a productive business venture anywhere but California. Screw California.

 

[flamatrix99]

I am not a business owner nor do I want to be. When I lived there I just had an apartment because you couldn't afford a house. When we got married we got a bigger apartment. Not many people we knew other then peoples parents actually owned homes. We didn't realize that until after we left.
I didn't care about guns back then and didn't pay attention to politicians. I think that is allot of the problem most everyday normal people there just go about their lives and don't see what is happening around them. Many folks I would talk to just refered to the rest of the US (past Nevada) as "back east" and had no clue what is going on outside of their own little world.
When my mother-in-law passes we will have her house in Huntington Beach. My wife is torn what we do with it since it was the house she grew up in. A guy at work just resigned and he took a job at a power plant in southern Calif. She knows I can do the same as well.

 

[Kraut]

I was perusing gun mags at Wally World last night and one (I forget which, was either GUNS or Guns & Ammo) made mention that they are moving their offices out of CA to IL (not a whole lot better, but at least a little better) due to the anti-gun and anti-business climate.

 

[Tx_oil]

California is an example of how the liberal agenda will destroy it's host, much like Ebola virus. There is NOTHING that would make me live in The People's Republik of Kalifornia.

 

[tigerfan_9]

California is an example of how the liberal agenda will destroy it's host, much like Ebola virus. There is NOTHING that would make me live in The People's Republik of Kalifornia.

exactly.....the problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other peoples' money. (see California)

 

[jimdana1942]

Maybe Calif. will fall in to the ocean. What's taking so long?

 

[Eagle]

I can remember when California was a pretty good place to live, before the liberals, wackos, tree-huggers and other undesirables took over. I was living there when I ordered a Colt Detective Special from Klein's in Chicago and they shipped it to me via Railway Express. That was before Lee Harvey Oswald ordered his rifle from that same Klein's store and really upset the applecart. I don't even visit there anymore because of all the weirdness.

 

[FishingBack]

You're crazy if you want to move there. Sell your property there and get the heck out while you still can.

 

[Praesul Presul]

Just one more reason I dont live there anymore

Just one more reason I will never live there

 

[nastynewt]

It only get worse in California

It only get worse in California

California to withhold a bigger chunk of paychecks
The amount goes up 10% on Sunday as Sacramento borrows from taxpayers. Technically, it's not an income tax increase: You'll get the money back eventually.

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Graphic: By the numbers Graphic: By the numbers
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Schwarzenegger's budget boss to step down

By Shane Goldmacher and W.J. Hennigan

October 31, 2009

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Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento - Starting Sunday, cash-strapped California will dig deeper into the pocketbooks of wage earners -- holding back 10% more than it already does in state income taxes just as the biggest shopping season of the year kicks into gear.

Technically, it's not a tax increase, even though it may feel like one when your next paycheck arrives. As part of a bundle of budget patches adopted in the summer, the state is taking more money now in withholding, even though workers' annual tax bills won't change.

Think of it as a forced, interest-free loan: You'll be repaid any extra withholding in April. Those who would receive a refund anyway will receive a larger one, and those who owe taxes will owe less.

But with rising gas costs, depressed home prices and double-digit unemployment, the state's added reach into residents' regular paycheck isn't sitting well with many.

"The state's suddenly slapping people upside the head," said Mack Reed, 50, of Silver Lake. "It's appalling how brash that is."

Brittney McKaig, 23, of Santa Ana said she expects the additional withholding to affect her holiday spending.

"Coming into the holidays, we're getting squeezed anyway," she said. "We're not getting Christmas bonuses and other perks we used to get. So it all falls back on spending. The $40 gift will become a $20 gift."

The extra withholding may seem like a small amount siphoned from each paycheck, but it adds up to a $1.7-billion fix for California's deficit-riddled books.

From a single taxpayer earning $51,000 a year with no dependents, the state will be grabbing an extra $17.59 each month, according to state tax officials. A married person earning $90,000 with two dependents would receive $24.87 less in monthly pay.

California will probably continue to collect the tax at a higher rate for many years -- or find an additional $1.7 billion to slice from a future budget, an unlikely occurrence. All workers who have state taxes withheld will see their paychecks shrink.

"Many families are sitting at their kitchen table wondering how they're going to make ends meet," said state Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks). "At the same time, the state of California is taking a no-interest loan."

The provision is one of numerous maneuvers state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved in the summer to paper over the state's deficit. Many of the changes, including the extra withholding, were little noticed outside of Sacramento.

Savvy taxpayers can get around the state's maneuver by increasing the number of personal withholding allowances they claim on their employer tax forms, said Brenda Voet, a spokeswoman for the state's Franchise Tax Board.

"People can get out of this," she said, noting that most people would have to change their allowances through their employers. California's budget leaders are banking on the hope that most won't.

The increase is coming at a bad time for store owners, many of whom depend on the holiday shopping season to keep their businesses alive.

"I don't think there's any question it's going to impact consumers' spending," said Bill Dombrowski, president of the California Retailers Assn. "Any time you reduce people's disposable income, there's going to be a negative effect on the retail sector."

But Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, wasn't so sure.

"It's having a relatively small impact on people's income," Levy said, pointing out that many families will receive only $12 to $40 less each month.

Yet Erika Wendt, 28, of San Diego said she already lived on a tight budget: She rides her bike to work, for instance, to save on gasoline and parking costs.

"I am frustrated as this directly impacts my weekly budget -- what groceries I buy, how much I drive and can spend on gas," she said. "Now money will just be tighter, and I'm not sure where else I can cut back."

The extra withholding comes in addition to tax hikes the state enacted this year.

In February, state income tax rates were bumped up 0.25 of a percentage point for every tax bracket. The dependent credit was slashed by two-thirds. The state sales tax rate rose 1 percentage point. The vehicle license fee nearly doubled to 1.15% of a car's value.

Lawmakers and the governor also approved deep cuts to schools, social services and prisons to fend off one of the steepest revenue losses in California history.

Temporary budget bandages, such as the increase in withholding, were included at several points this year to avoid higher taxes and deeper cuts, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance.

Sacramento, meanwhile, is awash in red ink again. The state controller recently said revenue in the budget year already had fallen more than $1 billion short of assumptions. Outsize deficits are projected for years to come.

Such temporary measures as the withholding tax increase don't really fix the budget gap, "they just more or less hid it," said Christopher Thornberg, a principal with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles. "I call it a fraud."

shane.goldmacher@ latimes.com

william.hennigan@ latimes.com

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-state-tax31-2009oct31,0,2028140.story

 

[SeventhSon]

I lived there for almost 10 years and am darn glad I moved away.

 

[Tx_oil]

Screw California. Period.
End.
Full Stop.

 

[dantheman]

I visited there three times . Great weather , interesting things to see , but too many stupid laws and too many " Democrats " .

 

[henry]

Do you think that they will move all the national shooting events from California now? That always bothered me, "why support a state with a shooting event when the state is your worst enemy?"

 

[captain-03]

I see Arnold on TV asking people to vist CA. Have lost nothing in CA and do not intent on going there ever again ... at least until they start to recognize my God given freedoms ... the state can go to hell as far as I am concerned ....