In today's POLITICO, ATR explains the lesson that Republicans at the federal level should take away from the recently concluded California budget standoff:
This week marked a huge victory for the GOP in the deficit reduction debate — but in California, not in Washington.
Gov. Jerry Brown has spent the past six months trying to get Republicans to sign on to a renewal of the largest state tax increase in U.S. history. But he finally gave up earlier this week and agreed to sign a budget that attempts to put expenditures in line with revenues, without further soaking California families and employers already contending with one of the highest tax burdens in the nation.
What the GOP was able to accomplish in California should serve as a model for its Republican counterparts on this side of the Potomac. As is the case on Capitol Hill, Republican votes are required to raise taxes in California — where a two-thirds vote is required to pass tax hikes or refer them to the ballot.
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