Democratic Governor Jerry Brown fixed California’s deficit via Prop 30, also known as raising taxes even if only temporarily. California no longer has a deficit.

Governor Brown said voters made the budget possible by passing Proposition 30, “California today is poised to achieve something that has eluded us for more than a decade – a budget that lives within its means, now and for many years to come.”

This shoots a hole in conservative talking points that we can’t tax our way out of a deficit, therefore we shouldn’t raise taxes at all. In fact, Brown already made budget cuts in prior years, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a deficit. He needed to temporarily raise taxes in order to avoid a deficit.

The Governor’s office pointed out that the budget still manages to make an investment in education and healthcare reform, “Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today proposed a balanced state budget that boosts investment in education, implements health care reform and keeps California on a long-term path to fiscal stability. This budget builds on the work of the last two years to eliminate the ongoing deficit.”

Prop 30 is a temporary tax approved by voters. It increased personal income tax on annual earnings more than $250,000 for seven years and increased sales tax and use tax by .25 cent for four years to fund schools and public safety.

The question at this point is why does it take a Democrat to get a fiscal house in order? Clinton did it, Obama’s doing it, Brown is doing it – meanwhile, Governor Jindal (R-LA) is pushing to get rid of all income and corporate taxes. He wants to rely on raising the sales tax to cover the losses. Libertarians often push for this solution, referred to as a flat tax, because on the surface it appears fair.