Arnold has disavowed Warren Buffet's nonsense about California property taxes being too low. If anything, I think that Mr. Buffet's little anecdote demonstrates not that California taxes are too low, but that Nebraska's are way too high.

Frankly, I'm tired of billionaires or their families (Gates, Sr.) telling me they are undertaxed and the solution is to force everyone to pay more. If Buffet thinks his taxes are too low, nothing is stopping him from writing a check for a few hundred million and sending it to Sacramento. Also, I'm curious how the business, income and sales taxes between Nebraska and Calif. compare. Betcha Neb.'s are a lot less...

Also, I wouldn't get to excited about Bustamonte in the lead with 25% vs. Schwarzenegger with 22% (damn, why can't they have easy to spell names like Ng and Smith?). That 25% are Davis supporters who will not be voting to recall, and if some other Republicans drop out, Arnold will go up. But where does Cruz pick up votes? Also, making it clear that he opposes tax increases won't hurt Arnold's numbers,either.

I liked what McClintock said when he heard Buffet's blooper: The amount on the tax bill is only the minimum required payment. Additional amounts may be made at the taxpayers option should they so desire.

I think the way California froze property taxes was phoney and destructive. Rather, it should have put a ceiling on the rates that could be charged. Perhaps, even lowing those rates if too much revenue is collected. Instead, we have the situation where a $400,000 house is taxed as if it were $250,000 because long ago, it was a lot cheaper. Real convenient for the real estate development community.

OTOH, does this show that throttling the revenue for a government can actually constrain the size of the government? How much larger do you think CA bureaucracy would be if it had access to a rapidly growing pot of property tax revenue?

>>That 25% are Davis supporters who will not be voting to recall, and if some other Republicans drop out, Arnold will go up.

I doubt that anyone can drop out. Ballots tend to be frozen many weeks in advance of the election, so that the county clerks have time to get them prepared. This ballot was probably frozen as of the deadline last Saturday.

Sure, a candidate might be able to drop out, might be able to have his votes not counted, and might even run ads stating that he is no longer a candidate. But so long as his name is on the ballot, most of his former supporters will still vote for him - trust me on this, I have seen it - and those votes will not be able to go to any of the candidates still in the race.

22% vs. 25& is within the poll's 5% margin of error anyway.

Well I guess Warren Buffet isn't a libertarian. Man, I sure am sick of those rich guys who think it is fair for everyone to pay for the taxes that create stable infrastructures for their businesses and safe neighborhoods filled with well-educated neighbors in their communities. Those self-righteous jerks.