Good Plan

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed a plan Tuesday to radically alter the way Californians pay taxes, calling on state lawmakers to make dramatic changes before year's end to take the state off the "roller coaster ride" of boom-and-bust budgets.

The governor called a special session of the Legislature to consider proposals in a 415-page report from a government commission that spent nine months studying ways to modernize the state's tax system. Among the ideas from the bipartisan Commission on the 21st Century Economy presented in the report and draft legislation are dramatically reduced income levies and a revolutionary new business tax that would replace existing retail sales and corporation taxes.

"I would sign it immediately," Schwarzenegger declared at a Capitol news conference. "It's an unbelievable compromise between Democrats and Republicans."

But the commission's proposals quickly came under fire from all sides, including labor unions and business groups. Among the criticisms were that the plan unfairly favors the very rich while potentially hurting California businesses and exporting jobs.

Other than that, it's a great plan.