The race to raise state taxes

Suddenly it's the thing to do. There could be four tax major measures on the state ballot next November, plus a few smaller ones. Gov. Jerry Brown has one, but so does a group of political and civic figures called the Think Long Committee. Also in the mix is Molly Munger, daughter of L.A. billionaire Charles Munger, and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer. Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters wonder whether they will end up canceling each other out:

It sets up a situation not unlike what happened in 2009, when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature placed a package of several budget and tax measures on a special election ballot. Voters reacted angrily at its complexity and rejected everything. The 2009 package violated an unwritten rule of ballot measures, that they should be as simple - perhaps as simplistic - as possible because when voters are confused and uncertain about something, they're more likely to reject it. The 2012 measures could create the same kind of confusion and play into the hands of anti-tax groups that would like to see everything die.