PRIORITIES

"Moderate Republican" governor Arnold Schwartzenegger has punted on every single issue he used to dupe voters into thinking "he won't be so bad", yet he goes to the mattresses to protect the rights of . . . tax evaders.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is putting the brakes on efforts to give state investigators more tools to hunt tax evaders, following a period of aggressive enforcement that has generated billions of dollars for California coffers.

The governor has vetoed several bills that would allow agents to go after more businesses and individuals who cost the state millions by cheating on their returns, or not filing at all. He said the measures were flawed and would have unfairly burdened employers.

The resistance from the administration comes as some of the state's most influential business and anti-tax groups charge that investigators have overstepped their boundaries and begun harassing Californians.

The organizations, including the California Taxpayers Assn., the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. and the California Chamber of Commerce, say officials need to find less invasive ways to reclaim about $6 billion in state taxes that are owed each year but not paid.

Supporters of the measures that Schwarzenegger rejected said they were common-sense reforms that would have closed loopholes that big businesses and wealthy individuals have been able to slip through.

"These vetoes basically say to these people that they can flout the law without repercussions," said Lenny Goldberg, president of the union-backed California Tax Reform Assn. "Ordinary taxpayers can't do that."

The governor blocked efforts to increase penalties on retailers who filch the sales taxes they collect, and on companies that don't collect taxes when they should. A proposal to help authorities garnish wages of convicted tax evaders for as long as their debt is unpaid also was vetoed.

State tax officials said another of the governor's vetoes could allow some people snagged by the Internal Revenue Service for dodging taxes to avoid coughing up California's share, costing the state tens of millions of dollars.

Whaddya say we send Governor TrueLies a message on November 8th?