I'm Mad as Hell

This was a very entertaining book. The star of this writing is Howard Jarvis.His role in bringing about the passage of Proposition 13 is written in detail in this book. You are given the story of skyrocketing taxes in California that brought aboutthis revolt.You are also informed of the shockwaves that thepassage of this proposition had on the California politicalestablishment.The views of Howard Jarvis are also shared with the reader.Especially amusing was Mr. Jarvis' meeting with California Governor Jerry Brown.This proved to be a very informative book that you will enjoy reading.

For nearly 16 years HJ argued for lower property taxes before proposition 13 became law in 1978; it was not a quick and easy task. Those who would work for any similar change may learn something from his story. From 1942 to 1991 about 25% of the Federal Defense budget was spent in California. This created a growing economy, even if it drained funds from the northeast states. Since 1945 land prices and property taxes were booming in California. After his 1962 retirement, HJ began his involvement with the United Organization of Taxpayers. [A movement needs a cadre of dedicated workers.] It then affiliated with other organizations, and thousands of volunteers from all over the state. [The movement must be represented in all counties.] It is very important to have unity and loyalty to the group. [Fragmentation, petty quarrels, and demoralization should be avoided.] They experienced many defeats. [Expect to lose many battles before final victory.] Proposition 13 cut property taxes in half (p.9)! This set an example for the other states (p.10). It could never have been achieved without the Initiative & Referendum law in Calif. But an organization can pass around a petition and get tens of thousands of signatures. Even if it has no legal effect it will impress and scare elected officials. Calif. passed an initiative and referendum law in 1911, an extension to the right of petition. This allows the people to write a law and bypass corrupt state politicians. Without the right to petition, Proposition 13 would not have been passed.Chapters One thru Seven tell of the work by this movement. 64,000 tax-exempt corporations and 18,000 charitable trusts paid no property taxes. Most of them were set up to get a tax break! Towns would raise assessments one year, then the tax rate the next (p.28). The enormous increases in property taxes priced young couples out of the market. And older people had lowered incomes.Chapter 8 is his autobiography. He was born and raised in Utah. His father was a carpenter who studied law and became a judge. HJ studied law at the University of Utah by day and worked at a mill by night. He taught boxing in college, and fought as a professional. HJ also played semipro baseball for a copper mill (p.209). He had a varied and interesting life as a newspaper publisher, and then as a manufacturer. Pages 256-7 tell of his legal experiences with the patent on radio push-button tuning; they lost out to big corporations due to high level political decisions. He was part of the group that ran an ad for a Congressional candidate - they decided on "the guy in the sailor suit" (p.263).Chapter Nine lists his political ideas. He advocates elimination all property taxes, and using income taxes (ability to pay), sales taxes (with some exemptions), and "other forms of taxes". HJ would encourage more public participation in the public business of government. He recommends limiting the size of government to limit the power of politicians. Public schools s

In this book, Howard Jarvis tells his story. Mainly, the book deals with the victorious anti-tax movement in California in the beginning of 70's, but Mr. Jarvis also shares much more of his rich life experience with us. Among other, we'll learn how Mr. Jarvis successfully fought the trade unions' sabotage during WWII. The different subjects are in approppriate proportions and presented in a very interesting style. Even though I'm rather ignorant and uninterested of US inner politics, I found the book really fascinating.I have just one advice to the readers of this book. The idea of forcing the hated clique of parasite politicians and civil servants on their knees might seem very attractive to you. However, I read lately that both Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann got killed under mysterious circumstances shortly after their triumph with the tax proposal. I don't know if it's true or not, but my advice would still be to avoid confronting governments openly. (Read "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" by Harry Browne to learn more about this subject.)