Annotated Bibliography

Barns, Brooks, and Ian Lovett. "Californians Face Rival Ballot Initiatives That Would Raise Taxes and Aid Schools." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/us/californians-face-competing-tax-increase-propositions.html?_r=0>.
This New York Times article is written by Brooks Barnes, who has been a writer for the New York Times since 2007. Previously Barnes has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Philidelphia Enquirer. Barnes is a resident of Los Angeles (http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/brooks_barnes/index.html).
This article addresses the bigger picture surrounding the proposition, including the effect it could have on Jerry Brown's career/legacy and a competing proposition to temporarily raise taxes for education (prop 38). The article explains that voters may be wary to pay more state taxes because recently members of legislative staff were given raises and the state parks have hidden a $54 million dollar budget surplus. Actions like these make the state seem irresponsible to tax payers. The article also mentions that California tax payers have voted against the last eight proposed tax increases. The article breaks down poll numbers and what they mean for the initiative, taking into consideration the competing proposition 38. The article also briefly mentions where financial support is coming from for the measure (Indian casinos, soda companies, oil companies) and why. This article is fairly balanced, but the author seems to be pro proposition thirty. The author uses pathos, by characterizing Molly Munger (proponent of prop 38) as a wealthy lawyer and being sympathetic to Jerry Brown, and logos by citing statistics and quotations.

York, Anthony. "Gov. Jerry Brown Formally Kicks off Prop. 30 Tax Hike Campaign." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/16/local/la-me-brown-taxes-20120816>.

Anthony York wrote this article for the LA times. The article gets much of it's information and context from from a speech made in August by Jerry Brown in Sacramento concerning Prop 30. The article explains that the proposition will increase sales tax throughout California by a quarter cent though 2016 in addition to raising taxes on high earning Californians until 2019. According to this article Propostition 30 could raise up to $8 billion a year to prevent a $5 billion cut to K-12 schools and keep a $250 million dollar cut for colleges at bay. This article (like the New York Times article by Brooks Barnes) addresses California's recent financial fumbles and Jerry Brown's dismissive statements about their relevancy to this Proposition 30. Also mentioned is the rival Proposition 38 which "would hike levies on anyone with an annual income of more than $7,316". This article states that money raised by Prop 30 won't be set aside specifically for school funding.  Like the New York Times Article this article did not argue strongly for or against prop 30 but just offered basic facts. This article was written at the beginning of Governor Brown's campaign and employs pathos by quoting the governor extensively when he talks about how to deal with flawed government. The author also uses logos and quasi-ethos by quoting from experts like Jerry Brown and critics of the proposition.