CA Arbitrarily Increases Tax Withholdings By 10%

Statist extortion- To be repaid in April!?! They couldn't even pay out their tax refunds this year- now they are going to extort an extra 10% arbitrarily?- I see more IOUs in the future. Seriously- how does anyone ever get reelected in CA- I think their populace may be even stupider than ours.

"Starting Sunday, cash-strapped California will dig deeper into the pocketbooks of wage earners — holding back 10% more than it already does in state income taxes just as the biggest shopping season of the year kicks into gear.
Technically, it’s not a tax increase, even though it may feel like one when your next paycheck arrives. As part of a bundle of budget patches adopted in the summer, the state is taking more money now in withholding, even though workers’ annual tax bills won’t change.
Think of it as a forced, interest-free loan: You’ll be repaid any extra withholding in April. Those who would receive a refund anyway will receive a larger one, and those who owe taxes will owe less."

A sad historical footnote: It was Milton Friedman who came up with the tax withholding scheme. He spent the rest of his life wishing he could put that genie back in the bottle.