The Legend of Proposition 13

Book excerpt: Proposition 13 was the greatest tax revolt in American history since the Boston Tea Party. In June 1978, Californians rose up behind a colorful, irascible, unlikely leader, 74-year-old Howard Jarvis, and turned the political world upside down. The first shot in the Reagan Revolution, the Proposition 13 tax revolt changed the world. Told by an insider, this is the story of the politics, odd tales and bizarre arguments that surround the fabled tax revolt from its success at the polls to its survival, despite constant attacks, 25 years later. It is the story of a legend in the making.