Apparently we are getting closer on agreement of a fix for the massive state budget shortfall. From what I hear, the deal does not include tax or fee increases, which is great news. That needs to be the first priority for budget negotiators as California taxpayers already are carrying too much of a burden with their current obligations to state government.
That said, I am wondering whether or not Sacramento politicians are tightening the proverbial belt enough. I recognize that trying to deal with a shortfall of over $26 billion is not an easy task. Especially for Sacramento Democrats who are either union-controlled and don’t have the latitude to make many needed cuts, or are liberal ideologues who would rather push California to the brink than see a decline in redistributive wealth policies.
The reason that I say this is that from talking to sources and reading newspaper reports, it would appear that borrowing and gimmicks will make up billions of dollars of “solutions” for this crisis. Current negotiations call for borrowing billions of dollars from local governments – which is a terrible idea (if raising taxes is the worst alternative, borrowing money is right behind it). My sources also tell me that gimmicks like moving the last state payroll of the fiscal year from June 30 to July 1st are still in play.
**There is more – click the link**
July 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Don’t be a sap! When the Berlin Wall was about to fall after months and months of this possibility the leaders of East Germany, Romania and the little Baltic countries were pillered with propaganda, threats, new regulations, inspetions, job terminations, some long gone and not seen again….
Socialists do not quit….they never quit….so don’t be a RINO sap and roll over a go wobbleeeee…the purple shirts will not go down easily!!!
July 17th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jon, what is your comment on the 3 corporate tax breaks enacted via closed-door negotiations in September of last year and February of this year, giving 9 corporations in California roughly $30 million each? During the worst recession in U.S. history, billion-dollar corporations in CA may now choose whether to pay taxes on their payroll, property, and sales, or on their sales alone. Guess which one they’ll choose? Meanwhile, their operations contribute to congestion and air pollution from commuting workers, and those same workers obtain public services (such as unemployment insurance, schools, fire, police), while these companies are now exempt from helping fund those services. The estimated $2.5 Billion lost in corporate tax revenues to the state is massive, unwarranted, and unnecessary. I know Republicans are supposed to be pro-business, but this is an embarrassment, and will make California the laughingstock of the nation.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Great….another lib bashing corporations while Whacko Joe Biden says we need to spend and spend and spend to get out of a national financial meltdown, and esteemed Commissar Karen Bass continues to protect unproductive government unions in a time of a extreme fiscal downturn in California…
Could you imagine how much less pollution, faster commuting time we would have after laying off 30% of the purple shirts and all the goon heavy handed czars in the Messiah’s staff in D.C.
July 19th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Thing is, according to a member of the CSU Board of Trustees (who I spoke with last Thursday), even if this deficit is fixed, there will be another one by the beginning of next year. Thus, the problem won’t be fixed at all.