I’m sure many of you have heard of the colloquial expression, “That is a false choice…”
For those who haven’t heard of the expression, a “false choice” is when you provide two options, insisting that you have to choose one of them, when there are other viable options.
A false choice is what is being presented to Californians in the current budget debate when saying that to solve the budget crisis, we either need to raise taxes, or we need to raid special funds.
The painful reality for Democrats is that the other choice — the obvious choice — are more cuts — the kind of cuts that require a serious look at eliminating state departments or agencies, eliminating bureaucracy. Serious reduction in state spending means eliminating expensive state jobs.
The false choice must be discarded, and all of the pressure in this budget debate must be placed on more shrinking of a state government that has increased in size by 40 percent in just five years.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Unfortunately, too many consider the obvious choice to be a Sophie’s Choice.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Two months have passed without a state budget and things seem to be going pretty well for California. Maybe this suggests another false choice: either we get a budget with massive tax increases or else we face some sort of fiscal catastrophe (that we are assured will somehow be worse than the catastrophic impact of tax increases).
Perhaps we would be better off postponing the budget until December, when the newly elected legislators are seated? Sure, the Controller might have to borrow money at high interest rates, but that seems to be the plan whether we get a budget or not!
The new legislators to be sworn-in after the November election are likely to be more reasonable than the current crowd. Let’s give them a chance! That’s a choice we can live with.