LAO’s Announced $8 Billion Shortfall Prompts a "Survey"… Some have asked if the survey question posted yesterday was really meant to solicit responses, or if it was just to make a point? You decide.

The point, of course,is that an adopted State budget is never really a budget if it’s based on faulty expectations, mixed with a puff of smoke and a few mirrors. The legislature and the Governor have proved it twice now in the last five months … same budget, two different votes to pass (the first was an unconstitutional, didn’t get to a 2/3 vote, "get out of town for the holidays" iteration), and it still doesn’tresolve the spending binges of the lastseveral years.

But, whether one wants to join me in being a smart aleck about the truth by weighing in on whether to deem the latest news more appropriate for the "Color me surprised" file or some other title of one’s choice … well, that depends on one’s initiative and… Read More

Apparently, union bosses have now resorted to equating union membership to serving in the military. It was recently reported that mailings going out in our state and directed at Senator Dianne Feinstein say, “Americans should be able to join a union the same way we join the military…by signing our name.” This demonstrates such a profound misunderstanding of the Employee ‘Forced’ Choice Act (EFCA) that one has to question whether the message’s advocates had any intention of making intellectually honest arguments or whether outright deception was their goal. Unfortunately, as the debate on EFCA has evolved, advocates of taking away a secret ballot from workers and mandating government arbitrators on small businesses have decided that they are not able to argue about the merits of their case. In turn, they have resorted to making comparisons that stretch both the imagination and truth. First off, the men and women that voluntary decide to join our military do so to protect every American and deserve the highest level of praise and respect. Likewise, many that join unions do so to provide for their families and better… Read More

As I watched Bernie Madoff finally head to prison earlier this week after pleading guilty to one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history, I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between what Madoff did to his investors and what the Governor and the State Legislature are doing to the taxpayers of this state. We were told just last week that the largest tax increase in state history was, “a comprehensive solution to the state’s $41.6 billion budget shortfall.” The non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office just announced yesterday that even if the blackmail measure, Proposition 1A, is approved by the voters in May and the state of California gets every dollar of the federal economic stimulus it hopes to get, that California will face an $8 billion deficit through June 2010. In addition, the Legislative Analyst projects continuing deficits of up to $25 billion. What makes this even worse is that the figures don’t take into account the billions more that the state is going to have to pay in the future to cover… Read More

As I watched Bernie Madoff finally head to prison earlier this week after pleading guilty to one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history, I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between what Madoff did to his investors and what the Governor and the State Legislature are doing to the taxpayers of this state.

We were told just last week that the largest tax increase in state history was, “a comprehensive solution to the state’s $41.6 billion budget shortfall.” The non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office just announced yesterday that even if the blackmail measure, Proposition 1A, is approved by the voters in May and the state of California gets every dollar of the federal economic stimulus it hopes to get, that California will face an $8 billion deficit through June 2010. In addition, the Legislative Analyst projects continuing deficits of up to $25 billion. What makes this even worse is that the figures don’t take into account the billions more that the state is going to have to pay… Read More

Insurance Commissioner and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner opposes Proposition 1A, his spokesman, Kevin Spillane, assured me last night.

I felt compelled to give Kevin a call for clarification because there were conflicting statements coming out of the Poizner campaign. Yesterday longtime FR blogger Jennifer Nelson wrote about Poizner’s remarks to a Bay Area Republican group whose meeting she attended, at which, in a response from Nelson, Poizner was clear that he opposed 1A, going even further to say that he would be taking a “major role” in leading the opposition effort.

Here is the relevant excerpt from Nelson’s blog post:

Insurance Commissioner and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner opposes Proposition 1A, his spokesman, Kevin Spillane, assured me last night.

I felt compelled to give Kevin a call for clarification because there were conflicting statements coming out of the Poizner campaign. Yesterday longtime FR blogger Jennifer Nelson wrote about Poizner’s remarks to a Bay Area Republican group whose meeting she attended, at which, in a response from Nelson, Poizner was clear that he opposed 1A, going even further to say that he would be taking a “major role” in leading the opposition effort.

Here is the relevant excerpt from Nelson’s blog post:

Take a minute this weekend to answer the following question:

The Legislative Analyst’s Office announced today that revenue in the recently adopted State budget will fall short of projections by $8 billion, with significantly increasing budget shortfalls in subsequent years. Should that news be filed under:

A) Color me surprised,

B) We told you so,

or

C) Fill in the blank ?

If you select C, please provide an answer as to where you believe the news should be filed. Be creative. Post it in the comments or shoot me an email. Let’s not assume that "Tax increases should have been higher" is the best answer.

In the meantime, read Senator Dennis Hollingsworth’s take on the matter:

Senator Hollingsworth Statement regarding Legislative Analyst’s Office Projecting $6 Billion Deficit “The fact that the LAO is projecting a $6 Billion deficit for the 2009-2010 Budget is not a surprise. I… Read More

FR readers know that in my role as a columnist and blogger on this site I have been quite critical of the system of Congressional "earmarking" that takes place in Washington, D.C.

That said, the party is clearly not monolithic on this subject since most GOP Members of Congress aren’t just earmarking proponents, but spend a lot of time and energy towards the end of "bringing home the bacon" in the form of federal funds for projects in their districts.

Today on the FlashReport I am pleased that we are offering a "pro-con" debate on this issue, in the form of two featured columns. The first, by businessmen David Ellis and Buck Johns, makes the case in support of Congressional earmarking. You can read their column here. The second is the case against the practice of earmarking, penned by our own FR blogging Congressman John Campbell. You can read his column here.

I hope that you enjoy reading to very different views on this… Read More