Posted on 01/03/2010 1:42:36 PM PST by Steelfish
California's Scary Sneak Preview
By Ezra Klein Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 3, 2010
We Californians pride ourselves on the crystal-ball quality of our state. Auto emissions regulations, the tech boom and bust, Ronald Reagan, Hispanic immigration, the anti-tax revolt, the mortgage bubble, the struggle for gay rights, most movies, the popularity of Richard Nixon, the unpopularity of Richard Nixon, plastic surgery, and Tiger Woods's marital problems were all tested in the Golden State before being released to audiences nationwide.
The next likely item on that list is not a happy one, however. California is in a total fiscal crisis. It's had to slash state services to the bone and will have to cut further. It's gutted the University of California and lost its credit rating. David Paterson, the governor of New York, casually mentioned that he thinks California might default on its debt. That's bad enough, as it could drag down the national recovery. But what's worse is that this picture is probably coming to a theater near, well, all of us.
California's fiscal crisis will look sadly familiar to close watchers of the national checkbook. That's because California is not having a fiscal crisis so much as a political crisis. The trigger may have been the recession, but the root cause was written into the state constitution, and it was visible long before the housing boom went bust.
In California, passing a budget or raising taxes requires a two-thirds majority in both the state's Assembly and its Senate. That need not pose a problem, at least in theory. The state has labored under that restriction for a long time, and handled it with fair grace. But as the historian Louis Warren argues, the vicious political polarization that's emerged in modern times has made compromise more difficult.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Could have sworn he was in Florida when the sh!t hit the fan.
FIRE THEM ALL!!
Oh, now I see what California’s problems are all due to.
The article blames everything on that pesky 2/3 majority needed to raise taxes or get a budget passed.
If only California had a simple majority rule, everything would be swell, just as they are in the other 49 states.
I live in California. I used to work for the State. Believe me they haven’t cut anything, the pigs are still at the trough.
This guy is an absolute imbecile!
The majority party’s spending is out of control and shows no restraint what so ever, but it’s the minority party’s fault for not raising taxes on the business and people who are fleeing the state. Hey moron, the state’s budget is higher than last year! There are no cuts to the bone. Just ignorant, self centered, jealous state media types who can’t stand that someone has a beach house or a boat. When I see government take a 15% cut in its budget from the previous year like most of the private sector; then we can talk. Otherwise quit your wining.
The D’rats have gerrymandered the districts to insure their perpetual majority in the CA state assembly and senate. Almost like past Soviet elections in that former Communist republic, 99% of Party-affiliates are voted in notwithstanding term limits. Hopefully a recently past initiative that takes re-districting out of the party in power might undo some of this.
Only 15 percent?
About 50% of the departments, agencies, commissions, programs, etc, in California need a 100% budget cut and the remaining need 40% to 90% cuts.
Give me a spreadsheet and a red pen and I’ll show them where to cut and cut deeply!
These articles never get to the root of the problem— long time control by liberal Democrats. No fiscal responsibility. Continuous spending on anything and everything.
This won’t be solved without pain. The first pain is that CA’s voters will have to realize that their wallets are empty and start voting their pocketbooks. So far this has not happened and with all the preparatory talk about going bankrupt, I think that liberal voters think that CA will be just fine after filing bankruptcy and won’t have to worry about the debts, so they can just keep voting like they always have.
Post your Ca State budget cuts and I will send them to my assemblyman Nestande and ask all the candidates running in the 37th special senate election if they will sign on to make the budget cuts
They all need to go, they are the problem.
We have permanent democrat rule in this state and the author, no doubt a lefty, sees the only solution to give our permanent dem pols unfettered taxing and spending authority.
Trust me, CA doesn’t underspend or undertax.
So the problem, according to yet another liberal writer isn’t that California liberals have locked the state into massive contractual spending - it’s that taxes are too low.
I’m starting to think liberals will try to go after Prop 13.
Then watch the exodus.
“I’m starting to think liberals will try to go after Prop 13.”
I think they are already circulating a petition to modify prop 13 and I believe all the talk about a state constitutional convention is all about trying to over turn prop 13 , the libtards can not stand it that we do not have the highest property taxes in the nation !!!!!!!!
“
These articles never get to the root of the problem— long time control
by liberal Democrats.
“
One party rule.
One of the best examples of
“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Fact is the incompetent, selfish boobs in Sacto lack the discipline and common sense to do the necessary and correct steps to help remedy the financial crisis. Like spoiled rotten children they rebel only to cause more havoc rather than solutions. Might as well be an insane asylum in Sacto where the delusional are in charge. Enjoy their elected ‘Rats in Calinirvania!
Add to all this, we have government by judiciary! What we need are mass street protests outside the halls of justice.
Ooh. Can you put the fireplace nazis on your list?
I just want these statist busybodies to keep OUT of my life and my pocketbook.
It's because were surrounded by the corrupt running this government, and the state run media.
We're surrounded by traitors, wealthy connected insiders, those with glaring financial conflicts of interest, in addition to those that couldn't recognize the truth if it were a beard growing out of their faces.
The solutions are only complex for those not wishing to give up their government issued, tax paid power and wealth.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ * Reduce state government by 50 percent...That would mean terminating tens of thousands of state government employees. Give them unemployment benefits for 26 weeks until they can find work, or they can leave the state and look elsewhere.
* Those left working in state government, reduce their wages by 40 percent, in addition to reducing their opulent tax paid benefits and tax paid lottery style retirement pensions.
*Effective immediately, reduce state taxes by 15 percent and 2 percent more, each year for the next 10 years. This is to ensure the size of state government continues to be reduced in size and scope.
* Secure the borders, no more tax paid services for illegal aliens, that includes stopping them from choking off our hospitals..Drive their a$$es back to the border in buses if need be, and force Mexico to treat their own people.
* A mandatory program for *all* employers to verify legal status of their workers...
* Pass criminal laws against government officials from meeting privately with lobbyist and lobbyist call girls. All meetings involving lobbyist will be required to be video taped.
* Effective immediately, registration of private vehicles will only be required upon change of ownership.
* Abolish state run employee unions.
* Start building 5 new nuclear reactors.
* Fire everyone at the state level involved environmental protection and replace them with reasonable people with common sense, and reduce their authority and scope to that of simple advisers/consultants.
* Terminate or recall the government of the state, and hold an new election with the new state spending/budget limits in place, such as making it law that state budgets and state spending must stay within strict limits, never exceeding tax revenues. Implement immediate moratorium on state borrowing and spending across the board.
* Effective immediately, the state Legislature is now part time, only meeting 6 weeks per year. They can go back to the private sector for employment.
These and a few other measures are all needed, not only for California, but *all* states.
Government at all levels must be reminded who they work for, but unfortunately, these people, their government unions and the corrupt super wealthy well connected insiders are so entrenched, it may never happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.