California budget talks collapse

Examiner.com ^ | 3/7/2011 | Joe Alfieri

[JoeA]

The five Republican state senators who have been negotiating with California’s Democratic Governor Jerry Brown have thrown in the towel, declaring that the talks have reached an impasse. In a letter from the five to the governor that was released today, the senators said that Brown had engaged them in talks in a serious manner, but that it was clear he was unable to get what they called “other stakeholders” to agree to reforms necessary to “create jobs, require responsible state spending, eliminate abusive pension practices, and implement meaningful governmental reforms.” The state faces a shortfall of over $25 billion, and Brown, in his second stint in the governor’s office, is proposing a combination of budget cuts and tax increases and tax extensions to close the gap.

[Logical me]

Like the Federal Government, California is toast. Unless they can steal more from the taxpayers they will never overcome the deficit. The more they steal and the more they give to buy voters the closer we will slide into a third world State.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I think an “out” to the pension fight is soon going to materialize.

The States are legally obligated to pay those pensions. However, they are under no restrictions about how much they can *tax* those pensions.

That is, “Okay, fine. We will give you your $200,000 pension, because we have to. But we’re going to raise the taxes on your pension to 80%, so it will be just the same as if your pension was only $40,000.”

[television is just wrong]

well, this was our choices given.