[FairOpinion]

I think McClintock would serve the interests of California and those of Republican better, if he would come up with a list of suggested spending caps and cuts, instead of criticizing the bond measure, which is the ONLY solution, short of actually raising taxes, to tackle the budget problem.

Cutting $40B from the budget overnight is not even close to realistic.

McClintock reminds me of the anti-war people who have the "War is not the answer" bumper stickers, but they don't have a clue what IS the answer, if war isn't.

What is McClintock's solution? He is against raising taxes, is against the bond measure, does he think the Legislature or even the people would stand still for a $40B spending cut? It would end up as another "tax the rich" "solution", instead.

I personally think it would be very nice if someone did defeat McClintock in the primary. He is getting to be very tiresome -- again, as during the election, he is only helping the Dems.

[FairOpinion]

PING

McClintock is working on undermining Scharzenegger.

[The Old Hoosier]

I think McClintock would serve the interests of California and those of Republican better, if he would come up with a list of suggested spending caps and cuts

Done.

Need anything else?

[CWOJackson]

Sour grapes.

[CheneyChick]

It's just the LA Times trying to stir the poo-poo again. Yawn. I'm glad Arnold is the Governor. Very glad. Tom just misses all the attention.

[onedoug]

The measure is going to have to be accompanied by specific spending cuts. Otherwise, I, at least, will not vote for greater indebtedness.

[GOP_1900AD]

The straightforward, politically incorrect plan to fix the mess: 1) Immediately arrange an emergency meeting with Homeland Security to set up a special program to ID, round up and deport illegal aliens. 2) Work with the business community (both major corps and small businesses) to determine the 5 most important things hindering business and craft emergency legislation to deal with them. Set up a website geared particularly toward the small business community which summarizes all anti business positions being taken by specific legislators, naming names. The site would automatically email these summaries out to small businesspeople who subscribe. Business people would be encouraged to apply pressure to the Communists and to innundate them with mail and phone calls. 3) Disband the Coastal Commision. 4) Disband all agencies which are redundant with the Federal and Local levels - examples: Cal-OSHA (federally redundant), State Board of Education (locally redundant). 5) Defund all abortions. 6) Defund all non profit orgs. If a non profit is claiming tax exempt status then they should receive no tax revenue. 7) Tax all funds wired to Mexico by anyone who is not a Citizen or Green Card holder; anyone wiring funds to Mexico must show either a US Passport or Greencard at the wiring service in order to avoid the tax. State Board of Equalization to perform unannounced audits at wiring services with special focus on ones in Spanish speaking business communities. 8) Sell off state owned lands which are not currently used for watershed, active parks, or otherwise accessible to the public. Terminate all currently in process acquisitions of land by the state unless they are for building roads, airports and sea ports. 9) Vastly curtail the authority of the state PUC. Truly deregulate utilities. Make utility costs tax deductable / creditable for anyone with a demonstrated income below the poverty line. However, make energy saving improvements even more favorable deductions / credits for people under that same income line. 10) Make English the official language and stop all multilingual publishing of state forms, and documents. If you can't read English, too bad. It will create incentive for assimilation. Get over it.

[Poohbah]

The bond issue will not pass.

Schwarzenegger knows this, as does McClintock.

Even the Democrats oppose it, which is why they want to engage in more illegal financial shenanigans.

Methinks Schwarzenegger and McClintock are playing the Dems like a Stradivarius.

[familyofman]

Does this mark the official end of the honeymoon? Barely enough time to soil the sheets.

[BibChr]

...Tom McClintock ...[and] other Republicans interviewed Wednesday echoed concerns already raised by Burton and other Democrats....

Doesn't that say it all?

Dan

[river rat]

I propose a novel idea......Cut Spending!
- No tax increases
- No new taxes or fees
- No new borrowing.

Fire all State employees hired since a hiring freeze was "announced" and violated.
Freeze all State salaries, benefits and hiring.
Discontinue ALL non-salary perks to the legislature and their staff.
Identify eligible state jobs for sub-contract to the private NON-Union sector.
Cut EVERY Department's budget by 20% until a balanced budget is in place..
Eliminate each and every State Department/Commission/Committe/etc...that can not show an outside audited positive ROI to the State..
Stop all State Legislature checks until a balanced budget is implemented.

A SMALL BEGINNING.....

Semper Fi

[Sabertooth]

I think McClintock would serve the interests of California and those of Republican better, if he would come up with a list of suggested spending caps and cuts, instead of criticizing the bond measure, which is the ONLY solution, short of actually raising taxes, to tackle the budget problem.

Distinction without a difference.

Today's bond measures are tomorrow's tax increases.

I'm glad McClintock is voting against it. I will too. I vote against all bond measures.

Bond measures are the wiggle room politicians use to fund things voters would never approve. Money is fungible.

Ever notice why we only have bonds for schools, police, fire, and environmental spending? It's because voters wouldn't approve social spending. When you vote for any bond, you're giving the politicians license to spend and waste.

We're in our current predicament precisely because of earlier bond measures. Time for cold turkey.

While we're at it, let's get a proposition on the ballot requiring supermajorities for the passage of bond measures.

BTW, McClintock has a plan to balance the budget without taxes or bonds; it was in his campaign.

[CounterCounterCulture]

As usual you are full of crapola

We now return you to your idol worship

[Solamente]

"A deficit bond will not have my vote."

[TheAngryClam]

Tom standing up for fiscal conservatism again.

[P-Marlowe]

As long as the democrats remain in power in the legislature, nothing is going to get done. Our only hope is that this debt bond passes along with spending limits. Then come next november we can hopefully take over the legislature. If we cannot get control of the legislature, then California will have to go bankrupt.

Now there are a lot of positives to a bankruptcy. First of all if California goes bankrupt then all the state pension contracts and state employment contracts that are eating up more and more of our budget every year can be cancelled and renegotiated. The purse strings would be taken away from the hippie democrats and put in the hands of a receiver who would not be politically tied to any specific interests, so the receiver could make the necessary fiscal cuts that no politician would ever attempt.

[fourscore]

While I voted for Arnold, I did so without enthusiasm. McClintock is right about bonds. Arnold does not have the courage to make the kind of cuts necessary to solve the structural probelm in the deficit. Why? Because he is NOT a conservative. Arnold is better than Cruz, but Arnold is still pretty bad. Just wait and see. It will be curious to see how far some might go to defend Arnold, no matter what he does.

[truth_seeker]

Although I have contacted the McClintock led repeal of the car tax THREE TIMES, I still have not received petitions in the mail.

Twice by e-mail, and once by phone. The guy I talked to on the phone assured me the petitions would be out soon, but that was about three weeks ago.

McClintock is a small time operator. Can't run campaigns, can't raise funds, can't execute what his website promotes.

His agenda now is to assist Arnold's opponents, so he can gloat and say it could only work, if done Tom's way.

Small time.

[JoeSchem]

I think McClintock would serve the interests of California and those of Republican better, if he would come up with a list of suggested spending caps and cuts

I can't believe the incredible gall of you Gropemeister Worshipers. You're accusing McClintock of exactly what your guy is doing.

McClintock had such a list BEFORE the recall election. It was Schwarzenegger who declined to produce such a list and still hasn't done so.

The intellectual void here is really Schwarzenegger's. He thinks that selling bonds is different than borrowing money.

[jas3]

Cutting $40B from the budget overnight is not even close to realistic.

Too bad that you are probably right - it's not realistic. Although as a practical matter it wouldn't take me more than a couple hours to cut $40B.

[Publius6961]

I think McClintock would serve the interests of California and those of Republican better, if he would come up with a list of suggested spending caps and cuts, instead of criticizing the bond measure, which is the ONLY solution, short of actually raising taxes, to tackle the budget problem.

The California Constitution prohibits deficit spending.
This bond proposal is deficit spending by another name.
You would encourage anyone to support an illegal act? and to compound it into the indefinite future?

What's to prevent the out of control legislature from leaving the voter's no other choice every year?