California: How deep is budget hole? Deeper than politicos admit

Sacramento Bee ^ | March 21, 2004 | Dan Walters

[John Jorsett]

Everyone knows that California is in a deep fiscal crisis and has been running up multibillion-dollar budget deficits, which its politicians have covered over with an imaginative variety of bookkeeping gimmicks and on-and off-the-books loans.

But just how deep is our budgetary hole? The gimmicks make that a very difficult question to answer. Take, for instance, a trick involving the "net operating loss carryforward," which allows corporations to carry forward operating losses from one year into subsequent years to offset profits, thereby lowering their corporate tax bite.

[Drango]

and yet very little will change on the spending side. ~sigh

[nickcarraway]

ping

[xJones]

Did The Terminator step into a job possibly too big for even him?

[Enterprise]

DEEP

[hoot2]

"California: How deep is budget hole? Deeper than politicos admit "

if it gets any deeper; they're gonna finally find jimmy hoffa...

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

LOL

[jokar]

BTTT

[calcowgirl]

It's as if the accountants who advised Enron Corp. on overstating assets and revenues and hiding liabilities and expenses made their way to Sacramento to ply their tricky trade.

The state makes Enron look like amateurs.

[pointsal]

Heck, not one single sucker has been sacked from a state job.....Kalifornia is just plain BROKE.