[Amerigomag]

I have no disagreement with the basic thrust of your presentation but what troubles me is Schwarzenegger's pattern of deferring legal obligations, in this case to education, through borrowing rather than a simple reduction in spending in other areas.

$10B is a less than a 10% reduction in the existing budget. That reduction could be accomplished without violating the letter or spirit of Prop 98.

Also troubling is the often proposed, Schwazrenegger administration, magic elixir of reducing subsidies to local (county) government to accomplish reductions in state spending. The reciprocal of subsidy reductions, suspension of state mandates, is so obvious that an undisclosed agenda is suggested.

This repetitive pattern also presents the irony that state funds used for these "rebates" to local government are derived from local taxes, principally property taxes, which have been increasingly diverted from local government by the Schwarzenegger administration.

[FairOpinion]

"That reduction could be accomplished without violating the letter or spirit of Prop 98."

===

Oh, so you think that Prop. 98 is a great idea -- requiring that no matter how much money is actually needed or taken in, there is a guaranteed funding for schools, which amounts to some 35-40% of the budget?

Also, why do you find it troubling, that Arnold doesn't want to subsidize local governments?

Oh, and you call yourself a conservative...

I don't know whether I should laugh or cry.