Posted on 11/01/2005 12:18:22 AM PST by caryatid
BATON ROUGE, La. -- With Louisiana facing a nearly $1 billion budget deficit because of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gov. Kathleen Blanco's plans to slash $300 million in state spending -- the maximum she is allowed by law -- will be detailed Friday to lawmakers.
(Excerpt) Read more at wwltv.com ...
Me-Maw Alert
They could easily hit this target, $300 million dollar number, if they just laid off the members of Blanco's and Landrieu's families that are receiving government paychecks.
Well said.
A funny quip but not true.
It is going to get brutal down here.
I disagree. Louisiana will recover more quickly with fewer hangers-on in their "gubment".
Blanco was slow to evacuate. Now she's slow to confront the revenue shortfall.
She's always 3 months too late.
I dunno,,doesn't look like that to me.
I could be mistaken,but I have never heard a hint that the Louisiana state government payroll was full of Blanco, or Landrieu family members. Mitch Landrieu is Lt. Governor,but he was elected to that position in 2003.
Yes it's going to get rough here. We lost a lot of money in the past couple of months.
Do you live here?
If you did you would see hundreds of owners of small businesses in NO and surrounding parishes out of business, out of homes, in their fifties and starting over. Tourism will be dead in NO for a couplf of years at least.
People are out of jobs that won't be back for a long time. The professionals will relocate. The tax base is bad for a long time.
It isn't a case of a bunch of civil servants who lost or will lose jobs.
Many of us hope for the best ... but fear the worst. Anyone who keeps in touch with friends from N.O./LA, and/or has housed grieving Katrina evacuees, understands that it will, indeed, get worse before it gets better.
I think that a lot of the outrageous indifference I am seeing expressed has more to do with contempt for public officials than it does for the plight of the people themselves ... even though those same people elected the corrupt/incompetent officials.
On a bright, beautiful All Saints day like today, it is easy to sit back comfortably, with one's feet up, having a second cup of coffee, and post a smart remark.
The reality for many of the folks in LA is that they have lost everything ... including the hassock to put their feet up on, the coffeemaker and even the cup ... I hope that all will take a moment to say a prayer for the peace of mind of folks in LA ... and for their recovery from their losses.
I was thinking about it. The Gov is into the rainy day fund, I think I read 150 million is available for her. But the predicted shortfall come January is a billion!
What have you been hearing. I am hearing 25 percent cuts across the board for everything including education.
That seems impossible to me. I know state people who are already furloughed in wildlife and fisheries.
She seems to like using the incremental approach to public adminsitration in crisis situations.
OUCH! That is going to hurt. I haven't heard much on the state level. I just know that it will take a while to get back on our feet.
(No, I don't live there; I live in Florida.) You mostly made my point for me. At a time when the tax base is bad, the government can ill afford to keep the payroll it had before Katrina.
less government is fine. What is happeniing here is an entire bunch of people, big numbers, have lost all and are looking to make new lives amidst sorrow. And now government paid workers, who are people too you know, not some metaphor to play with, are going to lose jobs. And most of those jobs are teachers, from kindergarten up thru high school. state troopers, people who are essential. the middle bureaucracy won't be laid off in my opinion. It will be people who are barely making it, secretaries, file clerks, etc.
I am not exactly salivating at those people on enemployment, unable to feed their families or make the rent or pay for their small mortgages.
When philosophy meets the kitchen table, and you are witness to what is about to come, and it is people you know,,,,political philosophy just doesn't make things feel good unless one is at a great distance.
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