Fiscal Triage Needed To Stop Red Ink (George "Slumberin" Skelton Pushes For Tax Increases Alert)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 12/17/2007 | George "Slumberin" Skelton

[goldstategop]

When you take a close-up look at the red ink gushing from the state Capitol, it becomes a very ugly sight.

For starters, the problem is worse than first thought.

Nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill last month projected a nearly $10-billion deficit spread over the current and next fiscal years. Then last week, reports leaked that the Schwarzenegger administration, with updated numbers, is projecting a $14-billion deficit. Actually, it's $14.5 billion.

Add to that some minimal reserve any prudent budget should include -- say, at least $1 billion -- and it's a $15.5-billion hole that must be filled next year.

Numbers change every week in Sacramento and nobody can really be sure of anything -- except that dramatic steps must be taken: steep spending cuts and/or unpopular tax increases.

The two Democratic leaders of the Legislature -- Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez of Los Angeles and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of Oakland -- already are calling for tax increases.

"I don't think the way you get out of this is simply do a poll and see what's popular with voters and what isn't," Nuñez told reporters. "This is a time for real leadership, for having real honest conversations with voters."

[goldstategop]

Real leadership to the liberal Los Angeles Times Sacramento Bureau Chief George "Slumberin" Skelton - means echoing the Democrat leadership's call for tax increases. Talk about triage - liberal-style. It means punishing average Californians' for the Tax n Spend Crowd's spending binge. Oh yeah and Skelton shows his bias by revealing how hard its to cut spending. California hasn't cut spending for years! The truth is the state has never had a revenue problem. Even the midget fools like Fabian Nunez and Don Perata know it. But no one is willing to admit the Republicans have been right all along. Dear ol' George like other liberals in California, lives with his head stuck firmly up his rear end.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Tulane]

The California Liberals: Building brighter economic futures for residents of Colorado, Nevada and Arizona one tax hike at a time.

Take a bow, California Democrats. Two of these desert wastelands couldn’t have done it without you.

[edcoil]

Arnold is calling an emergency on his budget. Pretty rich in that he is saying, he is completely unable to manage the states funds which are his Constitutional responsibility. He is announcing what most knew sometime ago.

He is an inept Governor.

[goldstategop]

The Democrats appropriate money. The good news in calling the special session is nothing can be done till the budget is fixed. And given the wide gap between them and the Republicans, that's a tall order, indeed.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[edcoil]

The governor is required to present a balanced budget - he has not done that.

Does anyone know, during the last standoff, he said he would line-item veto over 700 million in spending if republicans would just agree to the massive spending increases? Did he do it?

Arnold has spent more time telling Republican to just work with the left, never holding them accountable for anything. He caused this mess.

[goldstategop]

I'm not saying the Governor is off the hook. I'm glad he's on it. Now let's hear what his vision of California government is. The one preferred by the Democrats with endless deficit spending and a mammoth Sacramento bureaucracy that runs everything in sight and then some or the one most Republicans want, with balanced budgets and one that trusts the people to make their own decisions. Its not just a matter of math, its fundamentally about philosophy. For the last 50 years, everything in California has flown in the direction of ever bigger government. Its time to reverse the trend and restore to the people of California their God-given freedom.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[edcoil]

Funny, that is what Arnold said he was going to do -— until he got elected.

[Savage Beast]

Californians can raise taxes to 100% and they still will not be able to support Mexico.

And the morons who have taken California from unprecedented prosperity to financial disaster do not intend to limit California's resources to the support of Mexico. There's the rest of Latin America--and the rest of the world.

California cannot do it. It is impossible.

Marxism is not sustainable. Its ultimate result is financial ruin.

It's a matter of math. But the morons whose brains have been softened to incompetence by the Decadence that is the Left are incapable of math or logic or the comprehension of cause and effect. In fact, they scorn such higher workings of the human mind. To them intentions are all that matter.

Go ahead, nitwits. Raise taxes. Then raise them again. And yet again. Congratulate yourselves on your good intentions. And watch those good intentions pave the Road to Hell. It's already well paved, but these people refuse to learn from the past also, and insist on repeating history.

The Decadence that is the Left, is the most dangerous and destructive foe Western Civilization has ever faced. It threatens to destroy Western Civilization where religious perversion and fanatacism, religious wars, famines, ignorance, and the Black Plague failed.

[goldstategop]

George Skelton and the rest of the MSM are already telling Californians its impossible to cut spending and the government needs still more money. They could raise it to 100% but that still wouldn't address the fact California government spends more than it takes in. You'd have to put spending in line with revenue to get healthy budgets. But I'm talking common sense to people who think the problem is not that we have too much spending but rather, too little of it! They're the ones who live in a parallel universe.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Vet_6780]

There is nothing you can do.

It's called stagflation.

[OCCASparky]

Gawd I’m so glad I got out of there when I did.

[Lancey Howard]

Can’t wait to see what Arnold recommends.

[goldstategop]

Same here. The party is about to end and to hear ol' George say new taxes are needed is like an alcoholic saying the way to cure his drinking problem is to hit the bottle again.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus