Posted on 05/05/2008 6:53:43 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Taxpayers increasingly are told that state government is going broke, and vital services must be drastically slashed unless new taxes are imposed.
Here's the truth: Even with tax revenue falling below projections, even in an economic downturn, state government will have more money to spend next year than it has this year – about a billion dollars more, ...
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It bears repeating: Sacramento will have more money to spend next year than it had this year.
This is vital because Democratic legislators insist taxpayers must make greater sacrifices, even though every dollar counts more than ever for most Californians as the economy hovers just above recession. ...
A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, released last week, found the economy to be Californians' top concern – 36 percent of those polled. By comparison, 12 percent ranked education and schools as their top concern. Nevertheless, we can expect Sacramento Democrats to whip up support for tax increases by emphasizing concern for schools and downplay Californians' greater economic concerns.
We believe the public is smart enough to see through the scare tactics, and to realize tax increases would be only a further drag on the economy.
--snip--
The only reason to increase taxes, Mr. Villines said, would be to continue to expand government programs. Assembly Republicans propose to fund schools with more money than they received this year, without raising taxes, by making cuts in other state programs.
We find this far more palatable – and fairer – than imposing new taxes to feed a bloated state government that Mr. Villines says already has increased its revenue 32 percent in four years.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
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It bears repeating. It is called socialism.
We believe the public is smart enough to see through the scare tactics, and to realize tax increases would be only a further drag on the economy.
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yet , many of these same voters will also elect and re-elect more of the same socialists. One helluva note.
If I weren’t afraid of getting into trouble with the moderators I’d say something like “If Sacramento were a smoking hole in the ground this state would be better off!”, except that I wouldn’t say that because I don’t want to get into trouble.
My recommendation is hundreds or thousands of auditors go through every State-run program (California) including the schools and the government to expose all the fraud and corruption. IMO, millions, perhaps, billions are being swallowed up by graft and corruption. Same goes for all Federal programs. The American taxpayers are being cheated out of billions of dollars on the state and federal level and no one cares.
they need to reverse comrade gov brown’s unionization of all state employees.
If you consistently spend more than you take in, it's inevitable.
If you hide the items being spent on, the doofus loser teachers can whine about the "children!"
Finally, if you push current expenses forward (and pay interest for the priviledge), eventually the piper wins.
The author of this piece evidently learned math in Californica, too.
Please, please cut some of these useless programs.
Those poor pitiful citizens. They don’t realize that it is TOO LATE in California. It is AGAINST THE LAW to fail to increase spending....with mandated spending it MUST increase, by LAW, or people will go to JAIL. It cannot now be changed - it is too late.
As the demographics continue to change with time it seems inevitable that the state will move further and further to the left.
The state wasn’t going broke, but when property taxes went up from high sales prices, they irrationally grew their budget and state employees.
Give no raises for three years. Fire 80 percent of the new positions created in state government and we will be in a surplus.
Good idea.
Starve the beast.
State health programs and increasingly elaborate buerocracy at all levels is responsible for this.
A state manager’s solution to any problem is to hire an “expert” to take care of it. These experts then call meetings with other experts and they all generate nifty reports showing that, guess what, that more experts need to be hired.
The FBI tried for years to get Willie Brown on corruption. Failed miserably.
The past five years they been tryin' to get pistol packin' Don Perata. Still need more time to get an indictment.
Not that these traitors aren't corrupt, it's that they are world class at it.
The only way to save California is to drive all the employers, producers and taxpayers out of the state, and let the unions discuss who "gets" among themselves.
I do not doubt that fraud and corruption are substantial, the budget will not be balanced by this emphasis. Fraud and corruption is an easy target. It provides an illusion that the budget does not have structural problems.
Public employee pensions and services to illegal aliens are good places to start. The retirement age should be raised to 65. Reduced benefits should be provided to retirements at earlier ages. The defined benefit pension plan should be eliminated for new hires. All services except federally mandated services should be stopped for illegal aliens.
Beyond these areas, all areas of welfare spending and income redistribution should be carefully studied. All benefits should be time limited with work requirements. No benefits for able bodied people without work requirements.
Cutting spending is not enough. Growth related policies must replace the punishing socialism. The state income tax should be cut by 50%. Capital gains and dividend taxes should reduced.Environmental regulations, especially those unique to California, should be studied and eliminated in many cases. Restrictions against power generation must be eliminated.
With a combination of reduced taxes, regulatory reform, and reduced spending on non essential services, California can florish.
As long as California remains a haven of Liberal wackjobs, it will never flourish. Liberals will destroy California as well as the nation.
Centuries ago, it went by the name of "mercantilism." In some foreign States, it falls under the guise of "theocracy." And, here in the USA, some politicians call it "the common good."
In every case, the problem is a small group of busybodies (elites) who believe that individuals are not qualified to make decisions for themselves and that central planning of some sort should be implemented to create heaven on Earth. (Occasionally religion is used as justification for such planning.) But, in every case, the results are always the same.
I’m trying to remember what it is about Mr. Villines that makes me distrust his conservatism...
He has had a lapse or two but overall, he is ackerman and maybe a little more conservative-wise. stopping tax hikes will be the real test and who caves first.
he is ackerman and maybe a little more conservative-wise.
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not that that says much about ackerman. he held ground in any areas but also had a lapse or two.
Not real photogenic like the GUb or Tom, could have been a little more vocal.
Thanks for the review and analysis!
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