Posted on 06/06/2009 10:04:47 AM PDT by SmithL
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday disputed claims that illegal immigrants caused California's $24.3 billion deficit, while he praised their economic contributions and said he is "happy" they have access to services.
The Republican governor, answering wide-ranging questions from The Bee's editorial board and its readers, also vented about roadblocks to his authority posed by political foes and warned that government can't sustain the current level of "unbelievable benefits" for public-sector workers.
In response to dozens of questions from readers who say the state ought to wipe out the deficit by eliminating services for illegal immigrants, the governor said it is a "myth" that those immigrants are to blame.
He said the cost of services to illegal immigrants, which has been estimated at $4 billion to $5 billion annually, is a "small percentage" of the deficit California faces.
"Yes, it is something that ought to be dealt with, but the fact of the matter is, I think it's an easy scapegoat for people to point the finger and say, 'Our budget is out of whack because of illegal immigrants.' "
"It's not," he added. "Our budget is out of whack because we have self-inflicted wounds that the Legislature and this state has never really sat down and had the will to go and make the necessary changes that have to be made."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
**Boot them out now and (mathematically) we can ...**
Spend all that and more, saving the polkadotted Kangaroo Fish, or the PURPLE Dogearedfire bird, or some 2 inch smelt that the local fish wont even eat.
Save California for what... get us leases of land thru to the COAST, then give the rest back to Mexico.. If they are still dumb enough to WANT IT.
The drag factor, on our economy, education, law enforcement, and services, is enormous.
Four billion/year?? Bull. So illegals build the buildings and pick the crops. And I assume they are paid for this work, Ahnold. So why don’t they pay for healthcare, food, clothing, housing.....Oops, sorry. I forgot. They are too IMPORTANT to pay for such trivialities. You know, like virtually all democrats!
A billion here, a billion there. Pretty soon it adds up to REAL money!
how can it only be 4-5 billion when the cost to L.A. county for medical care to illegals alone is over 1 billion?
This is the same governor that signed AB 32 limiting the production of “greenhouse gases” in the state that supposedly cause “global warming”. So illegal aliens contributing to 20% of California’s annual deficit is insignificant but the unproven effect of Californians on the Earth’s atmosphere is so large that it must be acted upon immediately. Go figure.
I am gravely disappointed in this governor.
But, game on. Somehow, somewhere, this state must cut $24.3 billion in expenses, or find a way to borrow that money/sneak in more taxes. This should all play out in the next month . . but the legislature in this state does not have the cojones to cut anything.
Quagmire.
DO NOT believe the illegals only use $$ billion in services. The cost is over $10 billion annually. Arnold is lying.
$4-5 billion/year huh? I wonder who came up with that number? Regardless, accepting this figure as accurate, the cumulative effect of this problem over the past 10 years adds up to 40-50 billion dollars and, over the next 10 years it will add up to another 40-50 billion dollars (more probably considering the inflation we’re creating) so, we’re up to a 100 billion dollars now Arnold. Not exactly chump change. That’s 10% of a trillion dollars to nourish a bunch of parasites who need to go fu**ing home when they’re done picking grapes or whatever. And don’t even get me started on their effect on the US standard of living and wages.
The cost to education 7.7B. No one in California wants to talk about that.
"...the current fiscal cost outlays for the illegal alien population in California are now approaching $13.1 billion annually..."
Now, where are you hiding the budget surplus,, hmmmmm??
Our illegitimate political system just doesn’t have the heart to tell us that they are importing millions of low-skilled young immigransrs in a despearte holding action against the impending collapse of SS/Medicare. For years I used to think that if Americans knew the truth, they would riot. They won’t. They’re sheep. Fatten em up, slaughter em. Yee haa.
Schwarzenegger is really a pretty leftist Rino, isn’t he?
reduce health costs,
reduce cost of services
reduce crime and associated costs
reduce cost of education
etc.
that would be a good start to balancing the budget if the government only had the intestinal fortitude to do it!!!
For a Governor, Arnold or his dedicated staff are dramatically underestimating the cost of illegal aliens to the State of California. Here's a 2004 US Government article proclaiming the amount to be substantially more than that:
Illegal immigration costs California over TEN BILLION annually
Dateline: December, 2004 In hosting America's largest population of illegal immigrants, California bears a huge cost to provide basic human services for this fast growing, low-income segment of its population. A new study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) examines the costs of education, health care and incarceration of illegal aliens, and concludes that the costs to Californians is $10.5 billion per year.
Wait till I get my family out please!
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