Posted on 06/22/2009 5:06:22 AM PDT by reaganaut1
In Hawaii, state employees are bracing for furloughs of three days a month over the next two years, the equivalent of a 14 percent pay cut. In Idaho, lawmakers reduced aid to public schools for the first time in recent memory, forcing pay cuts for teachers.
And in California, where a $24 billion deficit for the coming fiscal year is the nation’s worst, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed releasing thousands of prisoners early and closing more than 200 state parks.
Meanwhile, Maine is adding taxes on candy and ski tickets, Wisconsin on oil companies, and Kentucky on alcohol and cellphone ring tones.
With state revenues in a free fall and the economy choked by the worst recession in 60 years, governors and legislatures are approving program cuts, layoffs and, to a smaller degree, tax increases that were previously unthinkable.
All but four states must have new budgets in place less than two weeks from now — by July 1, the start of their fiscal year. But most are already predicting shortfalls as tax collections shrink, unemployment rises and the stock market remains in turmoil.
“These are some of the worst numbers we have ever seen,” said Scott D. Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, adding that the federal stimulus money that began flowing this spring was the only thing preventing widespread paralysis, particularly in the areas of education and health care. “If we didn’t have those funds, I think we’d have an incredible number of states just really unsure of how they were going to get a new budget out.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
And will anything happen if they have furloughs and no one notices?
Will they come to understand that there are too many gubmint employees?
Waste, the best thing any government does.
No, no! GASP! Cut the gubmint? No! The only solution is higher taxes. And everybody wants to pay higher and higher taxes to keep the gubmint safe, right? Who will support the illegal aliens, the people on graft, the corrupt politicians, and the welfare queens if we don’t, right?
Riiiiiight.
I really hate the new yawk slimes, God forgive me.
Perhaps if government stopped all of the nanny state programs, they could conduct the business of the people?
And schools?
Stick to the life skills, reading, writing, math, history, science.
High Schools do NOT need FOUR PAGES of electives to prepare students with the foundation for marketable skills!
Save THAT for college, when they’re not tempted to find the easiest path to a high GPA.
Maybe the states (especially NC) need to take a lesson from their precious unions. LIFO...,last in first out for both employees and programs. If the program was enacted last year, cut it this year. I don’t mean make it smaller, I mean eliminate it. We made it for a couple hundred years without it, we can do without it now. Keep cutting until you get it balanced then cut a few more.
To give a good example, states with budget woes will not suspend matching goobermint retirement fund / 401K as some private companies have already done.
If one has the ability to go over any of the budgets, they would discover the useless money pits, not ot mention hundreds of millions being spent to support illegals and their families and all the goobermint employee 'retreat' / 'fact finding' perks states are still support.
Of course politics comes into play and elimination of 'nice' social programs hasn't been done anywhere as far as I've read/heard.
, So, IMHO, all the media hype about the states' money problems is pure runny, smelly, steaming BS. Why? Because they still will not (nor will they) do away with their 'nice' social programs nor remove illegals and their children from the public dole.
'It fo da chidlrenz', my a$$.
support = supporting
The Dims and many GOP'ers in goobermint will not eliminate wasteful spending programs as to pare down to the necessities.
NC gets $6 billion from Obammy and still comes up short $4.5 billion out of the $22 billon state budget.....what the heck gives? My guess is the goobermint cone heads this year missed NC's budget from 25%-45% as far as revenue versus outlay.
That in of itself plus some privy inside info (the guv's office) tells me our economy is much much much worse off than 'they' are letting on.
It's not the NC's responsibility to raise the children (feed the poor children, maybe). Therefor, the state could save a wad by getting rid of Head Start and many other programs, not to mention eliminating kindegarten as a requirement for the public school system.
Don't even get me started about the waste in our public school systems.....NCSU's recent fiasco is a prime example of the public being ripped off.
Wouldn't I like to make $150K / year teaching only one 1.5hr class a week and that class is fishing.
NC goobermint spending has outpaced population and real state economic growth by about 2:1 the last 12 years.....give me a fricking break, pleeeeze.
I have a couple of ideas.
You work every day for thirty years? Mazel Tov. We shouldn’t be giving you tax payer money for every day you “didn’t take off.” Cut.
You haven’t taken a vacation in thirty years? Not my fault. We shouldn’t be giving you tax payer money for every vacation you “didn’t take.” Cut.
You’re an illegal alien? Bye bye. But please come back to the USA ater you get your papers in order and immigrate here legally. However, since you are in this country illegally and you are sending money back to wherever you came from, there is a 28% fee for sending money out of country.
Funny you mention head-start and kindergarten. When I was writing my post I was thinking of easley’s ‘more at 4’ program specifically.
Why doesn’t Ahnold make his state a big time oil producer by drilling on and off shorea and then mine the extensive surface deposits there, all while using the better technology in fuel formulation, refining and production that the big boys are avoiding like the plague? Nahh, that would be to easy. How’s it going, driving down all those hydrogen highways?
It always amazes me that many of us conservatives — you two gents included — don’t realize there are other alternatives than cutting government or increasing taxes.
How you ask? First, I’m a California, so I’m especially sensitive to this issue.
The answer is to relax environmental laws — muzzle the lefties — fire first the greens in Government.
If the state allowed oil drilling off the coast, California would reap billions per year in oil revenues. Call it a tax if you will, but the oil industry is accustomed to paying a state royalty — they do it in Alaska all the time.
Also, relax environmental regulations so companies will build plants here. Oil refineries, desalination plants, nuclear power plants, manufacturing plants. Just change the law and the money will flow in. There is a third alternative to raising taxes and cutting benefits.
To learn more, check out the website of US Senate candidate Chuck DeVore.
People should not even be paying taxes because town,city and state governments have been fleecing the public for years via hidden assets and are making massive profits.They should be sending taxpayers dividend checks every quarter.Check out cafr on google and just read how the people are being fleeced.BTW,you can read the report on the audit of the fed that Walter did up until 2008.
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