Posted on 07/30/2011 11:33:34 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Washington -- California gets $79 billion a year from the federal government - nearly 40 percent of what it spends. The money goes to everything from highways to universities. So when the federal government sneezes, California catches a cold.
Washington's frantic debt-ceiling negotiations are about to let loose a $1 trillion-plus sneeze.
The cuts headed California's way are unknown as yet, because no deal has been reached in Washington to increase the debt ceiling and prevent the Treasury from running out of cash to pay its bills Tuesday.
But it is obvious from the cuts revealed so far in Democratic and Republican plans that "there are going to be a lot of them," said state Treasurer Bill Lockyer.
"If we reduce the deficit at the federal level, it's going to increase deficits at the state level," said Vin Weber, a former Republican member of Congress and GOP consultant. "That's not the objective of people, but it's going to happen, and they all know it." Spending slashed
California already has slashed spending to reduce its own deficits and will have to cut more if federal funds dry up. The state now spends $208.5 billion a year, $79 billion of it from the federal government. It receives roughly 10 percent of what the federal government spends each year.
...
The basic outlines of the various plans would cut federal spending by roughly $1 trillion over 10 years. All the plans have ruled out additional tax revenue and cuts to the big entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They save these for a bipartisan super committee of Congress to find an additional $1.8 trillion in savings, through tax and entitlement reforms.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
With the federal government “cuts” do not mean less than last year.
I sure hope they don’t cut education. Our school performance will go in the toilet. /s
Which in real life means an $8.5 trillion spending increase because of baseline budgeting.
which means they’ll have the requisite majority to raise taxes at will
And who is to blame for that? The idiots that live and Vote in CA.
Cut the spending, idiots!
"Cut" merely means a reduction in the RATE OF INCREASE in federal spending. Spending will continue apace, albeit slightly slower, until the inevitable day of reckoning arrives.
I really do not understand why anyone with the means to do so hasn’t escaped from Kalaipornia yet.
So true. A freeze on spending would have to be scored as a 7 trillion dollar cut in Washington. Anything less than $7t cut is actually an increase - as in the debt ceiling ‘cuts’ of one trillion (or less) that still may not get passed.
It makes me want to puke.
It’s been reported that Mexico now has a 4.5% unemployment rate compared to CA’s 9.8%. Looks like a lot of possible work in Mexico.
If I were in CA, instead of pushing to get more federal dollars coming my way, I would be trying to have less taxes go to Uncle Sam. Wouldn't this be a more effective way to "balance the scales"?
No, California taxes Citizens and sends the money to DC, and DC sends money back to the parasites of California
California can always re-open the offshore wells, pump some oil, and get more money and jobs
That may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back regarding folks moving out of the state.
That's like saying "poor haircut could ruin Helen Thomas' looks."
"Immigration has replaced the interstate migration of U.S. natives as the principal component of growth in California’s population...from 1940 to 1970, immigration accounted for less than 10 percent of the state’s growth; but since 1970, that figure has risen to almost 50 percent. What Figure 3.1 does not show is the extent to which persons born in California (i.e., natives) are the children of immigrants. When they are included, immigration becomes responsible for about 67 percent of California’s growth over the last 25 years."
Immigration Has Changed the Face of California’s Population
Thus, while we could elect conservatives like Ronald Reagan (1967-75), when immigration finally tipped the scales, California was done for...who sets immigration policy? The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Stop blaming us for a blight we didn't invite. You want to understand the genesis of the breakdown? Start here:
The 1965 Immigration Act: Anatomy of a Disaster
Well, the people we were meeting were abandoning their house and belongings. Isn't that robbery enough? Of course not there were tons of abandoned homes sitting idle after their copper and anything else of slight value is taken by the local looters.
It's the big looters, the politicians, who had destroyed this once lush paradise. Corruption, high taxes, regulation and Marxism destroys everything it comes in contact with. The politicians blamed the "rich", "big business", "exploiters" and then "hoarders" for their collapsing economy.
Who was left to blame? Capitalists? Refuseniks?, political opposition parties? Christians? Gringo's?
I still didn't understand why the Gundersons hadn't left before. How could they have missed the signs? It's been heading this way for decades. Some people are too hopeful for their own good.
Finally I was in the right area and my half-blacked out headlights illuminated the small copes of trees and bushes that were our designated pick-up spot. Sure enough little Lucy Gunderson, cluthing her teddy bear, was the first one I spotted.
I jumped out of the jeep. "Time to move. We have to get over the border before daybreak"
Mr. and Mrs. Gunderson came out from behind the bushes but they had someone else with them. A young hispanic male who looked unsure.
"Who is this? I thought we agreed no extra passengers?" I demanded
"This is Julio, he has no parents. He's was working for us for a while before we had to close the shop and then we kept him around the house doing chores. He's a hard worker, we can't leave him in this place!" Mr. Gunderson told me "He isn't like them"
"We don't have time for this. If he can fit in the jeep, then fine. Whatever. Let's get out of here" I said and began helping Lucy and Julio and Mr. Gunderson into the back while Mrs. Gunderson and her bad hip seatbelted herself into the passenger seat.
"If everything goes well, you will be out of this nightmare in two hours. You'll be free again" I explained "Until you guys get back on your feet you can stay at my ranch in Texas or with others, it's your choice of course"
I gunned the engine and moved the bunch of us as fast I could for the border. Most of the border checkpoints were along the roads and highways, they usually didn't patrol the rest in the dark.
Before we got across the line, though, there were headlights behind us. We were being chased. Mrs. Gunderson was praying, Lucy was crying. Mr. Gunderson and Julio had looks of grim determination on their faces. Me, I just made a mad dash for freedom.
There weren't any gunshots. The truck behind us had stopped and soon I figured out why. We had done it. I found the nearest road and then highway. I glanced back in the distance as the sun peeked over the horizon.
I could see a sign in the distance, near the armed border post. It said:
Welcome to California. Paradise.
"The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." ...... Margaret Thatcher
No methadone available to break this vicious circle, and the only choice left is to force states like Kallyfornea to go cold turkey and figure things out for themselves. It might require abandoning large sections of LA for a while, but that’s not too big of a loss...
There has to be a halt to this spending madness one way or another, and if it takes crashing the whole thing to the ground and starting over, then I say start yanking out more of those Jenga blocks, and try to keep clear of falling debris...
Remember Prop 187?
California’s chickens are coming home to roost.
Nobody ever comments on my stories. lol. So sad.
However, this should put states on notice to get their fiscal houses in order.
California acts like the irresponsible people who depend on getting overtime pay to meet their basic needs.
When there's a boom economy it raises spending to match and when the economy falters, union thug special interests, particularly in education, demand higher taxes to match those boom-time spending levels even though those higher taxes put a drag on the economy. It's foolhardy and no way to run a government.
If federal dollars make up 40% of the budget, the state is clearly not independent in policy decisions because federal dollars always come back with strings attached.
Just image, Democrats, if instead of sending all your taxes to the Feds to be laundered and returned to your state disproportionate to what was paid, a bigger portion of your total tax burden went directly to your state! That is "10th Amendment" thinking.
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