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California Now Has So Much Money Coming In That It Doesn't Know What To Do With It
Business Insider ^ | 5-26-2013 | Rob Wile

Posted on 05/26/2013 9:18:53 PM PDT by blam

California Now Has So Much Money Coming In That It Doesn't Know What To Do With It

Rob Wile
May 26, 2013, 10:05 PM

California now has so much projected revenue that Sacramento legislators don't what to do with it, The New York Times' Adam Nagourney reports.

The final budget surplus figure for 2014 will fall somewhere between $1.2 and $4.4 billion, depending on who's counting.

"An unexpected surplus is fueling an argument over how the state should respond to its turn of good fortune," writes Nagourney.

Just three years ago, of course, the state was running a $60 billion deficit.

The surplus is almost certainly the result of wealthy Californians trying to bank capital gains before the Bush tax cuts expired, Nagourney says.

But however it got there, state officials are already bickering over whether the money should be set aside or used to revive mothballed programs.

Read the full report on NYTimes.com

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: debt; economy; surplus; taxes
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To: ApplegateRanch
It is what comes of years of the press and politicians working to conflate "debt" and "deficit" in public mind.

Now that I have looked up the word conflate I agree with you.

21 posted on 05/26/2013 9:51:50 PM PDT by gunsequalfreedom (Conservative is not a label of convenience. It is a guide to your actions.)
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To: blam

NY has started ad campaigns, from Buffalo, no less.

If California had money they could start with paying back the hospitals for the medical bills their beloved Illegals racked up instead of expecting its citizens to pay along with their insurers.

But Cali has no more money than NY.


22 posted on 05/26/2013 9:52:50 PM PDT by stanne (en short on them especialcsly in today's world of politi)
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To: blam

If there really is a surplus, they should give taxpayers a REBATE, like they used to do in the before time.


23 posted on 05/26/2013 9:55:46 PM PDT by Selene
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To: gunsequalfreedom
It was not long ago that California was facing a $24 billion deficit. That was a big problem. People might be opposed to the way Brown solved that giant problem but there is no denying he solved it.

You are so trusting.
These are projected surpluses. Nothing is proved to have been solved yet.

24 posted on 05/26/2013 10:07:20 PM PDT by FreedomOfExpression
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To: blam

I suppose returning it to the taxpayers is out of the question?


25 posted on 05/26/2013 10:09:08 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: blam

Projected based on rosy estimates of no more businesses leaving, no more sane citizens getting displaced by illegales, etc.?


26 posted on 05/26/2013 10:13:18 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (How long before all this "fairness" kills everybody, even the poor it was supposed to help???)
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To: blam

This is so not true.


27 posted on 05/26/2013 10:21:13 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: blam
I didn't read the article, but one suspects that the gains are very temporary, if not illusory.

1. IIRC, many folks sold issues at a profit, before cap gains tax increased. So there are some time-limited proceeds from this.

2. Higher tax rates on millionaires brought in more money, only because it takes a while for the 1 percenters to sell and move.

3. and I think I read that the chinese are buying property here in the once-golden state (please correct if I'm in error), so there is a stimulatory effect from that.

.

28 posted on 05/26/2013 10:25:59 PM PDT by Seaplaner (Never give in. Never give in. Never...except to convictions of honour and good sense. W. Churchill)
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To: blam

I have an idea, pay some of your bills.
I don’t believe any of this BS anyways.

How’s that pension problem going CA?


29 posted on 05/26/2013 10:26:49 PM PDT by mowowie
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To: blam

Now they will spend 6 Billion dollars that they don’t have yet and will NEVER have.
That is how these people operate.


30 posted on 05/26/2013 10:28:54 PM PDT by mowowie
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To: blam

If California has a surplus, then I’ve been lied to. Not only in conservative media, but right here on this board.I don’t see how it’s possible, and I’m sure something is being left out, such as pension programs, city bankruptcies etc. But, it had better materialize, or we’re full of shit.


31 posted on 05/26/2013 10:37:18 PM PDT by Greenpees (Coulda Shoulda Woulda)
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To: blam

Do they know you have to subtract the expenditures line from the receipts line?


32 posted on 05/26/2013 10:39:46 PM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: FreedomOfExpression
I agree. This is like a family who is 300K in debt winning a $100 scratch off lottery ticket.

Yeah, lets go out for dinner!

But dad, our lights are being shut off, and the water, too!

I SAID we're going out for dinner! Alert the press.

33 posted on 05/26/2013 10:45:39 PM PDT by boop ("You don't look so bad, here's another")
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To: blam

“It doesn’t know what to do with it”

Oh I think we know what they plan to do: gin-up their budget requests.


34 posted on 05/26/2013 10:53:17 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: All armed conservatives.)
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To: blam
California Now Has So Much Money Coming In That It Doesn't Know What To Do With It

Well, a rational government would pay down it's debt and return some money to overburdened taxpayers. But this is California.
35 posted on 05/26/2013 11:06:18 PM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: exDemMom; blam
You have missed the relevant quote in the article.

The surplus is almost certainly the result of wealthy Californians trying to bank capital gains before the Bush tax cuts expired, Nagourney says.

36 posted on 05/26/2013 11:55:26 PM PDT by staytrue
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To: gunsequalfreedom; freekitty
You have missed the relevant quote in the article.

The surplus is almost certainly the result of wealthy Californians trying to bank capital gains before the Bush tax cuts expired, Nagourney says.

37 posted on 05/26/2013 11:56:16 PM PDT by staytrue
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To: FreedomOfExpression
You are so trusting. These are projected surpluses. Nothing is proved to have been solved yet.

I am not so trusting that I don't think there is a very serious fiscal problem facing California and the country. But objectively, the deficit in California is down. The last I heard it was down to a $1 billion deficit so this article came as a bit of a surprise that there is a surplus.

It is not a matter of trust. It is a matter of looking at the numbers. There is still a very serious problem as I think everyone on FR will agree. This forum, however, is not about politics. It is a place where conservatives discuss issues among themselves and come up with the right answer.

The question is this: Has the California defict dropped from $24 billion to $1 billion or even a surplus?

38 posted on 05/27/2013 12:52:01 AM PDT by gunsequalfreedom (Conservative is not a label of convenience. It is a guide to your actions.)
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To: blam

California?

Saw it off and let it float ‘round the Horn to Argentina!


39 posted on 05/27/2013 1:03:23 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: staytrue
The surplus is almost certainly the result of wealthy Californians trying to bank capital gains before the Bush tax cuts expired, Nagourney says.

That is certainly a relevant sentence and I did miss it. But, the effect is the same. The deficit was reduced.

The relevant question now is the surplus going to balloon again with the deficit being the result of a one time influx of cash that does not represent the true picture?

Thanks for pointing out that sentence. It adds considerably to the conversation.

40 posted on 05/27/2013 1:06:42 AM PDT by gunsequalfreedom (Conservative is not a label of convenience. It is a guide to your actions.)
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