Posted on 05/15/2023 6:30:44 AM PDT by george76
Recently, a witness at one of California’s reparations hearings demanded “where’s the money?” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement that the state miscalculated its deficit by $10 billion seems to answer that question. As his reparations Task Force demands as much as $1.2 million per eligible black resident, Newsom recently balked at cash payments. After years of using reparations as a political issue and insisting that such payments are a moral imperative, many are pushing back that this bill is now due. A card will just not do.
The new figure puts California’s debt at a towering $32 billion.
There are various contributors to the shortfall including a progressive tax system that makes revenues dependent on the income of wealthy taxpayers. When the stock market falls, revenues fall. There is also the mass exodus from the state of higher income citizens. Some are fed up with rising crime and taxes. It does not help when California publicly debates not just massive reparations payments but retroactive taxes for those who leave the state.
There are also now mass tech layoffs and a building recession.
Newsom expressed confidence that the state could handle the deficit and that is likely true. The state has a massive budget of $306 billion and he is looking at cuts. He has already scaled back funding for climate proposals to $48 billion, from $54 billion.
He also has a net reserve. However, just a year ago, Newsom was publicly celebrating a claimed budget surplus of $97 billion and said it was “simply without precedent.”
This year, Newsom admitted that the state would face a deficit of $22.5 billion, which he called “modest shortfall.”
Democrats are now calling for increasing taxes on large corporations and suspending a major business tax credit to raise new funds. Newsom is opposing those proposals.
The budget shortfall is massive, but so is California’s economy. The state also has a reported reserve fund, though this deficit would largely wipe out that fund of $37 billion and Newsom has vowed not to touch it.
The immediate political question is whether, after years of politicking on the issue, residents will be willing to take an IOU or non-cash “reforms” in lieu of reparation payments.
The longer term question is how to reverse the exodus of high-income citizens who are tired of rising tax and crime rates. While some in the media have pushed back by saying that the state has more people moving in than out, California and New York are losing higher earners who pay most of the taxes. Much of the difference is made up in foreign immigration.
Forbes put California as the state with the highest net loss of households followed by New York and Illinois. The Bay Area is one of the hardest hit.
I have always loved California where I spent much of my youth due to my grandparents living in Cherry Valley (near Riverside). I love the hiking and beautiful coasts. I believe that the state has the resources to pull out of this crisis, but I am increasingly concerned about the trajectory of the state. Across the board, California has the highest taxes in areas like gasoline and other necessities. At the same time, while Democrats continue to insist that the wealthy do not “pay their fair share,” the top 5 percent of high-income taxpayers in California pay 70 percent of personal income tax revenue.
Nationally, the top one percent of taxpayers pay 42 percent of all taxes.
That is why the exodus could prove a cascading problem for California. While Newsom has run ads attacking Florida, that state is exploding in population, including many high-income households.
How much tax will they pay on $1.2 million ? NUFFIN
Remember when Auntie Nanna steered BILLIONS in Covid funds to CA?
Where’d that money go, Greasy Gav?
The modern day 40 acres and a mule. I hope blacks can use this as a learning opportunity and that they are just being used by the left for their vote. The media loved covering the reparation hearings but now that the rug has been pulled out from under them, crickets from the media on the outrage from blacks.
It will be interesting to see what happens with reparations for slavery in California.
Newsom created this “task force” to study reparations for slavery. He did this in the summer of 2020, as a result of the liberal guilt over George Floyd.
So his commission comes back, and says we should pay out billions and billions.
Now he’s hesitant over actually paying reparations for slavery.
Well,the liberal and radical types will fight over this. Stay tuned.
Now, who really knows what a deficit actually is?
I can’t ask a woman. What is a woman?
History books are being altered to reflect a new and improved reality.
Up is down.... Don’t disagree with the narrative, you can be destroyed.
Get a clue.... Everything is going well. Improvements are everywhere.
I Wonder if after they get their million, they still qualify for food stamps, welfare, free housing, free phones, adjusted power bills, free medical??
I Wonder if after they get their million, they still qualify for food stamps, welfare, free housing, free phones, adjusted power bills, free medical??
Great analogy.
I’d love to have that “40 acres and a mule” about now...although few actually got that back then.
We are witnessing Cloward/Piven in real time in California, going just like planned.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloward–Piven_strategy (Sorry for using Wikipedia but their definition is right, or as close to correct as anything Wikipedia can do)
RE: Newsom Admits that California Deficit is Now Roughly $32 Billion
This is one of those few times when I personally wished that our Federal deficit would be only $32 Billion .... :(
Top farm land in Iowa is fetching $16K/acre, that’s $640,000 plus a mule. Not bad.
I have it on good authority that the real deficit figure for California is around $80bn.
Can you imagine if anyone wanted to give someone 40 acres and a mule today? Would they know how to work the farm and earn a living from farming?
Instead of giving them an IOU for reparations they should get an FU for reparations.
1) Promise them reparations
2) Increase the reparations amount so the putative recipients get real excited
3) Putative recipients vote for Democrats
4) Tell putative recipients that you are working on the financing of reparations
5) With elections approaching again, go to 1)
Weren’t they gloating about some surplus just a couple of years ago?
Okay, okay. That worked out pretty well in Zimbabwe, didn't it?
If you’re a democrat, it’s easy enough to miss ten billion bucks short of a load.
Newsom said of state government: “California is infamous for passing things and then waking up and saying, ‘What the hell did we just pass?’”
Look in a mirror, Newsom!
What is entering the state has 1/2 the income of those leaving.
This is Los Angeles, California, Capitol of the Third World:
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