Posted on 01/15/2003 9:50:59 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Edited on 04/13/2004 3:30:09 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON - Gov. Gray Davis pressed Washington on Tuesday for federal money to plug California's record budget gap, saying the state and others are ``being shortchanged'' by shouldering increased costs for Medicaid and domestic security.
The governor, joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, also complained that eliminating the tax on stock dividends -- the centerpiece of President Bush's $674 billion economic-stimulus plan -- would drain $1 billion to $1.5 billion from California's coffers unless the state figures out a way to tax dividends separately.
(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...
The very people who're griping to the feds to give them money are the same ones who'll be using the federal deficit as a campaign issue in 2004. Why should Bush assist them in creating an issue with which to beat him up? Let's keep the deficit lower by not giving the beggars a dime.
You watch, since Davis was formerly the state controller and is well versed in the arts of financial wizardry he'll be using this for a 2K4 run. Note how the deficit numbers didn't explode until AFTER the elections? That deficit is a sum of projections for the next 18 months, and the news will be covering this # and all of the "painfull" solutions. The deficit will be "miraculously" reduced, if not eliminated in ~14 months (in time to declare) AND the additional revenue accruing from the increased tax burden will be used as payola projects to special interests and the "have not" classes.
Its a crap shoot for Davis, but if this panned out he'd be worlds above any of the other sorry gaggle of 'Rats that have been crawling out from their lairs to declare their intention to run.
There's not the least doubt in my mind that the people of California contribute mightily to domestic GDP and are carrying an enormous amount of the burden of the federal government.
You are absolutely right to distinguish that from the fiscal problems that Gray Davis has.
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