U.S. States Fire Workers as Budget Deficits Grow, Cash Dwindles

Bloomberg ^ | Jan 31, 2003 | Dennis Walters

[JudgemAll]

The most-populous U.S. state, California, also has the nation's biggest deficit. Governor Gray Davis this month said his plan for $20.7 billion in cuts means that about 2,000 state workers would lose their jobs. Public unions may be able to avoid the cuts provided they renegotiate salaries and other terms, Davis said.

What is that? Each worker cost 10 milions?

I think the deficit has to do with illegal aliens importing services and not paying import tarifs nor income/export taxes on that.

.... and firing 200 state troopers who could bring in ticket and tarif like revenues is not very smart.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

And some of the expensive and unecessary perks enjoyed by those living on the public dole.....

Two words: Illegal immigration.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I think the deficit has to do with illegal aliens...

Davis cuts education spending?

The 'Rats have allowed illegal immigrants to get resident tuition rates in colleges while American citizens from other states have to pay out of state tuition fees.

Colleges like UCSC have given tenured professorship to the likes of Angela Davis.

The ethnic studies, queer studies, feminist studies programs, and other non-essential curriculum now necessary to graduate should be eliminated. (A major in engineering should never require a course like "sociology of minority groups" or two semesters of foreign language.)

Instead of just cutting the funding, the educational establishment needs to be required to apply those cuts to some of the nonsense...

[uncitizen]

PS Try cutting some of those usless programs along with their people.

Thank you! Here's the local Californian news each night for the last few nights: California will have to close libraries due to budget probs sorry; We'll have to lay off Fire fighters; and cops sorry; Class size reduction programs are going to be dropped sorry;

I just wonder how much we could save by having more deportations of illegal aliens who take up seats in the classrooms, as well as welfare, and Medical from us TAX PAYING CITIZENS.

[speekinout]

Does this mean there will be fewer guy's standing around a manhole watching the low man dig??

Can you explain to me whether this happens in the private sector, too?
I did ask a city official about this, and he explained to me that everyone who works in an excavation (even if it's only a few inches deep) needs a "spotter" in case of a problem. If they're repairing a pipeline, say, the digger and his spotter are there, and so is the pipeline repairer and his spotter. And if there is, say, an electrical line nearby, they might also have an electrician and his spotter.
I asked why one spotter couldn't do for all of them, or perhaps why the digger couldn't spot for the pipeline worker and so on. He said that they need flexibility to move the diggers, pipeline workers, electricians, etc. so they each needed their own spotters.

This looks like overkill to me. Why not give the guys a pager or a cell phone? If they're working in 6' trenches, maybe a spotter is a good idea. But most of the time, they're working in 1' holes.
Am I the only one who thinks this is nuts? I don't want anyone to risk their life unnecessarily, but I also don't like to spend my tax money unnecessarily.

[Mudbug]

OK, so this article is about Oregon, but everyone seems to be saying that the states will be in the red this year. I have a pet peeve about collective state economic statistics (and I'd like to see "red and blue" maps showing us where the shortfalls are now, 5 years ago, a decade age. etc.), but this article does make a point.

Here in Louisiana, revenue sources dried up over the past few decades and our corrupt state government did not respond well. As a result our economy is backward (or "counter-cyclical," if you wish to be PC). While I don't belittle the needs of these states, perhaps it's time to let some things go undone.

President Bush has challenged Congress to set some spending priorities. We need to do the same at the state and local level. Conceding that there are "unfunded mandates to the states, I would also challenge the states on "dedicated revenues." This has been a real problem in Louisiana.

[LandofLincoln]

I think I agree with that.