Free Republic

If you’ve seen the cover of my New York Times #1 best-selling book, you know I have…”complicated” feelings about the state of California. I could easily write this and 100 other columns about San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. This guy’s almost too much to believe. Then there’s Hollywood. It’s filled with plenty of talented actors, but too often those same actors get confused with the characters they play and start spouting off about things they know nothing about. But lately, the problem on the Left Coast goes way beyond one city or citizen—the whole state’s a big, steaming mess, and...

October 16, 2003 How to Fix California's Fiscal Problems: A Guide for Schwarzenegger by Michael New Michael New is an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute and a post-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT Data Center. Now that the recall election has ended, Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to turn his attention to California's deteriorating fiscal condition. Resolving California's $8 billion deficit should definitely be his top priority. However, the governor-elect and his aides also need to give serious consideration to long-term strategies for keeping California fiscally solvent. One idea that has received broad support is a constitutional spending limit. Indeed, a...

<p>Trying to divine Gov.-elect Schwarzenegger’s likely moves on fiscal policy is a little bit like the old practice of Kremlinology, where analysts had to parse vague statements, watch personnel shifts and consider history to figure out what might happen next. One of the major stories of the campaign was that Schwarzenegger was being vague about his ideas on the budget. I said so many times myself. But now that he has been elected governor and I am trying to assess where he is going from here, I find myself coming back to his many statements during the campaign that gave us broad hints about the direction he intended to take. It turns out that he was more specific than we sometimes gave him credit for, if only you had time to use a careful ear and a bit of imagination. Stitched together and filled in by informed speculation, his fragmentary statements can be used to make some educated guesses about the near future. Would I prefer a candidate, or a governor-elect, who speaks more clearly, directly and specifically about his plans? Absolutely. But this is what we’ve got at the moment, so I let’s make the best of it.</p>

The following is an issue paper written and researched by Tom and staff. I have pulled and processed the first 2 pages of this 33 page pdf file .. the remaining 31 pages contain 237 specific reductons appropriate to the 1995 timeframe. The document speaks to the nature of an all-consuming behemoth that our state's govt and bureaucracies has become. It also recommends remedies, most if not all, that could still be implemented at even greater savings to the state and its citizens.But will these things happen? Do they have a chance of happening?Remember how addicted folks were to welfare...

With a majority in both houses and a Democratic governor, the Democrats, unlike the Republicans, can pass a budget without a single vote from the other party — as long as it does not raise taxes, which requires a two-thirds supermajority. The Democrats say they will not cut spending further, but they will soon be faced with a choice of enacting a budget with less spending than they would like or shutting down the government and spending nothing. Because reducing education and health care — which state Controller Steve Westly said last week were among the services that stood to...

<p>Gov. Gray Davis' May budget revision at least answers one question: Whatever happened to Enron's accountants? By every indication, they're alive and well and hard at work on the state budget crisis.</p> <p>How else can Davis claim that he is cutting more from the state budget than any governor since 1945 while adding $2.2 billion in new spending to his January budget proposal?</p>

Memo to My Wife By Senator Tom McClintock Hi Honey, Since you've let me take over our household finances, I'm happy to report that our family budget is balanced, I've saved thousands of dollars, and I've kept us in the style to which I would like to become accustomed. You might wonder how I've been able to do all this. I just followed the easy steps that Gov. Gray Davis outlined in his May Budget Revision. I know you're upset because I spent nearly $11,000 more than we took in this year. You really need to keep things in perspective....

Hostility to Private Enterprise Impedes California’s Economic Recovery by Carol Liebau 4/25/03 Even Hans Blix and his gang of merry inspectors wouldn’t have any trouble finding evidence that California’s economy is in a mess. The signs are everywhere. Last year’s budget deficit –$23 billion – was staggering, especially given that the combined deficit nationwide of all state governments totaled $40 billion. And this year, of course, California’s projected budget deficit is set at $35 billion. The reasons are many, including the impact of a slow national economy and the bursting of the tech bubble. But occasionally, the simple act of...