Free Republic

California's government is facing an estimated budget deficit of $24 billion this year, a stark reversal from the record-setting surpluses that the state saw in recent years which comes amid ongoing inflation and heightened fears of a looming recession. California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), which provides state officials with nonpartisan budget forecasts, warned in a report that the state faces a projected $24 billion deficit in 2023-24 mainly because tax revenues are about $41 billion lower than expected.

So, after the whole mess surrounding the poop swastika; instances of harassment that were allegedly racially-motivated, though unverifiable since they occurred off campus; and a professor who was charged with assaulting a student reporter at protests over said events has a caused a budget shortfall at the University of Missouri. I know, totally shocking, right? (via Daily Caller): The University of Missouri (MU) is losing about 1500 students and is facing a huge $32 million budget shortfall four months after it attracted national attention as the site of massive race-based campus protests.“I am writing to you today to confirm...

8/27/09Sierra Electric Cooperative will build substation and 6.5 miles of power lines at Spaceport America The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has approved an agreement to pay Sierra Electric Cooperative about $5.5 million for the cooperative to build a substation and some 6.5 miles of power lines to provide electricity infrastructure at the state-owned spaceport in southern Sierra County, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. The newspaper said that according to the contract approved Wednesday, the $5.5 million figure is an estimate only. The following article added by poster:8/14/09 New Mexico’s revenue projections show we’re short $433M, economists say   Revenue estimates...

With California slipping into a financial sinkhole, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to save more than $180 million by cutting short the sentences of thousands of immigrants in the state's prisons and turning them over to federal authorities for deportation.

The newspapers are reporting that the fiscal gap is $10 billion. It is actually far more serious than that. The actual figure – according to the LAO – is that the state will spend $14 billion more than it takes in between now and the end of the next fiscal year. The difference is that we will first blow through the $4 billion reserve that the state began the year with. (That reserve, by the way, is already gone.) But the LAO is still predicting that the state’s general fund revenues will grow about 3.5 percent this year. I doubt...

There is n-o m-o-n-e-y. California's state government is i-n d-e-b-t and the hole is getting deeper. We should change the name of this state to "Denial." Unless the politicians and voters are willing to raise taxes, forget all these grandiose new government programs Sacramento has been yakking about concerning healthcare and education. In fact, forget them anyway for now. Tax increases will be needed just to pay for what the governor, the Legislature and the voters already have saddled on the state. Nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill confirmed Wednesday what previously had been leaked by the Schwarzenegger administration: The...

Saying spending is poised to grow more than 50% faster than revenues, the state's chief budget analyst called on lawmakers Wednesday to immediately begin cutting government programs or raising taxes to address a budget shortfall that has ballooned to $10 billion. Nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill, whom lawmakers of both parties look to for guidance on fiscal matters, said the cooling housing market, high energy prices and a batch of overly optimistic assumptions in the last budget are hitting state coffers hard. "The Legislature should start now" curbing spending and finding new revenue, she said. "All the easy solutions...

California's fiscal watchdog on Wednesday warned that the state's budget outlook has deteriorated significantly since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released his proposed spending plan in January and urged lawmakers to enact midyear cuts. Lawmakers should immediately trim $600 million from schools and Schwarzenegger should cancel more than $1 billion in other spending to keep the state from sinking further into debt, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill said. In her annual review of the governor's proposed budget, Hill expanded on her recent criticism that Schwarzenegger's plan relies on rosy revenue projections. Her 1,107-page analysis detailed what Hill said are billions of dollars in...

Politicians – read this before self-destructing Posted: January 13, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 David H. Hackworth The recycled Pentagon types now merrily selling their "expertise" to the weapon-makers and the rest of the current crop of shakers and takers who make up today's military-industrial-congressional greed machine are as usual sucking up big bucks, while many of our vets continue to get the shaft. Also as usual. Wesley Clark summed up what's going down in a recent campaign speech: "We've got veterans' hospitals closing; we've got people who have to drive six hours to get a checkup; we've got...

Review to bypass public and go straight to cabinet: Forces quit war game, run short of Sea King personnel, trim back on kitchen supplies Sheldon Alberts and Bill Curry, with files from Michael Higgins - National Post OTTAWA - The Chrétien government intends to keep secret major portions of a report on the state of Canada's Armed Forces, sources say, even as several new signs emerged that a lack of money is forcing the military to cut back on basic activities. In the latest examples of the squeeze on the Forces, spending shortfalls have forced the Navy to pull out...

<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) With about $12 million available from belt-tightening savings, the King administration begins laying out its plan in detail Monday for covering the rest of a $240 million revenue shortfall.</p> <p>Administration officials intend to open their presentation to the Legislature's Appropriations Committee with a catalogue of the economic woes facing the nation and its states.</p>

<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) Gov. Angus King said Wednesday he will call a special session to take care of a $240 million budget shortfall before the next Legislature is seated even if no deal emerges first.</p> <p>King, who has drawn up a set of proposals to bridge the budget gap, said he remains hopeful an agreement can win broad support before the full Legislature is called to the State House. The Appropriations Committee plans to open budget hearings next week.</p>

BERLIN -- German Finance Minister Hans Eichel admitted yesterday Germany faces a 10-billion-euro hole in its 2003 budget as the re-elected Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens prepare to sit down to negotiate a new financial plan. In an interview with today's edition of Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, coinciding with the start of coalition negotiations, Mr. Eichel scaled back earlier growth forecasts, but said he remains committed to a goal of balancing the federal budget by 2006. "The budgetary adjustment needed for 2003 is around 10 billion euros," Mr. Eichel told the newspaper, according to the edition published on its Web site....