Posted by
Andy Zarowny on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:54:53 PM
California FINALLY has a
budget! Well, MAYBE!
On Tuesday, Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed a new budget passed
by the state legislature. He
did so after making additional
line-item vetoes. All told, the
new budget of $86 Billion dol-
lars will balance out the $24
Billion dollar budget deficit.
That is, IF it passes the sure-
to-come court challenges.
The bill makes cuts in spending
across the board. Education
is to have some $9.3 Billion
in reductions. Other cuts in-
clude $3 Billion from Health
and Human Services, $1.7
in general spending, $785 Mil-
lion for prisons, $1.4 Billion by
delaying payments in payroll
and health premiums, and
$802 Million in state employee
work furloughs. The deficit is
further reduced by shifting
funds from other sources, in-
cluding from local governments
and the state's highway ac-
count.
Needless to say, those local
governments, plus teacher
unions, state employee unions,
and a wide range of special
interest groups, will be taking
the state to court to over-turn
the cuts and restore funding.
Given past cases in the State
Supreme Court and the U.S.
9th District Court, it would
seem very likely that some of
the funding will be restored.
So, while California may be
looking a tad better at the mo-
ment, don't count on it lasting.
California has been spending
money excessively for a long
time. They are, what my old,
favorite radio talk show host,
Mark Scott, would call, "hand-
out heaven"! Free everything
for everybody! You don't even
have to be a legal citizen, or
even a legal, foreign resident.
Come one, come all and join
the Sunshine Circus!
I haven't read the actual bill
(after all, as John Conyers
would say, what difference
would reading the bill make?)
so I do not know if funds for
helping non-humans, like
the sea otters, have been
slashed. Fortunately, they,
too, have special interest
groups to defend them in the
courts. So all those "tiny
actresses" in Hollywood can
sleep soundly.
Facing outright bankruptcy,
California was reduced to
paying bills with I.O.U.s re-
cently. Some have been
traded on various markets
for 30-50% of face value.
I'm surprised they got that!
LOL!!! The citizens voted
down earlier proposals to
cut spending and raise taxes
to balance their budget.
And why shouldn't they?
It's the voters who keep on
electing the heroes of hand-
out heaven into office. They
want free everything for every-
body, they just don't want to
pay for it.
California is not alone in this
mentality. Many states are
facing budget problems. New
York is busy raising taxes and
driving businesses and the
productive out of their state.
Massachusetts, the state
whose health care system the
Federal government wants to
copy for the rest of the nation,
has been forced to reduce the
health care provided to it’s
citizens. Some are now even
being denied access, like
legal, foreign residents. Illegal
aliens can still visit doctors,
though.
The states in trouble have a
few things in common. They
are usually run by Democrats
(or RINO Republicans) and
have large, union voting blocks.
They also all have high tax
rates, and declining econo-
mies. Hmmm? Are we seeing
a pattern here?