Posted by
Playful Walrus on Tuesday, December 02, 2008 3:06:38 PM
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was first elected in a recall by voters who hoped that he would bring some fiscal restraint to state government, has declared a fiscal emergency. Jordan Rau and Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times have the story.
But even as Schwarzenegger warned that California could run out of cash within two months, there was little indication that the Capitol's partisan gridlock has waned enough to allow for an easy resolution to the state's $28-billion budget gap.
Twenty-eight beeeellion dollars.
Republican lawmakers, who last week blocked a Democratic proposal to cut billions of dollars from schools, healthcare and welfare programs while tripling the vehicle license fee, quickly reiterated their opposition to any new taxes, which both Schwarzenegger and Democrats say are indispensable.
Thank goodness the Republicans in the legislature are acting like Republicans. Schwarzenegger – not so much. But I don’t blame him too much – after we put him into office, we turned down his reform measures that would have done much to improve things in the state. And we keep electing the big spenders to the legislature.
Assembly Republican leader Michael Villines (R-Clovis) rebutted Schwarzenegger's criticism that lawmakers are too rigid, saying in a statement that his party's anti-tax stance "is not blind ideology . . . but our sincere belief that higher taxes will hurt the economy and lead to more uncontrolled spending."
Thank you, Assemblyman.
In a tacit rebuke to Democrats such as Bass who have emphasized seeking federal aid to help the state out of its financial plight, Schwarzenegger told reporters: "The federal government shouldn't give us a penny until we straighten out our mess and we can live within our means."
Yeah, well, unfortunately we're a disproportionately donor state. The federal government should be taking less money out of California to begin with.
We already have enough taxes in California, and high enough taxes. We have a spending problem, and it needs to be addressed. Spending has gone way up even in the last several years. This state has income taxes, a special tax on income over a million dollars, business taxes, property taxes (and various assessments on top of those - and keep in mind the high property values here), a gasoline tax, a high sales tax, utility taxes, cigarette taxes, and all kinds of fees. It never ends, and we're tired of it..
Now if only we had a lottery, we wouldn’t have these shortfalls. Oops, we do. So much for those promises. If only we’d allow "Indian Gaming", we wouldn’t have these shortfalls. Oops again, we do. If only we had term limits… oops yet again… we do. I’m also waiting for all of that Embryonic Stem Cell Research funding to pay off.
This state has so much potential being wasted, because overregulation and socialistic overspending are messing things up. I guess none of this really matters, as long as Mexican citizens here illegally can get remedial classes at universities on my dime.