Hear! Hear! Data shows that 144,000 people left California last month. That is the best news I have heard in years. We need a good earthquake to clear them out faster.
California Budget Crisis About to Affect Peopleâs Everyday Lives January 21, 2009 Californiaâs creditors have cut the state off. The borrow-and-spend policy may be nearing an end, and with it Californiaâs high standard of living. By Robert Morley Ten days remain before California will begin defaulting on its obligations. California is in crisis. Lawmakers canât agree on how to balance the budget. And the truth is that there is no easy solution. Painful decisions will have to be made. And no matter what politicians decide, it is clear that the good times are over for the Golden State. âOur state faces the most challenging budget in its history,â Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned. âThe combined effect of our structural deficit and the dramatic decline in revenues ⦠have produced a two-year deficit of ⦠nearly half of our projected 2009-2010 revenuesâ (emphasis mine throughout). By some estimates, Californiaâs current expenditures through fiscal year 2010 will reach $145 billion. And state revenue will only be around $100 billionâa massive $45 billion shortfall. And that is if the economy doesnât deteriorate more than expected, and if the state doesnât get hit with another wave of unprecedented lightning storms, fires, drought, or other natural disasters. Lawmakers are at loggerheads over how the state is to cover expenses. The state is spending so much money that Governor Schwarzenegger could fire every single California civil servant and still not come close to balancing the budget! Even if he also fired the other 149,000 legislative aides and people who work for the stateâs courts or university systems (people not directly under the stateâs control), he still couldnât eliminate the deficit. http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=5868.4229.0.0
Counties brace for missed payments from state Tuesday, February 10, 2009 (02-09) 19:57 PST -- California's budget woes will sweep over the state's 58 counties this week when they get promises instead of checks for $89 million in anticipated payments for welfare, food stamps and other services. The move will be a devastating blow to the counties, which must serve more and more people looking for government help as the economy craters and jobs disappear, said Paul McIntosh, executive director of the California Association of Counties. With local governments every bit as battered as the state, little cash is available to cover the deficit. "It's a huge concern," McIntosh said. "There are counties that only have a couple weeks of cash on hand and could have trouble meeting payroll." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/09/MN7715QD8H.DTL&type=politics&tsp=1
If they mailed me an IOU, I'd counter-endorse it, and mail it back to them as payment of my property taxes. Yes, I would.
Just getting rid of the police and firemens unions would at least be a start...but they keep dealing with these unions because fiscal suicide is a good thing?
Fix this or I'll terminate 20,000 http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/16/california.budget.crisis/index.html
According to the CIA, California has the 10th largest economy in the World - larger than Canada, Spain or Australia. Cali's bankruptcy is tantamount to Canada or Australia going bankrupt. Who's next?
The idiotic majority party in Sacto believes that raising taxes in a recession is (to use Martha Stewards phrase) " A good thing"