California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as Don Perata and Fabian Nunez are taking the lazy way to budget reform. Their "everybody will experience some pain" cuts-across-the-board approach allows this poor excuse for state leadership to simply ignore the elimination of departments, projects and people which should be eliminated or curtailed in favor of spreading the pain.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle...
The governor's budget cuts nearly every state department
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, acknowledging that California faces tough economic times, proposed an austere budget Thursday for the next fiscal year that would take billions of dollars from public schools, shut down four dozen state parks and release tens of thousands of prisoners to close a projected $14.5 billion deficit."
"Virtually every state department was required to slash 10 percent from this year's spending, a move that would cut services for many Californians, especially the poor, the elderly and the disabled."
He feels your pain as he jets around playing movie star/hero -- with governor apparently being the least of his concerns.
"I understand how difficult (the cuts) will be for many people," Schwarzenegger said as he unveiled the budget at a Sacramento news conference. "But we need to be fiscally responsible and spend only the money we have."
Making it sound like an emergency instead of the routine business that should have been taken care of in the previous months and years...
"The governor also declared a fiscal emergency and called a special session of the Legislature to trim spending during the current year, which at today's levels is expected to put the state as much as $3.3 billion in the hole by the end of the fiscal year in June."
Whose ox is being gored?
"Some of the people who would be directly affected by the cuts called the governor's plan shortsighted."
Staging the fight so everyone looks tough...
"Democratic leaders of the Legislature vowed to vigorously oppose Schwarzenegger's proposal. "This budget would cause tremendous permanent damage," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles."
Start with threatening the populace with dire consequences instead of setting safety and security as your first priority...
"Schwarzenegger's planned trims include the elimination of $4.8 billion from public schools over the next 1 1/2 years and a reduction of prison imates by 35,000, including the early release of 22,000 inmates over the next two years. The budget would also cut prison staff by 6,000, including the layoffs of 2,000 prison guards."
"The governor also wants to close many of California's parks. Under his budget, 48 of the state's 280 parks would be affected."
The real Schwarzenegger plan: "Rob Peter to Pay Paul..."
"Not all of the deficit would be erased by cuts. Schwarzenegger proposes that the state borrow $3.3 billion from previously approved bond money."
Schwarzenegger apparently wants to enlarge benefits for illegal aliens while cutting medical care for California citizens...
"As Schwarzenegger pushes for an overhaul of the state's health care system to cover nearly all of California's uninsured residents, he also is ready to cut as much as $1 billion from Medi-Cal, the state's medical service program for the poor, elderly and disabled."
Lying political bastards: it's not a tax, it's a fee...
"The Republican governor's proposed budget does not include new taxes except for a few small increases in fees, including one on homeowner's insurance to help pay for rural firefighting."
Speaking half the truth...
"I have made it very clear we cannot tax our way out of this problem," Schwarzenegger said. "There's no reason to tax anyone because our system doesn't work."
and ignoring the other half...
It is the fault of the political leadership and our elected officials who engaged in an orgy of spending on feel-good/do-nothing social engineering programs that have virtually bankrupted California with their nonsense.
Enter "gato gordo" (Fat Cat) Nunez...
"A blind pledge to never raise any taxes at any time I believe is a straitjacket that ill fits California and the needs of the people we represent," said Núñez.
Schwarzenegger's real reform...
"The governor's plan would spend a total of $141 billion in the next fiscal year - less than the $145 billion the state had been scheduled to spend this fiscal year before cuts that lawmakers will debate in the coming weeks. The governor's emergency declaration started the count on a 45-day period in which the Legislature must act on the pending $3.3 billion shortfall."
They could eliminate 20 percent of the budget and not see a difference in public service.
Schwarzenegger has asked for several cuts immediately, including $400 million from schools and community colleges, $33 million from Medi-Cal, $74 million from welfare programs and $25 million from a project at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.
The 10 percent across-the-board cuts next year also would apply to the governor's own budget as well as legislative and constitutional offices.
Maybe Los Angeles needs another BILLION DOLLAR HIGH SCHOOL?
"K-12 education, which normally receives about 40 percent of general fund tax money under Proposition 98 guarantees approved by the voters, would take the biggest hit under the budget plan. To cut as much money as the governor is proposing, lawmakers would have to suspend the measure - which happened only once before, during the 2004-05 fiscal crisis."
Waste, fraud and mismanagement are rampant in a school system designed to fail because their student's can't understand English -- being mainstreamed into regular classes to dumb down all students whose parents are not rich enough to afford private schools. Is it any wonder that the so-called education lobby opposes vouchers?
Screw the unions and they lobbyists...
Such a move is likely to face stiff opposition from the state's powerful education lobby.
Platitudes and rhetoric, spin-tested through millions of dollars worth of publicly-paid media consultants...
"But the governor said tough choices have to be made."
"'We need to control this budget because right now the budget is controlling us,' Schwarzenegger said, adding: 'We have to be disciplined this year and look at it as an opportunity to solve this problem.'"
Perhaps if Schwarzenegger had spent more time home working on domestic affairs instead of playing political movie star to the world, something might have gotten done. This budget crisis is the governor's fault as a result of his lack of leadership -- and significant blame can also be shared with Fabian Nunez and Don Perata who personal and political spending perversions have brought us nearer to this fiscal catastrophe.
What can YOU do?
Demand that the governor prioritize all spending to insure that:
Californians are safe and secure;
Californians have access to quality emergency healthcare;
- California's crumbling infrastructure is repaired or replaced;
- California's children are educated in spite of a bloated and ill-informed bureaucracy;
- and, if anything is left over after funding our parks (doubtful) ... then, and only then, shall we provide anything for illegal aliens.
Do not vote for anyone who has placed us in this precarious position as they are likely to keep up the corruption, waste and chaos as they pander to the special interests.
Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for their personal philosophy, power, prestige or profits.
-- steve
A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…
The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
Reference Links:
The governor's budget cuts nearly every state department|sfgate.com
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