UPDATE 09-20-08 SCHWARZNEGGER SIGNS A BOGUS BUDGET?

According to the Los Angeles Times ...

" 'It's the most irresponsible budget of the past half-century,' said state Treasurer Bill Lockyer."

"The spending plan that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may sign as soon as Monday pushes much of the state's $15.2-billion deficit forward. It employs accounting gimmicks and creates billions of dollars in corporate tax breaks with no plan for covering them."

The bulshit artists who support the crooks, connivers and special interests in the capitol are not reporting the whole story. One, that they are arguing over a budget -- which is a plan for spending government money, not the actual allocation of money which can change at any time. And two, the total amount is not appearing in the reports that I have read. Which leads me to believe that the spending level may actually be higher than last fiscal year's expenditures and thus prove that there were no substantive cuts in spending planned; only cuts in proposed spending.

UPDATE: 09-16-08  WHOOPS -- THE RICH WILL ALSO SUFFER -- YEAH RIGHT!

According to the Sacramento Bee... 'Yacht tax' loophole closed

"In one of the symbolic gestures of Monday night's budget debate, lawmakers agreed to close the so-called "yacht tax" loophole. Under current law, owners of luxury vehicles, like yachts or private aircraft, only had to keep their purchases out of California for 90 days after buying them to avoid state taxes. That has allowed owners of such crafts to escape taxes to the tune of $21 million annually, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. The new proposal, included in a budget trailer bill, would increase to one year the time that a purchase would have to remain out of state lines to escape taxation."

What about the so-called "use tax" equivalent of the sales tax? Why this remains a symbolic gesture is that most of the rich employ separate corporations and/or trusts for each of their major assets to isolate the possibility of catestrophic losss or confiscation should illict substances be make the asset subject to forfeiture. In the case of planes and yachts, the wealthy may  normally engage in chartering operations (however minimal) through a charter operator who may be domiciled in a tax-friendly haven. Therefore, it is no big deal to keep your plane and yacht in a tax-friendly venue while reaping the benefits of occasional usage. Even if you own a plane or yacht, chartering also provides you with the flexibility of choosing your mode of transportation depending on payload and destination... as well as avoiding downtime due to scheduled maintenance. The rich really are different from us ordinary folks.

Original blog entry ...

For my regular readers, you know that I am not a fan of  California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as I consider him to be a liberal democrat in conservative clothing. A RINO (Republican In Name Only) that has infused liberal democrat California politics with Hollywood smoke and mirrors as he continues to say and do anything which will portray him as a hero – as opposed to the “do nothing” jet-set movie star opportunist he appears to be.

Now he is engaged with the democrat-controlled legislature to craft a secret deal which would allow both sides to declare a victory and issue a budget which is long overdue by legally-mandated requirements which the politicians seem to ignore with impunity.

Following his traditional path of no fiscal leadership and a policy of papering over budgetary deficits with accounting tricks, internal shifting of designated budgetary funds and Wall Street borrowing; the Governator has attempted to solve this current budget deficit, first by securitizing the income from the California Lotto (or leasing it to private interests for a number of years) and then by threatening to temporarily (of there is such a thing in government) raising our state sales taxes with a promised sunset date and a small decrease in about three years.

All non-starters due to the Republicans who fear the loss of their jobs should they vote to raise taxes on already beleaguered California citizens. Even the RINO turncoat, Abel Maldonado, who often votes as a liberal democrat is said to have held is ground when directly approached by the governor.

It is a sad fact that the Governor, in an interview with German-language publication, Der Spiegel, was said to have portrayed his fellow Republicans as obstructionists whom he hardly knew. Which is probably why the Republicans donned name-tags when meeting with the Governor. 

The current outrage …

In a secret deal crafted in the backroom, it seems that Schwarzenegger may be planning with the far-left liberal democrats to fashion a de facto tax hike by simply closing existing deductions – characterized by the liberals as “loopholes” and borrowing the money from the public by increasing mandatory (over)withholding on California citizens. Of course, they claim it is all returnable when you file your taxes and receive a refund. Thus the budget can be presented and the deficit can be pushed into the future once again.

According to the Sacramento Bee…

“Secret budget deal borrows from taxpayers”

“With little or no public input, California lawmakers are expected to vote late today on a closed-door weekend budget deal that depends largely on borrowing billions from taxpayers.”

“A key element of the deal would increase by 10 percent the amount of income taxes withheld from families with two wage earners, and from taxpayers who earn income from investments.”

“The pact would end the state's 11-week budget impasse, the longest in state history, but it virtually would assure that red ink will flow in future years.”

“The compromise, cobbled together by legislative leaders over the weekend, scraps Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan for a temporary sales tax hike.”

“It cuts Medi-Cal provider rates and suspends cost-of-living increases for low-income elderly, blind and disabled on SSI/SSP and welfare families.”

Perhaps they should simply deny all medical and welfare benefits to non-citizens (aka illegal aliens) with the exception of true emergency medical care. Load up the busses and take them to Tijuana for medical care.

“But much of the $15.2 billion budget shortfall would be bridged by advancing revenues to be collected in future years, shifting or borrowing money from other state funds and employing accounting maneuvers. The plan would generate immediate revenue but leave gaping holes in future budgets.”

“The withholding maneuver would generate about $3.8 billion to ease the budget crunch. Taxpayers would see the money refunded when they filed their taxes the following year.”

More information on the details of this outrageous plan can be found by clicking on the reference link provided below.

“Passage of a state budget requires a two-thirds majority of both legislative houses, however, thus requiring at least two Republican votes in the Senate and six in the Assembly.”

Remember the democrat-sponsored ballot proposition which would have simply required a simple majority to pass the budget and thus eliminate the pesky problem of requiring Republican votes?

Impacting California businesses …

In these financially difficult and perilous times, and in addition to cutting the revenues of those who provide medical-related care and other services in California, the new proposal would also impact California businesses.

“A key part of the plan would, for two years, restrict businesses from writing off losses and reduce their use of tax credits for research and other things.”

“But it would then allow businesses to recoup the money and expand the tax break in future years.”

" ‘We're just opening huge corporate loopholes in the future in exchange for borrowing,’ said Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the left-leaning California Tax Reform Association.”

“The proposal up for a vote Monday also would:

• Place a ballot measure before voters to modernize the state lottery and to borrow money for next year's budget from future proceeds.
• Require quicker payment of taxes by millionaires who experience a windfall.
• Force additional upfront payments from taxpayers who file quarterly.
• Increase the state's rainy-day fund and to give the governor limited authority to cut spending during a midyear budget crisis.”

And if I remember correctly, isn’t this the very same Governor who gave Tesla Motors a lucrative tax break and other benefits so that wouldn’t relocate in another state to produce their $100,o00 electric roadster. I wonder if Arnold has taken delivery of his yet?

The non-excuse excuse … 

"I know that we're not sending (Schwarzenegger) the budget that he wanted," said Bass, D-Los Angeles. "But this isn't the budget that any of us wants."

These despicable people think that this “compromise” phrase will mollify you into believing that each side did its best for California. Nothing can be further from the truth.

What can YOU do?

Recognize that we have a toxic far-left liberal democrat-led legislature in California. Vote them all out of office as each comes up for re-election.

Do not replace them with equally unqualified losers. Vote beyond party lines for conservative democrats and Republicans who are not beholden to unions, special interests and the illegal alien lobby.

Demand that the Governor and the legislature  end the sanctuary city policy and deport those who are destroying our healthcare, educational, judicial, social and cultural infrastructure.

Insure that Arnold Schwarzenegger never becomes a California Senator and demand that he not be appointed to any senior political position or Ambassadorship by the next Administration.

Tell your elected officials how you feel about being raped by the California political establishment so that they can continue to serve the special interests who fund their campaigns and the illegal aliens who promise to elect them in the future.

Subscribe to the Sacramento Bee. If it wasn’t for their original reporting, the Governor and the legislature would continue to rape the citizens of California with impunity.

And above all, be prepared for the continuing loss of business as the wealthy and others move out of California for more business and tax-friendly states.

-- 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:

Politics - Secret budget deal borrows from taxpayers - sacbee.com