The State Senate is going to "vote" on a budget this Tuesday--of course no budget has been agreed on by the legislative leaders or the Governor. But the ethically challenged Democrat Senate Leader, Don Perata, will hold a vote anyway.
The politicians are continuing their game of chicken. The Democrats demand higher taxes and the Republicans demand a balanced budget.
In all of this the Governor is showing his flair for the dramatic--cutting wages for janitors, doctors and attorneys to minimum wage. He wants to sell or lease the lottery, sell State assets, he is a man of action. The Democrats just want more money and the Republicans just want fiscal responsibility.
Until we feel some pain, until we determine this game must end we will not have a budget. That may be a good thing. A $3 billion budget increase demanded by Perata, along with a $10 billion tax increase will only make things worse. It will make the poor even poorer and the middle class looking for the phone number of U-Haul.
In five years the budget has increased by 44%, do you think that is too much or not enough?
This could be the week the budget is finalized. But at what cost to the families of Ventura County?
The State Budget...late again, What's new? This is practically an annual ritual. I agree, almost ho-hum.
The Governor's threat is a bullying tactic that just increases the collateral damage of this tiresome ritual.
No one likes paying taxes, much less more taxes, but on the other hand people like clean water, law enforcment, wild-fire fightes, education, parks and a host of other things.
Just the increased costs of energy alone skew the budget.
The problem is the super-majority requirements, that basically empower the minority, that being the Republicans, to refuse any compromise. Like collecting taxes on the sales of yachts and personal jets.
For that the Guv proposes minimum wage for secretaries, janitors, doctors and so on?
The ethical challenge here is for the State Government to do its job and bring in a budget on time. This is what they are paid to do.
Tommy Boy,
I find it interesting that you are quick to blame the Governor and the Republican "minority" for failing to adopt the budget while failing to mention the Democratic "majority" in the Legislature who consistently rang up budget deficit after budget deficit, year after year, by spending more than the State took in in revenue and thus creating the structural imbalance that we now have in the State budget.
Mongo-Bongo...
Sure, like the budgetary "slight of hand" by the Governator....not much different from Gray Davis before him.
Budgets have been whacked all over the State, but bottom line it takes more to run it than the post-13 revenues can support. Right or wrong, that is PART of the problem. It's been one big account debacle ever since.
My point is that all legislators were elected to "govern" not just "drop anchor" as appears to the the Republican mantra on any taxes, and apparently especially those that favor the wealthy, the connected, and the corporate.
I think I also tried to make it clear and if it wasn't...read my lips, BOTH sides need to indulge in give and take. The failure to do so is lot of why our state budget is the problem that it is
And my point is that the Democrats in the Legislature bear the lion's share of the blame for the current state of the budget. Had they reined in their spendaholic ways some years ago, we wouldn't be in the fix we're in today.
At least the Governator is trying to restore some sanity to the budget process by proposing to establish a "rainy day fund" that would help the State deal with the peaks and valleys in revenues it experiences from year to year. That's an honorable start. We, the taxpayers, cannot absorb new taxes or tax increases. We're suffering enough already. Leave us alone!
The latest thing the Legislature is considering is "borrowing" from local government revenue and transportation revenue earmarked for local highway construction and repair projects. By State law, they would then be required to pay these funds back, with interest, within a specified timeframe.
This is a horrible idea! Cities and counties are already dealing with their own budget crises due to the slumping economy, the real estate downturn, high fuel, energy, and utility costs, etc. The difference between local governments and the State, of course, is that they actually have to balance their budgets every year. The State refuses to get serious about implmenting the cuts it needs to do to bring things into balance and to stop robbing Peter to pay Paul and ringing up more State debt!