California's Busted State Budget

Funny how it's "Bush's fault" and "Arnold's fault" again. Didn't the democrat majority CA legislature pass the budget which the Governor rubber-stamped approved? Isn't that the budget the democrats wanted or they wouldn't have presented it to the GOV??

Lets not also forget the republican minority in the same legislature held up said budget as it was spending TOO MUCH, and the democrats/liberals lambasted them for it. Is it possible they were RIGHT? That CA was spending more than it takes in?

Partisan politics like this never solves the peoples problems but sure wastes their time and puts their state in financial jeopardy...again.

Other than increasing California's already high taxes, and aside from borrowing, what is Ms. Jackson's proposal for funding California's social and welfare programs? By reducing expenditures? Not likely.
How is it that Virginia, with much lower income tax (5.75% vs 9.3%) and much lower sales tax ( 5% vs 7.25% to 8.25%)enjoys a budget surplus (albeit not for long)?
Of course, higher taxes might disuade net payers from moving to California, whereas they would not disuade net takers, who can enjoy both California's wonderful climate and wonderful social programs without paying for them. Could it be that the net takers are overwhelming the net payers in California?
Ms. Jackson may be incorrect in focusing on a "small but violently vocal group of folks who want services, but don't want to have to pay for them." Perhaps there is such a group, but more likely those who object to increased taxes are already paying more than their pro rata share for the services they receive.
Californians and Ms. Jackson ought to take a hard look at who pays into California's treasury, and who takes.

The State gets enough in taxes already. Many people are simply tapped out. There simply is not more to give.

Maybe, it's about time Democrates start making the hard choices and fund what is only truly important.

This is not the fault of the President or the Governor. The blame sits squarely on Legislators who spend billions more than California takes in. It is our lust for having things even though we know we can't afford them. Go ahead and charge it and figure out how to pay later. Californians buy things they cannot afford everyday. Our legislators continue to ignore ECON 101. Money in money out. People that buy homes and don't think about how to pay for them deserve to lose them. Banks who make loans to people that can't afford them need to suffer the consequences. Credit card companies need to eat dooo dooo. Social programs that we can't afford need to be suspended. They knew this budget was a lie. You can manipulate numbers to say anything you want.

Bonds are a lie. They may not raise your taxes but Californians pay the interest on those bonds and it's millions if not billions every year out of our general fund. Legislators made anticipations for projected property tax payments they will not be getting. People losing homes are likely not paying their property taxes.

There are too many takers in this state that want things without for nothing. Let someone else pay. We should all be tired of this story. What goes up comes crashing down and it's our states economy.

They could save billions of dollars by fixing the prison system. No way. Can't do that. Keep those non violent drug offenders in prison at $45,000 a year each. It is billions a year. Rather than fix it, lets make it double the size so we continue to spend more incarcerating California kids rather than spending those billions on Education and Healthcare.

Jessicas law will cost hundreds of millions of dollars every year and it does little if anything to keep our kids safe. It destroys the lives of those labeled sex offenders that had nothing to do with harming anyone. Those young men who had sex with their underage girlfriends are a real threat to society! These crazy laws and knee jerk legislation we come up with break the bank and end up with unforseen consequences that do nothing but destroy lives and create more law enforcement jobs.

I am sure there are many, many ways to stop spending money foolishly in this state. We waste millions every year on needless government and their pet projects. We need to get back to basics. Don't spend what you don't have.

Those who lose everything will learn a good lesson when this whole thing is over.

What some of the above comments fail to recognize is that the budget passed by the Assembly Democrats had a higher reserve than the one proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Go back over the history.

Also, the Republicans played cat and mouse and did not identify the cuts they wanted--see Villines' appearance at the Sacramento Press Club on June 15. Nor were the Republicans clear on the extent of cuts they wanted. Then there was the whole hangup over the budget with CEQA.

The point needs to be made that the Governor cut taxes by $4 or $5 billion annually when he took office--the car tax--and none of that money was ever replaced.

Russo: The fact that California is so dependent on personal income to finance its budget speaks volumes in itself.

The fact that those in office seem so willing to dip into our pockets on an increasingly constant basis is in large part why Schwarzenegger got elected.

The fact that property taxes (which should be used locally) is now diverted at a higher percentage into state coffers also speaks volumes. When will the state return that funding choices back to local areas?

There's plenty of money if the basics are focused on instead of pet projects.

No doubt, both parties may be to blame. Both need to actually legislate responsibly instead of passing it to the voter, or driving intitiatives to do their work for them.

If there's less money available, spend less on those who do not contribute.

Its fault of the Democrats and they should fix it. It's time to cut government program such ADHD and other health care that state provides. State is spending way to much on that and it should be eliminated

I lived in California for several years. All I ever saw was housing prices through the roof, raising income taxes, and terrible services. I made my decision and moved to Texas. We have no income taxes, sales taxes are about the same, and everything else is cheaper (housing, electricity, food, etc.).

California is a great place to live if you have about $250,000 per year in income. It is a great place if you are poor and fleeing Mexico (state paid benefits, schooling for your kids, etc). But, if you are in the middle, you are getting squeezed bigtime. The best option is, frankly, to leave.

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