California Democrats vote to cut programs

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: UPI

SACRAMENTO, March 4 (UPI) -- Cuts to California's budget will make the state look "a little different" by the time the process is complete, a lawmaker said.

California's budget deficit is estimated at nearly $27 billion and Thursday Democrats on a key legislative committee voted for a plan that would slash welfare, end the Adult Day Health Care program for the aged and eliminate redevelopment agencies, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

"Unfortunately, given the severity of the crisis, … California is going to look a little different by the time we get to the end of the budget season," said Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco, the leading Senate Democrat on the committee.



Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/04/California-Democrats-vote-to-cut-programs/UPI-82571299255406/

[Bandit]

1. At least they are "Talking" about raising taxes some...

Are people so fucking stupid that they don't understand very basic economics?

[KamaAina]

7. Actually, they're not

they're talking about extending some taxes that are set to expire.

And the repukes are balking at that. :eyes:

[defendandprotect]

24. Koch Bros. financed DLC -- something we lived with too long, obviously -- !!!

http://www.democrats.com/node/7789

[xchrom]

2. A sad recommend. Nt

[Democat]

3. California doesn't have a military budget to cut and something has to be done.

There is no easy solution.

[Matariki]

5. Like raising taxes perhaps?

[WatsonT]

10. They already have pretty high taxes

25% of the total GDP is pretty high. And that's on top of the taxes their citizens must pay to the federal government anyway (granted they get some back but not all).

[No Elephants]

14. Yet lower than most other states, esp. most other blue states.

[Big_Mike]

20. Um, no

According to taxfoundation.org: (lists use #1 as highest/best)

• At a 10.6% of total income, California is the 6th highest tax burden for state and local taxes in the union
  
• California is ranked 49th on the State Business Tax Climate Index
  
• Californian Tax revenue is 28.4% from Property Tax (Prop 13), 22.1% General Sales Tax, Individual Income Tax 30.0%, Corporate Income Tax 6.4%, and 13.2% from other sources, such as alcolhol, tobacco, motor vehicle, utilities, liecenses, etc.
  
• California Tax Rate is 9.3% at $46,766 (California median income for a 4-person family is $57,291 according to Dept. of Health and Human Services) and 10.3 for those who earn over $1M per year
  

I don't think the numbers agree with your suggestion.

NOTE: Most data from the taxfoundation website comes from US Census Bureau.

[WatsonT]

25. Pretty sure that isn't true

[Jkid]

18. So the real problem is priorities.

[WatsonT]

26. I guess

They're coming up on the limits on total money they can bring.

So that means cuts, or deficits/debt until they collapse.

The aren't at war, so that isn't a big drain on their budget.

So what's left?

Any cut anywhere is bound to make people unhappy.

[liberation]

9. Actually, California does have a military budget.

And it is silly to make a judgement about the difficulty level of a solution you do not know.

[Matariki]

4. I'm sure they'll have money to divert to the prison system

That they'll need when people start getting desperate.

[KamaAina]

27. Correct-a-mundo.

Corrections is the only department receiving an increase in this austerity budget. :wtf:

[florida08]

6. I bet it will make the state look a little different

I don't live in CA so I'm not going to judge. Florida has it's own set of problems. But both are going to get a lot worse before it gets better 8(

[KamaAina]

8. These cuts are similar to those that Ahh-nuld put forth year after year

and the Dem-controlled legislature shot down every time.

Now someone with a (D) after his name proposes to do pretty much the same thing, and they're tripping over their shoelaces to get behind it. :grr: :banghead: :argh: :nuke:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Actually they are deeper and worse

The raid on the RDA funds being a good example.

Brown is doing what the Gropenator never dared and everyone in Sacremento is smiling. What a difference a "D" makes.

[KamaAina]

13. Ahh-nuld tried to raid the RDA funds and got smacked down in court

the AG at the time being... Jerry Brown.

So now as Governor, he just abolishes the whole program instead. :eyes:

[hughee99]

28. Not just in Sacramento, if you change "Democrats" to "Republicans" in the OP's title

this thread would also look VASTLY different.

[No Elephants]

16. And your suggested alternative, esp. in light of your Reply # 7, would be?

U.S. governments, state and federal, have one major source of revenue and only one--taxes; and, as you know, California has been in deep fiscal crisis for some time, while remaining stubborn about taxes. S

o, let's bash Dems for now doing the only thing left to them?

[KamaAina]

21. We have allowed the repukes to frame the debate

even though they barely have enough votes to block a two-thirds supermajority.

They say "No new taxes" -- and the Dems take that as a starting point, saying, "Okay. Where do we go from here?" instead of proposing alternative sources of revenue such as an oil severance fee (every other oil-producing state has one, even Alaska. Where do you think they get the money to pay people to live there?) or enforcing the existing use tax on items purchsed out of state (typically online, thus the name "Amazon tax").

[No Elephants]

22. Isn't it possible that, under Ahnuld, Dems said, "Okay. Where do we go from here?"

because Ahnuld would veto new taxes Repug legislators did not want passed and Dems knew they did not have enough votes to override? Meanwhile, they would have infuriated voters for nothing?

"or enforcing the existing use tax on items purchased out of state (typically online, thus the name "Amazon tax")."

Isn't enforcing existing laws and taxes within the EXCLUSIVE jurisdiction of the Executive Branch (again, Ahnuld at the time in question, not the Legislative?

[No Elephants]

12. Did Rethugs vote AGAINST cutting programs? POS headline from UPI.

A lot of "buzz" lately about how federal level Republicons are finally realizing that voting in D.C. to reduce or eliminate programs that had been bringing so-called pork to their districts/states will hurt them with Republicon voters back home.

(Seems as though shortsighted, empathy-free, selfish Republicon voters want to reduce or eliminate only those programs that do not affect them. "Cut" sounds great--until you get specific.)

So, now, Republicon media are hanging unpopular cuts on Democrats.

Lord, please help me not to hate dishonest cynical, lazy, media, ignoring their proper role in American politics--the only role that earned them First Amendment protection in the first place. Feh!

[hughee99]

30. So when a democratic state Assembly and a Democratic Governor

get together to propose and decide on unpopular cuts, it's STILL the repukes fault? Are not those running the state of California not somewhat culpable for THESE cuts? According to the article, the repukes did oppose many of these cuts.

"Republicans on the conference committee voted against many of the cuts because they said the plan didn't have enough details or they were tied to the tax proposal."

The headline seems an accurate description of the situation to me.

[valerief]

15. Gawd forbid they tax their billionaires or megacorps. nt

[No Elephants]

17. Raising taxes in California seems to be even more problematic than it is elsewhere.

[barbiegeek]

19. 27 BILLION, Raise the FRICKING TAXES in BEVERLY HILLS

[ProgressiveProfessor]

29. Its not just BH

All of bay area, the wine country and Malibu

[defendandprotect]

23. Because safety nets are the nation's problem -- not MIC budget -- !!

[Imagevision]

31. Arnie did a helluva job running California now he is going to make a movie star comebaaack