Courtesy of Barring a miracle, California lawmakers will miss their June 15 deadline for passing a balanced budget — a staggering challenge with the state facing a $24.3 billion shortfall amid the worst drop in state revenues since the Great Depression.
Observers of the most populous U.S. state’s political scene laugh at the idea of a budget deal by Monday.
"It’s about as likely as me being named MVP of the Stanley Cup final," said Dan Schnur, director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.
Citing the state’s weak economy and double-digit unemployment rate, the movie star-turned politician has ruled out new taxes, which has raised his standing with the legislature’s unruly and anti-tax Republican minority.
Schwarzenegger also urged Democrats to ignore lobbying by their union allies against sharply lower spending levels to help balance the state’s books.
"Do they want to protect the workers that provide the services, or do they want to protect the people that get those services? The choice is up to them," he said.
His blunt talk came as the Service Employees International Union launched an advertising campaign against his budget plan, a threat to many of its 700,000 members in the state.
State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has said spending cuts are inevitable, but he opposes Schwarzenegger’s plan for scrapping state programs. Instead, he wants to tap reserves in the governor’s plan to maintain the programs.
Understanding Negative Numbers
Tapping "reserves" is idiotic because California has negative reserves of $24 billion. Do the Democrats or the unions understand the concept of negative numbers?
Unfortunately the answer is a resounding "No". Some might think this is a reason to keep the education budget intact. However, the odds that the legislature or unions sign up for much needed remedial math education classes is zero. Therefore, saving taxpayer money must take precedence over spending that will not go to where it is most needed.
Schwarzenegger Threatens To Shut Down Government
If a deal
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