Free Republic

Sacramento - -- The state Senate will vote today on a budget by Senate leader Don Perata that's similar to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest spending plan for California that's 60 days late. But whether Perata will get two Republican votes needed in addition to unanimous support from Democrats to meet the two-thirds requirement in the Senate remains unclear. One significant issue is the Oakland Democrat's proposal to increase the sales tax by a penny per dollar for three years. Republicans have said they will not support any tax increases to help erase the $17.2 billion budget gap that includes $2...

Democrats and Republicans have scripted their conventions as tightly as possible. But after delegates return home with buttons, badges and banners, the curtain will rise on a more unruly drama: the fall session of Congress. And it could affect the November election more than the conventions.The House and Senate return to Washington Monday, Sept. 8. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hope it will be a short session, ending on Sept. 26. That will allow members to go home and campaign, not to return until after Election Day. Good luck.Congress hasn't yet passed any one of...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised not to sign any bills until lawmakers reach a budget deal, reversed his position today and signed a bill for a statewide bullet train system that he strongly supports. The governor also wants to make exceptions for three other proposals that he has been promoting: budget reform; changing the state lottery to allow California to borrow against future ticket sales; and a bond proposal for water infrastructure. The high-speed rail legislation will replace a $10 billion bond measure on the November ballot with a revised version of the proposal that makes the bullet...

Some things never change in the Golden State. Weeks into the fiscal year, California still has no budget and faces a Pacific Ocean-sized $15 billion deficit. On Wednesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a "compromise" plan that kicks the legs out from his own party with a big new sales tax increase. "It's time to put ideology aside," he insisted. [Arnold Schwarzenegger] Now he faces a revolt from Republicans in the legislature who think this is precisely the time to be ideological. "Any tax increase plan won't pass with Republican votes -- absolutely not," a defiant Mike Villines, minority leader of...

From the producers of Wordplay and the studio that brought you Supersize Me, the must-see documentary I.O.U.S.A. uncovers the source of critical economic concerns that touch the lives of every American. A tapestry of archival footage, hard data and candid interviews woven together, it paints an authentic profile of today’s economic condition. Solutions for how we can impact this nationwide crisis and evolve into a more fiscally sound nation for future generations are offered by the documentary’s powerful conclusion. “May be to the U.S. Economy what An Inconvenient Truth was to the environment.” - Reuters

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went public Wednesday with yet another state budget proposal, one that he said reflects a true compromise between Republican and Democratic goals for a spending plan. The proposal includes a three-year, one-cent increase in the sales tax, an effort to build a bigger state savings account for rainy days, and more spending cuts than he proposed when he released his last set of ideas in May. With no budget agreement in sight in the Legislature 51 days into the fiscal year, Schwarzenegger said the lack of a budget is "shameful." "Many Medi-Cal hospitals are not getting paid,...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline)-California state workers will receive their full pay at least this month because of when a judge scheduled a hearing Wednesday. The judge's move also affects attorneys in the California Department of Justice, who were set to receive no pay until a state budget is signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In addition to doctors and engineers, lawyers in Attorney General Jerry Brown's office had been told they would receive no pay, while other state workers would be paid the federal minimum wage of $6.55 until a budget is signed.

A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt in the state's 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates, improving access to care for 6.5 million low-income patients but throwing a new wrench in already difficult state budget negotiations. The U.S. District Court decision forces the state to reimburse most Medi-Cal providers at rates prior to the 10 percent cut, which lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made effective July 1 as a cost-cutting measure to help resolve a $15.2 billion budget shortfall this year. The move effects reimbursement rates the state pays to doctors, dentists, pharmacists, adult day-care centers and other...

Budget negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and four Legislative leaders fell apart Tuesday when one of the Republican leaders stormed out of the meeting, angrily charging that the talks "are not helpful." "Frankly, I was very frustrated when leaving that meeting," Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines from Clovis (Fresno County), said in an interview. "I'm tired of walking into (these meetings) and the only thing that's being talked about is more tax increases." Tuesday's meeting between the "Big Five" - the governor, and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate and Assembly - was the group's first in more...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. A Democrat in the California legislature has been kicked out of her Capitol office for not supporting the party's state budget proposal. Assemblywoman Nicole Parra of Hanford said Monday she wasn't surprised about being punished but was "a little taken back" by Democrats' decision to move her out of the Capitol. When she abstained from Sunday night's budget vote, the bill fell nine votes short of the two-thirds majority needed. Parra was the only Democrat present who didn't vote for it.

The central focus of Sunday's four-hour Assembly debate over the long-stalled state budget was the Democrats' $6.7 billion package of new taxes. Republicans complained loudly that with California's economy mired in recession, raising taxes would be counterproductive, making the state less hospitable to business and propelling investment elsewhere. Democrats countered that there's no evidence that California's above-average tax burden has stymied business investment or profits. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, was especially adamant on that point, citing statistics about the state's robust – until recently – economy. Leno's floor speech was tinged with irony, however, because he's carrying legislation that...

SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman Sandre Swanson is convinced that the only way to avoid lengthy budget stalemates in the future is to strip the minority party of what he calls its out-sized influence. The Oakland Democrat is among a handful of East Bay lawmakers who want voters to overturn the constitutional requirement that two-thirds of the Legislature must approve the budget. Now in its 50th day, the budget standoff is threatening to spill into next month as both parties remain far apart on finding a solution to the state's estimated $15.2 billion deficit. "It just has to change, and citizens will...

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California's Republican lawmakers on Sunday rejected a Democratic proposal for $6.6 billion in tax increases on the wealthy and corporations despite an offer to boost the state's rainy day fund. The failed vote now pushes California's budget impasse into its eighth week with no compromise in sight. The 45-30 vote in the state Assembly was the first since the state began its new fiscal year July 1 without a budget. It came after four hours of debate during which 49 of the Assembly's 80 members spoke. Democrats offered a revised tax plan that's smaller than the $8.2...

With a budget vote looming, Assembly Democrats this afternoon released a summary of the key proposals they will push.The Assembly is scheduled to vote today on a new budget, 48 days after the state began the new fiscal year with no spending plan.Republicans are not expected to support the budget proposal because its centerpiece is an income tax increase on California's wealthiest residents. Today's vote is politically important, nonetheless, because it could show whether any Assembly members are wavering on their party's position. The state Senate is not expected to meet.Assembly Speaker Karen Bass characterized the budget proposal as a...

California's unemployment rate soared to 7.3 percent in July, with nearly 400,000 more workers in the jobless ranks than a year earlier, indicating that we still haven't hit bottom in this recession. What started out as a sudden meltdown in the housing industry has spread to many other sectors, most obviously retail sales. Auto dealers are closing their doors throughout the state, and the Mervyns department store chain has sought bankruptcy protection, to cite but two examples. Steve Levy, who runs the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy, has devised a "misery index" of unemployment and inflation...

If you've been paying attention to California's chronic budget problems, you know that they fundamentally stem from a disastrous decision in 2000 by then-Gov. Gray Davis and legislators of both parties to squander a one-time windfall of revenue on permanent spending increases and tax cuts that could not be sustained over the long haul. It was, however, just one of three similarly irresponsible decisions during Davis' governorship, which was cut short by his recall in 2003. A second was to sharply increase state worker pensions on the assurances of the union-dominated California Public Employees' Retirement System that they could be...

Cancel those Sunday plans: The Assembly and the Senate have tentatively scheduled floor votes on a budget bill that day. It does not mean a deal is imminent. Lawmakers want a floor vote by this weekend to meet a deadline set by Secretary of State Debra Bowen for placing measures on the November ballot. Many see the deadline as a moving target, however, and believe the vote Sunday may be the first in several floor exercises before a final deal is struck. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said lawmakers plan to vote Sunday on a modified version of the...

Republican lawmakers have it within their sights to enact what could be the most far-reaching reform of state budgeting in modern times. The deal on the table would create a real rainy day fund, setting aside monies during boom years to use when state tax revenues fall. The effect would be to slow the growth of state spending and reduce pressure to raise taxes – a top priority for the GOP. The deal would also give the governor new authority to cut certain spending in midyear if revenues were to dip below a set threshold. For Republicans, this would be...

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata began Wednesday saying he had made enough concessions to secure a budget deal with the governor and called for Republicans to sign on. But the day ended with little progress, as Perata concluded that negotiations remained at "impasse." So goes the topsy-turvy world of California's budget standoff amid a $15.2 billion deficit. "We're huddling now and trying to see what our next step will be," Perata told reporters Wednesday afternoon. Hours earlier, Perata described a compromise with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would temporarily increase the state sales tax by 1 cent and restrain future...

Virginia's cash crunch is going from bad to worse, possibly shorting the state budget another $1 billion and forcing more cuts in services and layoffs. Ahead of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's much-anticipated revenue report to the General Assembly on Monday, lawmakers from both parties are predicting the shortfall for the current two-year, $77 billion budget could reach or surpass $1 billion.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government's budget deficit nearly tripled in July from a year earlier, pushed in part by aftershocks from failed financial institutions. The Treasury Department on Tuesday said the government ran a monthly deficit of $102.77 billion in July, up 182% from $36.45 billion in July 2007. Outlays were $263.26 billion last month, up 27% from July 2007's $206.89 billion. Spending rose on a $15 billion disbursement by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to cover deposits at failed financial institutions. Calendar shifts also contributed to the figures, causing the July 2007 figure to be lower by $19 billion....

It's still a long way from being fully cooked, but the fuzzy outline of a deal on the much-delayed, deficit-ridden state budget is becoming visible as the deadline for placing measures on the November ballot draws near. Secretary of State Debra Bowen says Saturday is the deadline, but Capitol types believe it could be stretched a week or two. And the deadline, whenever it may be, is an important ingredient in any budget deal, because at least one of the pending elements would have to be placed before voters. The central element is what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls "budget reform"...

Sacramento, CA (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Controller John Chiang (Chung) are headed for a court fight over the administration's attempt to cut the pay of state workers. Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger's Department of Personnel Administration, tells The Associated Press that a lawsuit against Chiang will be filed later today. The Republican governor issued an executive order on July 31 directing that the pay of nearly 140,000 non-security, rank-and-file employees be cut to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour. The order would be in effect until lawmakers approve a state budget. About 30,000 management...

The more we spend unnecessarily, the less money we save for our true priorities and future needs. That's especially important in challenging economic times. BusinessWeek asked financial advisors for tips on how to reduce expenses and boost savings. Changing spending habits can be difficult, but here are 25 suggestions to get started. 1. Track Every Expense Financial advisors say the best way to control your spending is to know precisely where all your cash is going each month. There are several options: Make a budget; keep a spreadsheet of all spending; or buy a computer program designed to help manage...

At least 29 states plus the District of Columbia, including several of the nation’s largest states, faced an estimated $48 billion in combined shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2009 (which began July 1, 2008 in most states.) At least three other states expect budget problems in fiscal year 2010. In general, states closed these budget gaps through some combination of spending cuts, use of reserves or revenue increases when they adopted a fiscal year 2009 budget. At this point in the year, most states have already adopted those budgets; only two states — California and Michigan — continue...

<p>California lawmakers frustrated over the state budget impasse pointed fingers Thursday and accused each other of failing to get serious about closing the $15.2 billion deficit.</p> <p>A rancorous debate erupted on the Assembly floor after Republicans attempted to bring the Democrats' tax-raising budget plan to a vote that surely would have failed.</p>

Last December, it was already becoming apparent that state governments across America were headed for some dire financial straits. Even the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, hardly a free market think tank, said at that time thirteen states were facing revenue shortfalls totaling $23 billion. Of course, these quickly became the “good ole days” once the Center released an updated analysis this summer, showing twenty-nine states facing shortfalls of $48 billion. How did things get so out of control, so quickly? Not surprisingly, it started with rampant overspending. In fact, the average state grew government by 9.3% last year...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he will refuse to sign any bills that reach his desk until the Legislature sends him a budget agreement. "At this point, nothing in this building is more important than a responsible budget to fix our broken budget system," he said at a hastily called afternoon press conference. "So until the Legislature passes a budget that I can sign, I will not sign any bills that reach my desk." Schwarzenegger acknowledged that his decision "means some good bills will fail." But he said with a cash crisis looming, the late budget takes on even greater...

Shortly after he was confirmed as governor of New York earlier this year, David Paterson told a group of business executives that when he received congratulations from old friends he hadn’t heard from in years, he was surprised how many no longer lived in New York. "All of them basically said the same thing," Paterson told the group. "'Good luck in New York state, but we can't pay the taxes. The opportunities aren't there.'”

Overall, Democrats deserve credit for being forthright about intending to close much of the state's budget deficit with new taxes, in contrast with Republicans who say they want deep reductions in spending but refuse to say what should be cut. That said, the details of how Democrats would generate more than $10 billion in tax revenues, roughly two-thirds of the projected 2008-09 deficit, leave much to be desired – even if one accepts the underlying premise that the state's fiscal problem is essentially a lack of revenues. The plan's core is tapping the most affluent Californians through higher income taxes,...

It took nearly five years, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger broke his no-tax pledge in an effort to break a budget deadlock.It was the right thing to do, even if we would have preferred a more progressive alternative to the governor's proposed temporary one-cent increase in the sales tax. But let there be no doubt: The $4 billion tax increase would have less of an impact on low-income Californians than a commensurate cut in state programs.Now the challenge will be for Schwarzenegger to persuade a handful of Republicans to break their own no-tax pacts that have all but frozen any meaningful...

Gov. Chris Gregoire did Monday what families and businesses have been doing for months: She ordered cuts in travel and buying gasoline, a hiring freeze and a lid on major purchases for most state agencies. The effort is expected to save $90 million, making up for an unexpected $60 million drop in revenue in June. The lost income came from a slowdown in the housing market and lower business taxes than expected. "I am asking each of you to step up your efforts to increase savings. I ask that you be creative and take action now," Gregoire said in a...

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata today welcomed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 1-cent sales tax hike as "a start," but declared budget negotiations are at an impasse and said he does not expect a quick resolution. Perata's comments, following a Senate session, were his first since Schwarzenegger proposed the temporary sales tax increase over the weekend in an effort to bridge the state's $15.2 billion deficit and bring an end to the 36-day budget standoff. "I'm glad the governor has come around to saying publicly what we've known all along - that we have to have taxes in order to...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, it would appear, just can't help himself. The man who achieved success as a bodybuilder and action movie star with over-the-top, attention-getting stunts keeps trying to make them work in politics – and keeps failing. The governor's latest political stunt is a grandiose order that thousands of part-time and temporary state employees – including student interns – would be laid off and everyone else on the state payroll have their salaries slashed to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour because the state lacks a budget. The lack of a budget, he said last Thursday, "leaves me...

Massachusetts is about the last place one would expect a tax revolt, but that's what's brewing in Beantown. The state board of elections recently certified that citizen activists have gathered the 125,000 signatures required to qualify an initiative for the November ballot to eliminate the state income tax. The Small Government Act would repeal the 5.3% income and wage tax, as well as the state capital gains tax, which reaches as high as 12%. The ballot initiative would replace the $12.5 billion in taxes with . . . nothing. "One of the points here," explains Carla Howell of the Committee...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed during private budget negotiations over the weekend to close the state's $15.2-billion deficit with a temporary one-cent hike in the state sales tax, to take effect immediately, according to Democratic and Republican legislative sources. The proposal, floated in meetings with legislative leaders and their staff, hinges on lawmakers agreeing to spending restraints to control the growth of government and give governors authority to cut programs whenever the state falls into the red. Lawmakers and staffers close to budget negotiations said the governor, who has repeatedly vowed never to raise taxes, would not support the...

The Democratic majority in the California Legislature is counting on a veteran leader, Don Perata, to see the party through a fight with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over the state's $15 billion budget deficit. But a federal corruption investigation of Mr. Perata could stymie his efforts to get the job done... San Francisco federal prosecutors have been investigating whether payments made by lobbyists and others to Mr. Perata in the past four years were improper. Prosecutors have indicated to defense lawyers that they're close to wrapping up their probe, said people close to the defense, who added that they expect...

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators confront a projected $15.2 billion budget deficit and weigh whether to impose new taxes to close it, local governments throughout California are contemplating a wide array of new taxes to close their shortfalls or expand local services and facilities. The most ambitious of the local tax schemes may be the Santa Clara Unified School District's plans to impose a $30,000 tax on each new house in a north San Jose development, subject to approval by voters, plus much-smaller parcel taxes on existing homeowners, to finance school programs. But the controversial Santa Clara Unified levy...

ALBANY — “The budget I am presenting today,” Gov. Hugh L. Carey said in a speech in 1976, “demands that every state agency” must “alter those practices that have brought the public sector of this state to its greatest crisis since the Great Depression.” Fast forward to 1991, when his successor, Mario M. Cuomo, said in a budget address that New York was confronting “fiscal problems more severe than any we have faced since the Great Depression.” Not to be outdone, his successor, George E. Pataki, said in comments to reporters a decade later, “We are facing the most difficult...

The annual political impasse over the state budget raises this annual question: Is it time to get rid of California's almost unique requirement for a two-thirds legislative vote on the state budget? Yep. Minority Republicans contend that the two-thirds vote is a bulwark against runaway spending by the dominant Democrats, but that contention ignores history. Indeed, the almost perpetual budget deficit is the best evidence that the two-thirds vote does not, contrary to GOP assertions, promote fiscal responsibility. A case in point is what happened in 2000, when the state received a $12 billion windfall of revenues from frenzied stock...

For years, taxpayer advocacy groups have been sounding the alarm about serious spending problems facing the nation and the lack of attention elected officials are paying to this growing fiscal disaster. Now come projections out of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on what further delay means to taxpayers everywhere, says the Heartland Institute. According to the recent CBO report: Rising costs for health care and the aging of the population will cause federal spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to rise substantially as a share of the economy. If tax revenues as a share of gross domestic product (GDP)...

GOVERNOR'S PLOY PUTS PRESSURE ON, BUT OUTCOME IS WHAT MATTERS - If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's intent was to rile up the state work force and put pressure on lawmakers to strike a budget deal, he couldn't have scripted it better.Last week, the governor hinted he would slash pay to 200,000 state workers if a budget wasn't in place by the end of August.On Monday, the Service Employees International Union Local 1000 placed 121 cots in front of the Capitol, one for each legislator and the governor, letting them know where they can sleep until a deal is cut. How's that...

The move reduces state workers' pay to federal minimum wage until the governor and legislators OK a state budget. Controller John Chiang, though, says he won't implement Schwarzenegger's executive order. SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today ordered his administration to lay off thousands of part-time state workers and to work with the state controller to temporarily slash the pay of most full-time employees to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour. Schwarzenegger administration officials said the move will help give the state enough cash to get by until a state budget is signed. The budget was due July 1...

California voters could hardly be more disgusted at government's chronic inability to solve state budget woes effectively and on time. Only 4 percent, according to a recent poll, have a "great deal" of confidence that lawmakers can do the right thing on the overdue spending plan. But the same voters have passed laws that virtually guarantee annual spending increases for education, severely restrict what can be cut from transportation and local governments and make it virtually impossible to raise taxes. When voters are polled, huge majorities oppose cuts to schools, health care, law enforcement, road building, parks, the environment –...

Richard Viguerie: Bush White House hides true scope of federal deficit (Manassas, Virginia) The following is a statement by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, regarding the White House projection of a $482 Billion deficit for Fiscal Year 2009: “The White House has issued figures indicating that President Bush and his enablers in Congress will leave his successor with a budget deficit of $482 Billion for Fiscal Year 2009, which is a record. How’s that for a legacy? “As shocking as this deficit figure is, that’s still not the true scope of our budget woes because it excludes $80 Billion...

...the casual observer, the situation in Sacramento probably seems pretty bleak right now. With the state facing a $15 billion budget shortfall, Democrats and Republicans are a month overdue in getting a new spending plan in place. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to order a temporary pay cut for 200,000 state employees and wants to furlough thousands of others to preserve cash so the government can continue operating through September. Legislative leaders, meanwhile, scheduled a Senate vote on a Democratic budget plan Tuesday, then abruptly canceled it. But in the topsy-turvy world of state politics, these seemingly dark developments might...

The Sacramento Bee reports that California State Senator Don Perarta has called off a budget vote, largely because he can’t find more than 25 votes to pass a $9.7 Billion tax increase. Meanwhile, the California Democratic Party has donated $250,000 to help Don Perata pay off his legal bills, as the Senate Democratic leader continues to rack up expenses fending off an ongoing FBI corruption investigation. Time to blow up the box, Arnold.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he'll slash wages for as many as 200,000 state employees and lay off 22,000 temporary workers until the state has a budget – but he'd better keep a few lawyers around because he may find himself in an epic legal battle. Schwarzenegger's melodramatic act, which first surfaced last week and was tentatively scheduled to happen on Monday, now has been postponed. "The first day of savings will be Thursday," spokesman Aaron McLear said, "so the governor will invoke his executive authority Thursday to ensure the state has enough cash to cover its costs." Ostensibly, Schwarzenegger's action...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday projected the U.S. budget deficit will soar to a record of nearly half a trillion dollars in fiscal 2009 as a housing-led economic slowdown cuts into government revenues. The economic and fiscal deterioration will complicate efforts to bring the budget to balance and pose challenges for whoever takes over the White House in January, either Republican Sen. John McCain or Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. "I believe whoever becomes the next president will have a very, very sobering first week in office," predicted Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat....

Recently I saw two movies that attacked the controversial Wal-mart department store. A PBS documentary called Is Wal-Mart good for America? And Wal-Mart the high cost of low price an independent movie about Wal-mart and the Walton family. I also visited wakeupwalmart.com for more info this article is a refutation on most of the BS that appeared on the two documentaries. First of all we need to ask ourselves why "Wal-Mart is under ferocious attack by the left?" Wal-Mart delivers well on its promise of low prices to Americans. Being a resident of one of the poorest and liberal states...