Posted on 11/16/2007 10:12:49 AM PST by ElkGroveDan
In hindsight, it's only fitting that Arnold Schwarzenegger swept into office by recalling Gray Davis. Because the way things are going these days, we find ourselves recalling Davis all the time.
Davis, you might, er, recall, was given the boot for allowing California to run up a massive budget deficit. Under his watch, Sacramento locked itself into outrageous spending patterns based on the assumption that the dot-com boom would last forever.
It didn't, Gray got dumped, and along came Arnold, who has proved to be little more than a Davis sequel.
Although Schwarzenegger proposed strong spending restraints in 2005, they were crushed at the polls thanks to heavy opposition from the labor unions and other special interests. At that point, Arnold seemed to lose all interest in fiscal responsibility.
So whereas Davis had the dot-com boom, Schwarzenegger had the real-estate bubble. Like Gray, Arnold signed on to spending patterns that presupposed permanent prosperity - a foolish and foreseeable error, especially last summer, when the housing market was already in trouble.
Now, only four months after assuring us that the budget was balanced and had a $4 billion reserve, state number-crunchers predict a $10 billion shortfall over the next two years.
The state's financial situation is dark - Gray, actually.
ping
Arnold may make Davis look like a piker before this is over. Some already think he has. Arnold did usher in the legalization of deficit spending, unless someone can explain why it’s still illegal now. What is going on is dead wrong. The silence by the media is deafening. The relative silence from the Republican Party is deafening.
We essentially live in a one party state.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
So, what can he do to solve it?
1) Decrease spending (he won’t do it)
2) Raise taxes (voters won’t like it)
3) More debt (voters may not approve it)
4) Public Private Partnerships (sell roads and the schools for instant cash)
Pick #4 and Voila! Arnold performed a miracle!
He solved the fiscal crisis, and “all without raising taxes! “
Big-time KA-CHING for Arnold’s backers.
IMO, this has been the plan of he and all his cohorts all along.
It’s really funny. I SWORE I voted for a Republican not a Kennedy, in that recall. Obviously I was wrong.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
He might as well suggest placing bibles in classrooms. The Education Industrial Complex, and Big Left will never go for it. Not for one second.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Good point on the schools.
How about highways? Or parks?
Or leasing other land for farming?
Or for windfarms or solar panels or other energy projects?
Selling off the state lottery isn’t going to get him $10-$20 billion. He’s already gazzupled the size of tribal gaming. Anything that generates revenue (or can generate—e.g. tollroads), or anything of value, is potentially on Arnold’s sales block, IMO.
In a bankruptcy court they might not have a choice.
California will not go bankrupt. In considering a bankruptcy all assets are taken in to account, including all real property. It’s more or less not possible for a bankruptcy - insolvency maybe, but not bankruptcy.
Good. They can start by selling off the parks and open space for management by private contract.
Fire 1 out of every 4 state workers, freeze wages, take back ungodly pension benefits,and cut spending 20% across the board, even funds earmarked to feed starving children.
As I understand it, if they did become insolvent the bankers and debt holders would be divvying up the spoils, similar to a bankruptcy. In that situtation, they may be able to trump the CTA and force the action (now I am just guessing).
As to selling off parks, last time I looked mob companies were managing some of the major national parks.
Prisons!
I knew there was another area other than schools and roads that were on the hit list. Maybe San Quentin for the land, but some have been salivating at the thought of privatizing a whole lot more. And with Maria, Donna Arduin, and others having close associations with the major private prison companies, that one makes perfect sense.
That’s what we get for electing a RINO above a conservative.
“There’s a dirty little secret about California tax policy: It takes a Republican to raise them,”
~ Tom McClintock
Then, we could consider eastern Australia in the "out back" area, or Africa in the Sahara, or how about Sudan??? They need somethin ta do besides killin each other, right???
There is so much good that Arnold Schwartzencigarsucker could be doin in the world, don'tcha thank???
Yep! That'd be me, fer sure!!!
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