Schwarzenegger to propose lottery borrowing to ease deficit

AP on KSBY.com ^ | 5/13/08 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose borrowing against future state lottery revenue to help close a $15.2 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

Administration officials told The Associated Press that the governor on Wednesday will propose raising $15 billion over the next three years by selling bonds based on anticipated lottery revenues and using about $5.1 billion in the 2008-08 fiscal year to help erase the deficit.

The other $10 billion would be left in a rainy day fund the governor wants to create as part of a budget reform proposal to ease the effect of revenue fluctuations from year-to-year.

Both the lottery plan, which would let the lottery pay out more in prizes in hopes of attracting additional revenue, and the budget reform proposal would require approval from voters on the November ballot.

The governor's spending plan will also avoid having to suspend the minimum school-funding guarantee, Proposition 98.

[stravinskyrules]

LOLOLOL!!!

Stunned I tellya....stunned!

[lexington minuteman 1775]

So this is like robbing Peter to pay Paul? How nice...

[Jeff Chandler]

Kind of like paying a credit card bill with a credit card?

[RightOnline]

sigh...............hey Arnold; try cutting taxes and unbelievably stupid “social spending”; now there is a novel concept.

[neodad]

Or they could, um..... cut spending?

[stravinskyrules]

Remember, lotterys are for education.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Funny.
Why not cut every agency in state government by 5 percent ? Do it Again.

[NormsRevenge]

It’s hard to teach an old Trojan Horse new tricks..

[DManA]

Is this a state or are we talking about a crack adict?

[2111USMC]

Psst ... hey Ahnold

Cut spending + cut illegal alien support = < 1-year Payback

[BIGLOOK]

So.....are lottery winnings tax deductible? How about lottery cards? Prepayment on future earnings or losses?

You gotta do something about your States's affairs, Norm. (I should talk.....)

[BloodOrFreedom]

If only his brains were as big as his biceps...

[goldstategop]

Its like borrowing from a casino and saying the money you put in your bank account is yours. No one would call it "balanced" if they did that. But in California, when the government takes out a loan, that's called a "balanced budget." Really.

"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

[ThomasThomas]

Maybe the state should buy a bunch of lottery tickets and use the winnings to pay for the budget shortfall.

[popdonnelly]

I have an idea. Cut the cost of government.

This is why I prefer business to government. When a business spends more money than it takes in, it goes bankrupt. When a government does the same, it keeps on spending.

[calcowgirl]

To laugh, or to cry...

[Amerigomag]

Love it ... an old Trojan horse

He certainly is a borrowing dandy. Schwarzenegger never met a problem he couldn't solve by borrowing. Could it be a national obsession in Austria?

[Lancey Howard]

Hilarious! Just when you think the scumbags have used up every smoke-and-mirrors scam under the sun, they come up with a new one! They’ll do ANYTHING but rein in the out-of-control spending, and the obscene pay and perks for state employees and retirees..

I will sit here in Pennsylvania and laugh about it until it’s time for a federal bailout.
THEN I will be in my Senators’ and Congressman’s faces. “NO!”

[samadams2000]

TOTAL RECALL