Thread: California on Its Way to Being Destroyed----Forever

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... ing14.html

Here we are waving the flag, but the writers will refuse to acknowledge the elephant in the room -- which is illegal immigration.

I can't even believe what is happening to our country, and how the general electorate cannot make the connections, or how the media continues to ignore it. This article was published today:

Some governors face big falloff in revenues
By Keith B. Richburg

The Washington Post

NEW YORK — Faced with a weak national economy and a worsening housing crisis, a growing number of states are confronted with severe budget deficits, forcing some governors to come up with creative — some say risky — budget gimmicks to find new sources of cash.

At least 13 states — led by California, New York and New Jersey — are facing huge shortfalls for the next fiscal year, and about a dozen others are in serious financial difficulty, according to various budget estimates, reports from the governors and a survey by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank in Washington that advocates for the poor.

In contrast, when Washington's Legislature convenes today, lawmakers will have the luxury of deciding what to do with the state's projected $1.4 billion budget surplus. Gov. Christine Gregoire wants to set aside $1.2 billion in case the state economy goes into recession.

Unlike the federal government, most states are not allowed, by their constitutions, to run budget deficits, so legislatures convening for their 2008 sessions must make painful decisions over what programs to cut or which taxes to raise to close the gaps.

One of the main causes is fallout from the nation's housing crisis. Declining home sales, deflated property values and mounting foreclosures have caused a slide in states' tax receipts, helping push their budgets into deficit.

"It's amazing how sales-tax revenues are tied to the housing market," said Iris Lav, deputy director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "People aren't buying construction materials; people aren't furnishing new homes. Some states also have real-estate transfer taxes."

The biggest crisis is in California, where Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency after reporting a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall and a projected deficit of $14 billion for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Schwarzenegger proposed reducing every state program by 10 percent next year, eliminating cost-of-living adjustments and enacting budget revisions to reduce what he called "Sacramento's overspending."

In the Northeast, which leads the nation in declining home sales, some governors are trying creative, one-time budget gimmicks to raise badly needed cash to finance some of their favored long-term projects.

In New York, which is looking at a $4 billion shortfall, Gov. Eliot Spitzer is considering a plan to securitize, or sell off, a portion of the state's future lottery proceeds to start a $4 billion endowment for New York's public universities.

In New Jersey, with a $3.5 billion shortfall and a crushing $32 billion debt, Gov. Jon Corzine has proposed drastically increasing the toll fees on the state's three toll roads and issuing up to $38 billion in bonds against future toll revenues. The money would be used to pay down the debt and make infrastructure improvements.

In Massachusetts, facing a $1.5 billion shortfall, Gov. Deval Patrick is reportedly considering presenting a budget to the Legislature this month that would count as revenue up to $900 million from license fees from three new casinos. Patrick needs cash to support his plans to improve education in the state. But the idea of using the casino license fees has drawn criticism because Patrick's casino plan has not yet been approved by the Legislature, where there is strong opposition.


State governments went through a similar period of slow growth and belt-tightening during the slowdown that began with the bursting of the technology stock bubble and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That slowdown lasted until 2004, but states were able to weather it because property taxes remained high, lining the coffers of local governments.

This time, economists and analysts fear, the bursting of the property bubble will soon start to cause financial problems for localities dependent on property taxes, and they will have to turn to the state governments for aid.

Critics say the governors' one-time gimmicks to raise money mask deeper budgetary problems.

"They try to get more and more creative financially, but all of this can't replace budgetary responsibility," said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a New York think tank. "At some point, the checkbook has to balance. At some point, they'll run out of things to securitize or sell off."

There is always an aversion to raising taxes during a recession.

The only other way for states to close the gap is by radically reducing spending, as Schwarzenegger is proposing in California. But according to some analysts, the states went through such a painful round of cuts during the 2001 slowdown that there is not much left to decrease.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, during the recession in 2001, about 34 states cut eligibility for public health programs, causing 1 million people to lose access to health care, and 34 states cut aid to school districts in 2004, meaning higher costs for textbooks, shorter school days and fewer staff members. States also raised tuition at public colleges and universities.

"In general, state expenditures are below, on average, where they were prior to the last recession," said Lav, the center's deputy director.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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Probably the only way of saving Calif. now is by saving the rest of America first...we can take it back!! All of it one state at a time, eventually Calif. politicians will have to wake up!!

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NEED HELP... TIME TO GO AFTER HILLARY "NO WOMAN IS ILLEGAL"
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Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

Probably the only way of saving Calif. now is by saving the rest of America first...we can take it back!! All of it one state at a time, eventually Calif. politicians will have to wake up!!

--------------------------RED ALERT--1/14---------------------
NEED HELP... TIME TO GO AFTER HILLARY "NO WOMAN IS ILLEGAL"
Instructions and contacts infor....
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-584446.html#584446
Help keep alipac in the fight by contributing today
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=C ... page&pid=9

So true my friend, I have thought the same thing for a long time. Clear them out of the other 49 states, then send in the full force of the US military to weed them out of Cali.

Sorry to my friends who are still there, but you already realize that Cali is already a war zone

Quick someone call up the Huey Helicopters, Ill be on the roof waiting for ya!

Originally Posted by Bulldogger

Quick someone call up the Huey Helicopters, Ill be on the roof waiting for ya!

As soon as we can hitch a ride we will pick you up, you'll be the one with the American Flag, right!!

I'll be the old lady hanging down with the big net to scoop up the illegals and drop them on the other side of the border

Originally Posted by cayla99

I'll be the old lady hanging down with the big net to scoop up the illegals and drop them on the other side of the border

That works for me Cayla! I do hope you are agile!

Will they at least deport the illegal aliens amongst the 22,000 inmates they are releasing?

Originally Posted by Ex_OC

Will they at least deport the illegal aliens amongst the 22,000 inmates they are releasing?

Probably not "EX_OC" That would cost to much!

you'll be the one with the American Flag, right!!

Dang right, you wont mistake my identity I'll be the one that speaks English.