14 posts
lets have it here. what should we do in these states like california, illinois, etc. where the state is literally completely broke? i will take a predictable stance and suggest that the social programs should be scaled back, all benefits for illegal aliens ended,and the passing of a balanced budget every year. i'm really interested in what you guys think we should do as many of these problems cannot be put off anymore. charger, i saw california was going to pay it's workers 7.25 an hour until they fix the problem. what do you think about that? ignoring them until the economy picks back up is literally not an option anymore.
I'm not worried so much about social programs. I think some COULD be cut but not that many. I'm more worried about pork barrel spending.
California has special problems. The biggest one is that we voted in the requirement that any tax increase requires a 2/3 vote to pass the state legislature. This means that every year we are stuck in budget limbo for 4 or 5 months. The second biggest problem is that we legislate by proposition--we put propositions on the ballot that require funding, and every year we pass them. Then, that money is required to go to those programs, and cannot be cut or altered in the budget.
We've already cut a shitload, and social programs have been hit hard. I question the cost of illegal immigrants to this state. I know they cost something, but I also know that most of them pay wage taxes and they all pay taxes on purchases. I would venture to guess that illegal immigrants are closer to a wash than not.
I think we need the ability to change state taxes. We've got more millionaires and billionaires per capita and as a whole than any other state in the country, but no ability to change the tax rate, so our revenues are flat at best. What we also need is more recoupment--the money we send to Washington does not come back to California. It goes to all those other states that are smaller and better at drawing in federal cash. We fund programs everywhere but here. It's a waste.
I think the minimum wage for state employees is BS. The fine print is that once the budget is passed, all of those wages will get paid back. But in the short term? What if the budget process takes 4 months? How many people will default on mortgages, car loans, credit cards because of it? It's not a solution to anything... it's just going to fuck state workers. If you want to legislate something about wages, do something real. Cut wages across the board by 10%. But cutting someone from $30 an hour to $7.25 an hour is just going to hurt the people and the economy. It's not going to help anything.
I don't know enough about the state budgeting/taxation regime, I remember it when I worked in the US local state sales tax etc., flipping between NY and NJ was influenced by it - but I was only going to be short term in the US and didn't give it much attention.
But I don't get the logic in cutting wages to an arbitrary $7.25 phr level for state employees,
if I was earning $100 phr as the expert keeping state IT systems collecting taxes or monitoring borders for illegal aliens
well I would simply jack the job at that rate and go on vacation.
Am i missing some point here as it sounds like a free market rejection.
in essence it's pure free market: pay the people what you can, if they stay so be it.
i don't think it's the answer either,but i have nothing better to suggest as i don't know the intricacies of the budget like the governor does.
Like I said, it's not really a solution and it's got nothing to do with knowing the budget. It's just a shock move. Schwarzenegger knows that legislators don't want to risk the wrath of the state employees, so he's essentially saying "come up with something and get it done." Even if the move does go through, all those employees will get their back pay when the budget is passed. And it's actually not worse than the last few budgets--when the legislature couldn't agree, state employees didn't get paid at all. They got IOUs from the state, and once the budget passed, people could cash in their IOUs. 7.25 an hour for two months is better than 0 for two months. Not much better, but it's a little better. It's still going to screw a lot of people--there would be lots of defaults on credit cards and loans. But I'd be much more interested to see an across the board pay cut of 5-10% for state employees, some reductions in the public employee pension system, modest rollbacks throughout the system, and modest tax increases.
from what i've read reducing the public pension system is going to be the key. it's pretty terrible to go back on a commitment but the money just is not there. i think that is going to be a nation wide trend unfortunately.
chase — Jul 10, 2010from what i've read reducing the public pension system is going to be the key. it's pretty terrible to go back on a commitment but the money just is not there. i think that is going to be a nation wide trend unfortunately.
Believe me i know. My dad gets one of those pensions. It's almost 95% of his salary.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Suffer-These-Crimes-in-Oakland-Dont-Call-the-Cops-98266509.html
it's already starting. check out the list of what the oakland PD will NOT respond to now. it's mind boggling. as fiscal insolvency spreads so will these actions.
I don't find that list mind-boggling. My local police department has me fill out an online form for almost all of that stuff. I mean, come on. Grand theft :dog? Passing a bad check?
are you serious? police WILL NOT RESPOND if you call in grand theft, burglary, extortion, problems from downed power lines, etc. how is that OK with you?
the way i see it is the government is failing to do what is exists in the first place for. if the cops wont respond when somebody robs your house, why pay taxes?
Right now, if you call in a burglary--for example, someone breaks into your car--what do the police do where you are? I'd wager to bet that most police departments now ask you to fill out an online form, or they take a phone questionnaire. That's what happened in my town. I asked a cop I met why, and he said that in 99% of cases, there was no useful evidence available in that kind of crime. Usually, if the thief was caught, it was either later when trying to unload the stolen merch, or on a drug charge.
Downed power lines? That's your local utility's responsibility. What's a cop going to do? They can't handle the power line. I don't think I've ever seen a cop show up for that and I'm not sure why they would.
Sure, grand theft I can see. But like I said, most of those other infractions cops are not going to show up for, and probably don't need to.
See the list of what you report online in my town...
http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=68