It must be summer because Hollywood is putting out sequels again. This time it's the same horror movie that we saw just a few months ago.
Reporting from Sacramento -- California could run out of money as soon as July, the Legislature's chief budget analyst warned Thursday, as a new poll showed voters poised to reject five budget-related measures on the May 19 ballot.If the propositions do not pass, the state could find itself as much as $23 billion short of the money it needs to pay its bills over the next year, according to a new forecast by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. The poll, from the Public Policy Institute of California, found that even as voter interest in the ballot measures rises, all are trailing except the sixth one -- Proposition 1F, which would bar pay hikes for lawmakers in deficit years.
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All of the proposals were placed on the ballot by the governor and lawmakers as part of a February budget agreement. That plan was intended to keep the state solvent well into next year, but it was quickly knocked out of balance by the deteriorating economy.Adding to the fiscal woes, the Obama administration is threatening to pull $6.8 billion in stimulus funds from California in a dispute over an earlier state budget cut.
"The Legislature is going to need to act promptly," said state Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer. "We have a fairly short window to get a lot done."
How many times do we have to watch these high-budget, low-action sequels?
they won't deal with reality
They have their heads so far up their ass they won't even look at the real numbers, statistics and deal with reality.
We are so screwed
Here is a little play by play.
Last September the CA legislature signed a budget based on myth, voodoo and ritual sacrificing. By January all those phony numbers blew up and back to square one. Except this time they were negotiating a union contract.
As with every year the CA legislature, Governor, or some fringe wacko taxpayer group tries to use the state employees as a wedge device.
So this year it was the governor instituting furloughs. He found a sympathetic judge who couldn't be confined by laws and statutes and .... wahlah .... two day pay reduction (a month furloughs.) starting in February.
Could the union find a quick appeal? No that sat on their asses and awaited the vote for the new contract and ..... poof .... contract ratified and the union was absolved from all responsibility of negotiating a shitty contract.
Fast forward to end of March, and many may not know but the contract actually has to be submitted by a bill and passed by the legislature and governor.
The long drawn out battle over the budget came to a party line split and the Dem's in control still needed 3 Rethugs to cross the line. They eventually achieved the votes to submit the budget for voter approval. During that whole ordeal Legislator raises came up and automatically went into effect without a vote.
When the governor was questioned on cutting employee salaries but the legislature getting raises the governor spokesperson said something to the effect of "State employees are just going to have to suck it up".
Meanwhile the union contract has been sitting over thirty days waiting to be passed.
When these tax bills go down. Not only will you see CA go belly up but there will be massive layoffs of state employees.
39 other states are in the same boat
And July 1 marks the next fiscal year. My only question, will the Obama admin deliver enough federal programs done by state workers to offset massive layoffs?
If not, then I do not really understand how we can avoid this being the final straw into a wage/price deflationary spiral.
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Executive compensation is inversely proportional to morality and ethics.
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Maximum jobs, not maximum profits.