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Thread: Quote of the Week - 'The Guillotine is Coming'

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    Default Quote of the Week - 'The Guillotine is Coming'

    (snip)Reporting from Sacramento -- State lawmakers Wednesday approved billions of dollars in cuts to welfare, medical programs for the poor and in-home care for the elderly and frail, among other services, moving forward key pieces of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget reduction package.

    They also voted to sharply reduce services for the developmentally disabled and shifted hundreds of millions of dollars away from mental health and early childhood programs to use instead to reduce the deficit.

    The cuts would cover only part of the state's roughly $26-billion shortfall. But legislative leaders pushed ahead on the budget actions for which there was bipartisan support as they and the governor continued to lobby for votes for the more contentious provisions of Brown's plan. They are still scrambling to secure GOP support for a ballot measure that would ask voters to extend billions of dollars in temporary tax increases.

    Brown needs at least four Republicans, two each in the Assembly and Senate, to place the tax question before voters in a June special election.

    As lawmakers debated into the night Wednesday, some warned that the reductions they were enacting would dramatically reshape California government.

    "The guillotine is coming," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) said to no one in particular as he strode across the Assembly floor shortly before the voting began.

    Lawmakers did not approve an official budget for fiscal 2011-12 but instead signed off on accompanying legislation necessary to enact the cuts. All told, legislators endorsed eight bills in a 20-piece budget package, cutting a projected $7.4 billion from the budget. More votes on some of the thorniest remaining issues could come as early as Thursday, including the main budget bill and taxes.(snip)

    from


    (snip)Reporting from Sacramento— Public support for Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to solve the budget crisis with a June election is eroding as other officials warn that delaying such a move until late fall, as the governor is considering, could trigger a cash crisis and a fresh round of state-issued IOUs.

    A new survey from the independent Public Policy Institute of California shows that 46% of likely California voters back Brown's call for a five-year extension on some sales, income and vehicle taxes to help balance the state's books. Just two months ago, 53% of voters surveyed by PPIC said they would approve of the taxes.

    The public appetite for a special election also seems to be on the wane. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they wanted one; in January, two-thirds said they welcomed an opportunity to vote on Brown's proposal. The governor promised voters during his campaign last year that they could sign off on any tax hikes.

    The survey suggests that even if Brown manages to hold a special election, selling the taxes to the public will not be easy. Ballot measures with less than 50% support before a campaign begins typically fail.

    "While many Californians still favor the approach the governor proposed in January, his plan to seek a budget solution through a June ballot has become a more difficult task to achieve," said PPIC President Mark Baldassare.

    The fading public interest could further complicate Brown's efforts to persuade the Legislature to place his tax measure on the ballot in June. That requires a two-thirds majority in each house, meaning at least four Republicans would have to say yes. So far, no GOP lawmakers have provided support.

    In recent days, the governor has been exploring ways to take the tax question to Californians without Republican agreement. He is mulling a citizen initiative in November that would not require lawmakers' involvement, or a legal loophole that some lawyers say would allow the Legislature to place the issue on the ballot without Republicans.(snip)

    from


    The fairly obvious take-away from California is that the governor and state democrats continue to rely on enacting a de-facto permanent increase in state income taxes, vehicle taxes, and other taxes ... with additional state gov't borrowing based on future revenues to be generated by those higher tax rates ... as the only serious measures to reduce the state gov'ts shortfall between current gov't spending levels and tax revenues received.

    As to the 'Guillotine is Coming' quote from a California democratic assemblyman, his probable context was the (phony scare tactic) proposed cuts in spending for state social welfare programs and state funded health programs. However, in all probability, the 'Guillotine' comment is more likely to apply to the reaction they will actually receive from both California voters ( if and when the temporary tax increases are to be made de-facto permanent ) and from the lenders California will be attempting to borrow additional money from ( via future Muni Bond sales ).

    I remain amazed by the fact that so many state govt's remain in 'denial' regarding the inescapable math behind their gov't spending deficits !!! For better or worse, unlike the US federal gov't, states are not allowed to 'print money'. Thus the proverbial 'guillotine' on state spending is indeed hanging above their heads.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 03-25-2011 at 03:22 AM.

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