Having faced some of the most agonizing budget decisions a State can make since the fairly mundane 2008 election, this November is the first time that Californians will have the opportunity to confront the wide array of proposed remedies and decide for themselves which of those remedies bears merit.
As a wave of populist anger sweeps the nation, the latest investigation by California's Fair Political Practices Commission is sure to ignite further grassroots discontent.
Many in the GOP are calling for a return to the era of Reagan's fiscal conservatism, but do they have the right man? Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity constantly tout themselves as "Reagan conservatives", and in the 2007-2008 primaries, the GOP presidential candidates frequently mentioned Reagan as the champion of conservatism.
Imagine if the Legislature had to forfeit its salary and perks for every day that it did not pass a budget. Chances are, state budgets would be passed much more promptly if lawmakers' pocket books were at risk. Such a scenario could come to fruition if a ballot initiative gains a sufficient number of signatures to be put in front of voters.
Legislators often complain about the cost and inconvenience of the multitude of ballot measures, but a recent analysis by the nonprofit Center for Governmental Studies revealed that 83% of ballot initiatives approved by voters from 1998-2009 were placed on the ballot by the Legislature.
According to the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara, high school dropouts cost the state $1.1 billion annually in law enforcement and victim costs. Cutting the dropout rate in half could prevent up to 30,000 juvenile crimes and save up to $550 million a year.
Grey Davis comments on the budget, saying “There’s a lot of things that have to change… the easiest one is to make the passing of a budget a majority vote” instead of the 2/3rds vote required today. Raising taxes also requires a 2/3rds vote. He also reminds us that legally we cannot go bankrupt, a fact he considers fortunate for us.
Some Democratic lawmakers are furious over half a billioin dollars that were cut out of the budget for health, welfare, and other programs. Now, they are contending that the governor went beyond his constitutional authority in using his power scratch programs with a line-item-veto.
Despite painful spending cuts and rosy economic projections, next year's budget deficit will likely run at a minimum of $7 billion. And based on the falsified predictions of the last couple of years, the $7 billion minimum is likely to grow much larger. At some point, California will have to fully commit itself to legitimately balancing the budget. Relying on inaccurate models
In an interview with CNBC, Gray Davis gives his assessment of California's budget mess and some positive words for California's non-partisan primary initiative.
