California's Budget Woes a Cautionary Tale

(CBS)  It was gridlock on a San Francisco freeway after a truck spilled its load and there was no one to clean it up. Workers had to be called in from home because it was Furlough Friday, the day transportation workers are forced to stay home without pay, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.

It's a sign of things to come. Welcome to the new California. From highways to schools to health clinics, cut backs to balance California's budget are deep and drastic.

"The damage is pretty serious," said Joel Kotkin, a presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. "This is not just a minor illness that we have. This is pretty deep-seated disease."

Six billion dollars will be cut from kindergarten through community college education. Another $3 billion from state universities. That means fewer classes and 20 percent higher fees. That's $1,000 a year more for students like Whitney Thompson, a California State University senior.

"It brings tears to my eyes in just having to be in major debt and I mean it's really discouraging," Thompson said.

And $226 million cut from the state's in-home care program which reimburses Lisa Laster for caring for her mother Sara, who has Alzheimer's disease. Her fear?

"My mom having to go into a facility, and not getting the care that I know she is getting," Laster said.

The state is raiding $3.6 billion from city and county governments, half borrowed and half just taken.

"It's outrageous," said Zev Yaroslavsky, the L.A. County supervisor. "The problem is they are spending more than they are taking in."

Legislators are still battling over whether to release thousands of prisoners as a way to save more than $1 billion. California's governor tried to cut months of budget tension in a bizarre Twitter video:

"Hey guys, I just want to thank you for the great ideas you're giving me," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But no one here is laughing, especially when considering that these deep cuts might not make up for all the recessionary losses - leaving California short again, in just a few short months.

[eiralinn]

I think the politicians must be quite pleased wih all of the infighting they have created...."republican against democrat", "race against race", etc. It distracts of from the real enemy: Out-of-control Governement! Time for WE THE PEOPLE to clean house.

[eiralinn]

Let the housecleaning begin!

[pcevet4]

Living here in CA is like being thrown in with people who are eternal 13 year olds. We want the services, but don't want to pay for them. Many homeowners voted themselves out of paying taxes (Prop 13), and now expect people who came to the state later than 1987 to foot the bill. I pay full real estate taxes, put up with Section 8 freeloaders next door, and serve my adopted state in a needed public sector veterans services job. Obama is right that the rest of the country should NOT bail out California. We caused this mess; we have to put our hot tubs and wine tasting aside and put our heads together to fix this.

[straightmate]

Well just thank God they didn't legalize weed, jobs and tax revenue while slashing law enforcement spending are not an answer. And don't try anything like using convict labor up north to mine out all that gold, hell no, cut education and social services. Running out the illegals, that would be plain smart, so you know it won't happen.

[sjc_1]

"liberal tax and spend mentality"

As opposed to the conservative Borrow and Waste mentality. Bush had a majority of his own party in the House and a 50/50 + 1 (VP) in the Senate and ran up $5 trillion (1) more debt in only 8 years, setting a new infamous record....and you talk about tax and spend...what a hypocrite.

[platteman]

P.T. Barnum was right. All of them are in CA. They gave away everything they could, Elected the same dolts over and over, Waxman, Boxer, Pelosi, Fienstien and others and will elect them again. No one votes to take away their free lunch. CA will be just the the illegal aliens, they will keep voting and voting for the same old dolts.
next wildfires, hope that there are not firemen to fight them. Why waste the money. The dolts will rebuild in the same place and the same thing will happen. So just let it burn.
CA should enact more give away programs, that way they will go under quicker. I hope everyone sees the writing on the wall. The people with money will leave, go to some other state. Let the sancuary cities run the place.

[dennisall77]

Hmmm, same idiocy from platteman... ignore

[ramos1129]

The genuisus of this debacle started sometime in the late 20th Century when the citizens of CA passed the Jacobs Amendment. This amendment severely limitted CA's ability to raise taxes to keep up with the increasing cost of state services. Additionally, over the years, the various state governments kept adding services. They financed a lot of this via borrowings. Finally, the recession resulted in major deficits in taxes and lenders would either not lend or severely curtailed state lending. Thus CA is in the fiscal mess it is in.

CA could make a major impact by legalizing Marijuana and taxing it. The resulting reduction in costs involved in police work and jail time would be in the billions. And the taxes raised would be in the billions.

[joule18]

California is going the dogs and the illegals because of the liberal ideology, sanctuary cities, and anchor babies. Next, we will attract even more illegals who get paid under the table and don't pay taxes by providing them with Obamacare.

You see where these policies have led California, yet a lot of people will be lemmings and immulate the same failed policies.

California is not taking the the needed tax revenue because they are very unfriendly toward businesses who are moving out of state. A nanny state who punishes productive people to give to moochers deserves to fail. The legislature here has been dominated by Democrates for decades despite having an occasional Republican governor. Perhaps the right mix is to be socially liberal while being fiscally conservative. Boxer, Pelosi, Waxman, Feinstien, et all represent this failing state for us in Washington. They are failing us and the U.S.

[searingtruth]

"Nothing for the poor.
Because they have been negligent and irresponsible.

Everything for the billionaires.
Because they have been negligent and irresponsible."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[garciagar]

Well, isn't that what Californians wanted when they got rid of the old Governor and brought in Schwazenegger? Just because he was movie star? Arnold has done to California what Bush did to America. Except the war. Such a beatiful state. Such stupid people.

[searingtruth]

Not all of us voted for him fellow citizen, although I loved the second Terminator movie.

I wish he would have made the final movies in the series rather than destroying California though.

It would have been so much better for him, and us.
ST


"I wanted only a freedom for all that I had coveted for myself."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[sjc_1]

I have posted two comments about Prop 13 on here and both have been removed.

[searingtruth]

Unless they contain personal threats or other illegal content comments on Proposition 13 are certainly relevant to this discussion and should not be censored.
ST


"I did not like them. I did not like what they said. I did not like the way they said it.
But I let them speak anyway, and offered protection against those who would have them silenced."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave

[sjc_1]

They were cordial and on point, they just stated that revenue was lower because property taxes were capped in 1979, the schools suffered and the state went into the red. I guess the truth can not be seen here if the editors do not like it.