The welfare State deficit is 16 BILLION

[Au-myn]

I had to have a few

before posting this on what used to be The Great Golden State of California. How ANYBODY actually voted for this buffoon is beyond me. This clown is asking the people of Brokeafornia to vote for higher taxes to pay for his F&#%*p.
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Moreover, pleading for voters to further punish themselves to pay for the profligate ways of the Legislature and past and present administrations is like the murderer of his parents pleading for mercy because he is an orphan.

The budget deficit is now estimated at $16 billion, compared with merely $9 billion in January. "Why didn't we get it right in January?" Gov. Brown asked. "You never can get it exactly right." Seven billion dollars off is apparently akin to a rounding error by the governor's calculus.

Mr. Brown's revised budget gets even curious-er, as Alice of Wonderland might say. For 2012-13, Mr. Brown unashamedly intends to increase spending for K-12 education, even in the face of a greater deficit than he expected. Even that is sleight of hand.

"[E]ducation would receive an increase of 16 percent, subject to voter approval," the governor said, in reference to the $9 billion tax increase on the November ballot. In other words, the governor plans to spend money he doesn't have and, we believe, never will.

Shockingly, under his revised budget, the state would continue subsidizing college for low-income students and, to a lesser degree, higher-income families. We suspect Californians will find it curious that, while pleading poverty, the governor proposes greater spending and more subsidies. This is precisely the formula that brought California to its sad condition.

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/go...own-state.html

[Treasure Searcher]

The Communist State of Kalifornia will ask (or tell) its voters they need higher taxes.

Most likely the State will get those higher taxes. Too many Kool Aid drinkers

[honu5050]

Kodak say's smile : )

[Unclad Lad]

How ANYBODY actually voted for this buffoon is beyond me.

If you saw the alternatives, then it's very clear.

[Tbonz]

California is so screwed, it looks like the Feds will have to come to the rescue. I will say this, they are getting what they deserve.

[Colonel Sushi]

Off by......$7 Billion dollars?

A deficit of $9 B in January, 16 weeks ago to $16 B, now?

Brokeafornia has long been a joke of a state. It's sad because it has the 7th largest economy of the world (or used to).

I've alway thought the state was too big geographically and should be divided into 2 or 3 states.

Regardless, decades of mis-management, corrupt pension schemes, and myopia have result in what WILL be a very ugly situation.

It's going to get tougher than it already is, there.

[CiscoKid]

Seven billion dollars off is apparently akin to a rounding error by the governor's calculus.

Little barry soetoro should consider hiring him as his new Treasury secretary.

For 2012-13, Mr. Brown unashamedly intends to increase spending for K-12 education, even in the face of a greater deficit than he expected.

Costs money to hire more spanish speaking teachers.

In other words, the governor plans to spend money he doesn't have and, we believe, never will..... while pleading poverty, the governor proposes greater spending and more subsidies......

Look around. It's the democrats idea of fiscal responsibility.

[brosil]

Ok, seriously now, who didn't see this coming?

[HistoryStudent]

http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/a...t-part-1/75356

[REO 54]

....from the comment section of....http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/a...t-part-1/75356

Libertarian view
Nice article. I think you've clearly identified one of the problems of statism. One which most libertarians and anarcho-capitalist have been rating about for years.

Interesting how competition at the heart of western governments would actually make them more destructive.

The Central State is granted unique powers of coercion by its membership (the citizenry) to protect them from the predation of foreign powers, individuals, and subgroups seeking monopoly. The citizens grant the State this extraordinary power to protect their freedom of faith, movement, expression, enterprise and association and to insure that no subgroup can dominate the nation for their private gain.

For one, people do not have the right to initiate force in the first place therefore they cannot grant anyone else with that power. This is the basic assumption of statism and why it falls on its face right from the get go.

How can a group protect someone's property or safety by forceably taking away that person's property to fund itself. It's completly illogical and immoral - just the mafia's protection racket is.

I hope your book points this out, because every other failure of statism follows from this erroneous axiom.

Top Login or register to post comments Tue, 05/15/2012 - 11:33 #4
charleshughsmith
Offline
Full Member
Posts: 51 Joined: 08/15/2010
statism and complicity
Hi Rodney:

I try to make the point but perhaps in slightly different language. I see all government as a "hedge" against private tyranny, but of course the State quickly gains enough power to impose tyranny itself. No State can survive without the complicity of its citizens, and the Modern State has bought that complicity with Free Lunch promises. When those go away or are not met, then the current "arrangement" will also go away. Hopefully people will grasp the value of a small focused-on-civil-liberties government.... though that will require a new understanding of government's true role in life, i.e. the guarantor of civil liberties and protection of the Commons, not the provider of Free Lunches.

Thank you for adding to the discussion of this critically important topic.

Top Login or register to post comments Tue, 05/15/2012 - 12:29 #5
rodneyrimes
Offline
Member
Posts: 4 Joined: 07/02/2010
Thank you for taking the
Thank you for taking the time to respond.

On my part, I see all government as a "guarantee" of private tyranny... :-) Once one accepts the morality and legitimacy of assigning a group of people the monopoly of force in a geographic area, then there's only one end result: tyranny. I would posit that a history book would back me up on this [Of course, ones definition of tyranny is not anothers]

Even arguably the "most small focused-on-civil-liberties government" the earth has ever seen, e.g. the USA, confirms this hypothesis. The USA started as the freest state ever devised and has resulted in one of the most murderous and largest military in world history.

In essence, it's the anarcho-capitalist view vs the minarchist view. I think you'll find value in the recent debate between minarchist Dave Nalle and anarcho-capitalist Stefan Molyneux http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHTYIFdE3u4

In any case, I encourage your efforts and I believe your work is valuable, especially in waking up people who aren't yet ready to take the ancap jump.


Got to do some learning on that topic!

[Aurumag]

The State if California has 210,000 employees, and the largest employees' pension fund in the world, and yet, I have heard no discussion of layoffs and/or benefit reductions, nor will I.

Instead, we have ca.gov expansion.

Yes, the fed will step in, and JPM, BofA and the usual bankster suspects will provide the credit (additional debt burden) to assist the state in maintaining order, and tax enforcement will be increased for control purposes.

Austerity, personal responsibility and accountability are not part of the plan.

[Au-myn]

And to top it off we still can't get boxer and fienstein kicked out of office. I've stirred that pot with nasty letters to those two useless people.

[Argentium]

IL-Annoy is almost in a bad shape as CA, I think the deficit here is $12 billion. Yet, down in Springfield, it's organized crime as usual, absolutely nothing is being done to address it.

[REO 54]

And to top it off we still can't get boxer and fienstein kicked out of office. I've stirred that pot with nasty letters to those two useless people.

You need a crew from Rough & Ready to come down to Sacto and pay them a "visit"....

[Colonel Sushi]

This sure sounds like the Greeks. It also reminds me of the recent Pat B. article posted by Scorpio.

But the release of Brown's updated budget plan Monday shows that he is being trapped by the same partisanship and dysfunction that hobbled his predecessors when they tried to repair the state's finances.

"No governor, under the system we have in California, really has the ability to deal with the mess we've created," said Mark Paul, a former deputy state treasurer and the coauthor of a book about the state's financial quandary. "This is the third governor in a row who has run up against the same problem."

Brown is stuck between Republicans who refuse tax hikes, Democrats who resist cuts and a tangle of special interests and voter-mandated budget requirements that make it politically easier to push the problem down the road. That's what Brown has started to do.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...0,242552.story

[Ragnarok]

CA is headed to the same place as Fedgov - bankruptcy. It's just a matter of time.

I say whenever there's a deficit, they must ALL work FROM PRISON until there's a budget surplus.

R.