Saturday, November 21, 2009

Nation

10 Things You Didn't Know About California's Budget

The Golden State is facing a large budget deficit

Posted June 26, 2009
  1. California's economy is larger than that of many countries, including Canada and Brazil.
  2. The state's deficit is estimated at $24 billion for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
  3. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposes slashing health and welfare spending by 26.5 percent and closing 80 percent of state parks.
  4. To cut the deficit, Schwarzenegger has stated that he would eliminate the state's basic welfare program, which serves 1.3 million residents.
  5. Democrats are seeking alternatives to major cuts, such as rescinding $1 billion in corporate tax breaks, enacting a 10 percent tax on oil pumped in California, and tapping into a $4.5 billion rainy-day fund.
  6. Californians pay the second-highest sales tax in the nation; the state's gas tax is the third-highest in the nation; and California's top earners have the second-highest state income tax rate in the country.
  7. California residents with incomes of more than $500,000 pay nearly 40 percent of the state's personal income tax revenue.
  8. A state ballot initiative approved by voters in 1978 limits property tax rates, the primary source of revenue for school districts and local governments, to 1 percent.
  9. California has the highest research and development tax credit in the country, which will cost the state $1.2 billion in potential tax revenue this year.
  10. State officials have said that California will run out of cash by the end of July. Schwarzenegger sought a $6 billion loan guarantee from the federal government, but his request was denied.

Sources:

  • Washington Post
  • LA Times
  • San Jose Mercury News
  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • New York Times

Reader Comments

Standard of living? Yeah Right.

Standard of living is decreasing for both whites and blacks in California? That is the funniest jokes I have ever heard. "The standard of living is deteriorating because of the blacks" something that may have been said 30+ years ago is now being reiterated with "The standard of living is deteriorating because of the Mexicans." Lets rewind 100+ years ago and you may never of hear that "The standard of living is deteriorating because the Chinese were taking all our jobs." Sound familiar?

Let me share a piece of Californian history most everybody outside CA barely know. Ever heard of the other Ellis Island? I sure hope you do because it is only the tip of the iceberg of California. While it may have been easier for the Europeans in the east to get through to America, the same could not be said about Angel Island. From the Chinese Exclusion Act and to the Japanese Internment Camps, many were detained there unable to go anywhere from months to a year unknowing if they are allowed to return to their country or be allowed back into America. Many of them that stayed worked liked such injustices weren't there. What is still left in the fire of 2008, still contains poems of those who were detained there and unable to move. Kids making friends with others to get by until they were allowed to set foot in California.

The transcontinental railroad so hailed back then would not have been accomplished if the Chinese were never there to begin with. They did what work many did not want to do. They built railroads in the freezing cold, they built levees around Sacramento and California. They did not have much rights because all that ever happened were that rights were taken away from them because the whites believe they were privileged for their gold, for their work, for their "hierarchy."

Many Mexican immigrants of today are doing the lower end jobs, something most American workers do not want to do. Yet, they complain that the Mexicans are stealing their jobs. See the resemblance yet? Want to work lower than minimum wage for a whole day without compensation but death or deportation?

While I can speculate about gangs and the drug cartel, there are immigrants that really want to live here for a better life and would accomplish what they could to make America a better place. I know the blacks did, I know the Chinese did (and often unheard for the accomplishments.) Not all immigrants are part of some gang, it is what the people do that creates them. Sacramento used to have a Chinatown for the little protection they could have. Today, the population of Sacramento has dispersed through Sacramento because people feel that there is less than a need for it. 1 in 10 households are of interracial relationships, this is ahead of all cities in America by population.

Is my city crime free? I would say absolutely not, but there are many things in this city you could hope to find in another city but never am able to.

Hey @ Kendall

From the MichalSavage.com website:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-illegal10-2009jul10,0,3398621.story

California Hispaic groups are saying exactly what I and others have been saying all along.

CA is a wasteland of poverty and dispair living in the shadow of La La Land (Hollywood).

Most cities in CA are crime ridden and very few Police Dept. will even aggressively go after criminals because they are affraid of racial profiling accusations. I racial profile every day. I see a 'gansta' walking toward me, I cross the street ... and I'm black! Go figure?!

Arizona has problems, but thank God we have Sherrif Joe. The bad people here hate him, because he locks up their sons and daughters when they commit crimes. I have seen tent city (from the outside) and its not a CA jail with T.V., A/C, and couches.

I don't think I will ever again live in CA. The taxes there are too high, hispanic gangs like MS13 have declared a war of genocide on blacks (something the liberal news media REFUSES to report, or Jesse HiJackSon refuses to admit to and fight because his non-profit group, Rainbow Push, receives donations from leftist hispanic groups), and the standard of living is decreasing for whites and blacks on a DAILY basis in California.

Hey looks like the San Andeas fault is about to break for the BIG ONE!!! Good luck riding those S and P Earth Quake Waves :)

Jonathan

Plan to Securely Pay the Cost of California Government using Nuclear Waste

Proposal to securely and sustainably fund the cost of State government and

1)Eliminate all State income and sales taxes in California.

2)Pay each legal California adult resident not in jail a variable yearly dividend of approximately $20,000 from a California Permanent Fund.

3) Provide a $1000 California Permanent Fund Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa dividend payment to all children of all legal adult California residents whether their parent(s) are in jail or not.

Citizens of the State of Alaska pay no State personal income tax or sales tax. The full cost of Alaska State government is paid for from energy royalties. These State energy royalties also permit regular dividend payments (2008 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend was $3,269.00) to every legal adult Alaskan resident. I propose creating similar arrangements in the State of California, securely and honesty paying the full cost of State Government without massive borrowing or an inadequate collection of short term improvised financial gimmicks.

Each year America's current 104 LWR reactors produce 2000 tons of spent nuclear fuel. The energy value left in 2000 tons of spent fuel rods after they are considered expended and are removed from operation in America's LWRs is approximately

7.0 x 10^12 KW hours of additional energy [1]

if all fissile and fertile uranium in the spent fuel is completely burned in an appropriately designed alternate technology molten salt reactor. The value of the electricity that would result from fully burning all of the 2000 tons of spent nuclear fuel is

$685 billion dollars a year

presuming a 2009 average cost of electricity of 9.79 cents per KW hour.

2000 tons of spent fuel are produced by US LWRs every year, year in and year out, and the potential exists to consistently produce a sizeable revenue stream that could help pay the cost of government from the combined sale of electricity and nuclear industry waste fund payments from nuclear waste generators. The magnitude of this combined revenue steam is on a par with the magnitude of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 which Congress provided to kick start the US economy. The funds that would come from completely burning the energy left remaining in spent nuclear fuel would produce a tremendous lift to the California economy This 2000 tons of spent fuel is produced every year, year in and year out, and the potential exists to consistently produce sizeable revenue in sale of electricity and waste fund payments from nuclear waste generators for the State of California on a long term basis.

Excess funds generated by using spent nuclear fuel to generate electricity would produce

$685 billion (SNF electricity sales) – $105 billion (Ca. budget costs) = $580 billion (excess funds).

This Plan could pay the full cost of State government on a sustainable basis. The $580 billion in excess funds could permit a payment of ~$20,000 to all 26.1 million adult Californians and $1000 to all Children

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