| January 14, 2008 |
Playing Cuttlefish with the Budget |
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Abraham Lincoln finally had enough of Stephen Douglas' obfuscations when they met to debate in Charleston, Illinois. He said, "Judge Douglas is playing cuttlefish – a small species of fish that has no mode of defending himself when pursued except by throwing out a black fluid which makes the water so dark the enemy cannot see it, and thus it escapes." Lincoln's cuttlefish story came to mind during the governor's State of the State message when he blamed the state's massive budget deficit on formulae that lock in spending. |
| August 16, 2007 |
What's It All About |
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This is not the first time the California Legislature has reached an impasse in its budget negotiations. In past years the state has gone until early September without a budget agreement. But whenever the budget has snagged in the past, legislators kept working to resolve it. This is the first time in California's history that they simply walked off the job. |
| June 17, 2007 |
What Now? |
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As the Senate immigration bill faltered, Sen. Diane Feinstein complained that the status quo is de facto amnesty because the mass deportation of millions of illegal aliens is logistically, politically and socially impractical. Feinstein and her cohorts seem oblivious to the fact that it is precisely this attitude that discredits any of their promises that a new, tougher law will somehow be enforced once an amnesty is granted. Sorry: been there, done that. |
| June 10, 2007 |
May Day |
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"The May Revision continues the Governor's commitment to restraining the growth in spending, pre-paying debt, eliminating the net operating deficit, not raising taxes and maintaining an adequate reserve." Or so says the introductory paragraph of the Governor's updated budget plan. Just for fun, let's run that through the old fact-checker... |
| June 2, 2007 |
Dueling Promises |
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Governor Schwarzenegger has staked his administration upon two signature issues: his international leadership to reduce "greenhouse gases" and his promise to construct new highways, dams, levees, aqueducts and other public works. Last month "The Green Governor" toured the globe to tout his "greenhouse gas" bill (AB 32) that requires a 25 percent reduction in carbon dioxide by 2020 – making it the most restrictive emissions law in the country. Last week, the Governor toured California to tout his public works renaissance that requires $40 billion in taxpayer-financed bonds – making it the biggest borrowing binge in the country. Individually, these two media events have played to rave reviews. But combined, they form a picture of breathtaking mendacity. The Governor's crusade against "greenhouse gases" is, in fact, the single greatest impediment to the era of public works that he has promised, and the crusade for public works construction is the biggest impediment to reducing "greenhouse gases" that he has promised. |
| May 31, 2007 |
Beware of Goldman Sachs Bearing Gifts |
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The old admonition, "When something seems too good to be true, it probably is," virtually screams from accounts of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposal to "privatize" the California Lottery.
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| March 9, 2007 |
Ask Us First |
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(WARNING: This column contains disturbing material and may not be suitable for all audiences. It concerns the state's finances.)
Three years after Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected on the promise to "cut up the credit cards," California's debt burden has more than doubled.
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| March 6, 2007 |
The Miracles of Post-Partisanship |
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Governor Schwarzenegger – "The People's Governor" as his official press release proclaims – spoke recently to the National Press Club and graciously offered our nation's leaders some lessons from his successful "post-partisan" leadership in California. |
| January 19, 2007 |
A "Fantastic" Budget |
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According to Gov. Schwarzenegger, California's financial condition is "fantastic." Spending has been brought under control, the budget has been balanced and our debt is being paid down. But as Churchill once said, "It is not possible to state the opposite of the truth with greater precision." |
| April 11, 2006 |
Minimum Wage |
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The most important thing for any poor person trying to improve his or her condition is, of course, a job. It is the entry-level job that accords impoverished workers – even those with no skills, no references and no employment record -- the invaluable opportunity to succeed and to prosper. It is literally the first rung up the ladder of success. |
| December 19, 2005 |
Bond Bombshell |
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As governor from 1959 to 1967, Pat Brown presided over the most breathtaking period of public works construction in California’s history. During those years, California built the finest highway system in the world, one of the largest water projects in history, and the foremost university system in the country. At a time when the population grew twice as fast as today, the state kept pace with the demand for schools, ports, prisons, libraries, parks and power plants. |
| July 21, 2005 |
Eminent Despotism |
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In the days of the old Republic, Americans lived secure in their homes safe in the knowledge that the fundamental responsibility of government was to protect their lives and property from anyone who threatened them - no matter how rich, powerful or well-connected. If a widow didn't want to sell her home to a developer, she didn't have to. That was the end of the matter, unless the developer sent in thugs to beat her up. And government was there to protect her from the thugs. |
| May 15, 2005 |
A Modest Proposal for Saving Our Schools |
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Across California, children are bringing home notes warning of dire consequences if Gov. Schwarzenegger’s scorched earth budget is approved – a budget that slashes Proposition 98 public school spending from $42.2 billion this year all the way down to $44.7 billion next year. That should be proof enough that our math programs are suffering.
As a public school parent, I have given this crisis a great deal of thought and have a modest suggestion to help weather these dark days. |
| February 13, 2005 |
What Ails California? |
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To know what California can be, it's important to remember what it once was. A generation ago, California's highways were the envy of the world. We had one of the finest school systems in the country and one of the finest university systems in the world. Electricity was so cheap that there was serious discussion of abandoning electricity meters. The state water project promised abundant water supplies to complete the greening of California. Afforble housing abounded at all income levels. California was indeed the Golden State - a land of opportunity and plenty far surpassing every other state in the nation. |
| February 3, 2005 |
Big Five, Big Mistake |
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Of all the factors contributing to California's fiscal woes, one of the most fundamental and pervasive is the collapse of the constitutional process by which the state budget is developed in the first place. Ever since the Magna Carta, it has been a settled principle of governance that the authority that requests funds should not be the same one that approves them. This is the heart of our separation of powers, and the most important single mechanism to check the excesses and abuses that occur whenever mere mortals are spending other people's money. |
| May 10, 2004 |
Subsidizing Illegal Immigration |
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This year, nearly 7,500 qualified California residents - who would otherwise be entering California state universities as incoming freshmen - are likely to be turned away for lack of funds. Meanwhile, approximately 7,500 illegal immigrants will receive heavily subsidized university educations at a cost of between $45 million and $65 million annually at those same universities. |
| March 24, 2004 |
Why the Pledge of Allegiance Matters |
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There is a great principle at the heart of the movement to strike the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance - and from our national customs, our currency, and our public ceremonies. It has very little to do with atheism. It has a great deal to do with authoritarianism. |
| March 7, 2004 |
Borrowing Our Way Out of Debt |
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By conventional analysis, the stunning and overwhelming passage of Propositions 57 and 58 has placed California on the road to fiscal recovery. The unprecedented $15 billion bond gives the legislature and the administration the time they need to put the state's finances in order. The stern spending limits in Proposition 58 will give the governor added tools to restrain state spending. The stunning margin of victory greatly enhances the governor's political clout with the legislature to win tough reforms. As those reforms take effect and the economy responds, state revenues will grow quickly to absorb the $1.5 billion in annual debt re-payments that Proposition 57 will require. On paper anyway, that's how California intends to borrow its way out of debt. But just beneath the surface festivities should lurk a high level of anxiety. |
| January 18, 2004 |
Forget the Alligators - Drain the Swamp |
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There's an old adage that comes to mind when reading the Governor's budget: "When you're up to your eyeballs in alligators, it's hard to remember that you came to drain the swamp." |
| January 4, 2004 |
Uncompromising Gubernatorial Leadership |
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Governor Schwarzenegger's State of the State address ought to begin with these words "Less than a year ago, the Legislature and the former governor passed a budget knowing it was billions of dollars out of balance. They approved runaway government spending and red ink as far as the eye could see. A year ago, if they had made a fraction of the cuts I proposed in this budget, we would not be in this mess today ... [This is] the first honestly balanced budget in two decades -- without fancy accounting gimmicks, without taking away people's health care or abandoning our public schools and, as promised, without a tax increase."
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| December 1, 2003 |
The 13-Percent Solution |
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Have you ever had to make serious cuts - 15 percent or more - in your family budget because of an unexpected job-loss or unforeseen expense? It's not pleasant, but it's not impossible. And it's also not permanent. As long as you're willing to face your financial problems squarely, you can be sure that the hard times won't last forever and things will improve. |
| November 7, 2003 |
The (Very) Last Refuge of a Scoundrel |
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When Samuel Johnson said, "Patriotism is the
last refuge of a scoundrel," he'd obviously never seen California politics. If he had, he would have known that tragedy is actually the last refuge, as evidenced by recent attempts to link the tragic and devastating fires in Southern California to repeal of the car tax. |
| June 12, 2003 |
In Search of the Enron Accountants |
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Gov. Gray Davis' May budget revision at least answers one question: what ever happened to Enron's accountants? By every indication, they're alive and well and hard at work on California's budget crisis.
How else can Gov. Davis claim that he is cutting more from the state budget than any Governor since 1945 while adding $2.2 billion in new spending to his January budget proposal? |
| May 29, 2003 |
Memo to My Wife |
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Hi Honey -- Since you've let me take over our household finances, I'm happy to report that our family budget is balanced, I've saved thousands of dollars, and I've kept us in the style to which I would like to become accustomed. You might wonder how I've been able to do all this. I just followed the easy steps that Gov. Gray Davis outlined in his May Budget Revision. |
| April 7, 2003 |
In Defense of Proposition 13 |
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Suppose you bought your home five years ago at the median price of $186,490. Today that home is worth $316,000. The Prop. 13 property tax paid on that home today is roughly $1,900. Without Prop. 13, the property tax would be $8,400. How long do you think you could keep up with those taxes? |
