Californians still wrangling over budget

Just in case you were planning on using that aforementioned $10,000 California tax break to buy a newly built home, perhaps you shouldn't rush out to purchase it just yet. That budget was still not signed Wednesday morning. From "California Budget Negotiations Hit a New Snag" at latimes.com:

As California's government continued its grinding downshift toward insolvency, efforts to close the state's nearly $42-billion budget gap hit a new snag late Tuesday as Republicans in the state Senate ousted their leader.

Around 11 p.m., a group of GOP senators, unhappy with the higher taxes that Senate leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto agreed to as part of a deal with the governor and Democrats, voted to replace him in a private caucus meeting in Cogdill's office.

They chose Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, a staunchly anti-tax lawmaker from Murrieta, as their new leader....

That plan could still survive the leadership change. Three GOP senators abstained from voting this morning. They also refused to take part in Cogdill's ouster, sitting out the caucus vote on his replacement. Those lawmakers have been in negotiations with the governor and Democrats about possibly supporting the bipartisan budget plan.

A fourth GOP lawmaker, Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, voted against the taxes this morning but has stated publicly that he might support them if various government reforms were added to the package. He was sharply critical of his caucus for removing Cogdill.

"I just can't believe in the middle of the night we'd oust our leader," he said outside the caucus meeting. "It's the wrong time to make a change in this process."

The frenetic day had begun with legislators carting sleeping bags, pillows and suitcases to work. Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) brought a bottle of cologne. Republican Sen. Sam Aanestad, an oral surgeon from Grass Valley, passed out toothbrushes. Cots were ordered from the state Office of Emergency Services.

I know this post is only ever so weakly linked to real estate but I defend it on the grounds it could be useful information for people considering relocating to California.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Senator Dean Flores brushes his teeth in the men's bathroom of the State Capitol at 1:30 am in Sacramento Wednesday morning. State lawmakers were unable to deliver a budget after another day of intense negotiations. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Jack]

These people are a joke! 10K for a new home purchase, we are in the middle of a recession. They are sleeping with the housing industry, and WE are going to have to pay for it. Talk about the wrong end of stick. $%^& Dems!

[roseman]

Move to California.
We have better cots to sleep on than the rest of the country.

[Larry Linn]

The Republicans select Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, an anti-tax lawmaker from Murrieta as their leader. I wonder how much the home values in Murrieta will continue to decline as foreclosure increase as his "leadership" bankrupts California? What about medical emergency rooms? What about the funding for schools? What about law enforcement? What about firefighters?

[Jen Andalou]

I am so confused and frustrated with ALL of the elected officials. They have ONE main job. BALANCE a budget. Hundreds and thousands of tax payers have to do it every year. The spending by democrats over the last 10 years is completely out of control and now there is a problem. How exactly to the democrats plan to resolve? Hold out for a vote from a Republican? There is NO negotiating, only a stupid publicity stunt in hopes that someone is tired of living at the office and caves in. How exactly do these elected officials plan on making good decisions if they haven't had proper sleep. I am sorely disappointed in the press for not making note of this.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

If they only need one vote, maybe Arnold can resign and run for the state Senate as a Democrat and give us that one critical vote to save California.

[Angela Fuentes]

Larry: Dems got us into this by spending money with reckless abandon. I applaud the Republicans for standing up against the piece of crap budget they are trying to ram down our throats.

For example, please explain to me why we will be socked with a minimum of 5 years of tax increases vs. 2 if we vote for spending caps? Why does that make sense? Why should the republicans cave to that? The Dems are not being reasonable and that is why we are where we are. (I am a Dem btw...just one that believes in fiscal responsibility.)

[coconino]

How did democrats get CA into the mess when the budget can never be passed without the tyranny of the minority's concurrence? I don't think it has anything to do with the Dems, but with the myriad of spending requirements passed by the constituency in the form of propositions.

[Angela]

coconino: No disrespect, but you obviously haven't been paying attention. Every year the budget gets held up because the Republicans have tried to rein in the reckless spending by the Dems. It's not like they hold up the budget to get more pork in the budget.

While the propositions are certainly a part of the problem, Dems have a responsibility not to draft budgets that spend more than you take in and make no provisions for a rainy day. They have been spending more than they bring in for years. However, because the economy was good, they got away with it. Now the chickens have come home to roost. They are the majority party; this mess belongs to them.

[TakeFive]

We keep reading about the Republican holdouts. Well, what about the Democratic sellouts? Are there any Democrats that are against raising taxes? Not one?

Look folks, we pay a lot of taxes - payroll, property, sales, gasoline, mello roos, special district, even a tax on the nickel deposit that doesn't get returned to you when you turn in a can (and adds another $80 million to the state).

Enough. There is still over $100 billion flowing into the state right now. The state is not broke, just poorly managed. Let's not enable this behavior any longer by panicing ourselves into a tax increase.

If I'm short of cash, I can choose to purchase fewer services or products. In this case, I choose to purchase fewer government services.

[Larry Linn]

If Bill Rudolph is willing to let the state of California go bankrupt rather than solve the economic problems created by the Repugnicans. Perhaps he should move to Mississippi, Louisiana, or some other Repugnican state that is willing to accept the benefits of taxation, but not willing to pay for the services. Please Bill, leave and let us resolve the Repugnican problems.

[Tim K.]

"I am so confused and frustrated with ALL of the elected officials. They have ONE main job. BALANCE a budget. Hundreds and thousands of tax payers have to do it every year."

I'm not defending our elected officials, but I believe the problem is the process is broken.

Individual people can balance budgets because they are able to weigh all of the options and are directly in control of their decision-making. It seems you haven't had to deal with group decision-making. When people are put together in a room with opposing interests, their allegiances are to the people who elected them, and the people who helped them fund their campaign. Only after they've satisfied both those groups are they able to venture out and "do the right thing" for Californians as a whole.

And that's the problem. Everyone thinks they are important. Teachers? Cops? Health Care? Mental health professionals? Road services? Accountants? Forestry workers? Environmental Scientists? 911 operators? EVERYONE thinks they are critical, and in a way, they are correct. And NONE of them thinks they can survive getting their staff cut by 30%, or their budgets dropped by 30%.

The sad reality is, they all can. But if you are an elected official, you are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure EVERYONE ELSE sacrifices first. Because if you come back and you have an electorate who is affected negatively, you're toast.

So ease up on the elected officials and blame the system. It's broken.

[buz]

CA is going down. Liberal dingbats have spent the state into a ditch and now whine that they need more money. By raising taxes further during an economic downturn they may very well end up with LESS overall revenue next year. Good luck idiots.

[Brian M.]

Hang in there Republicans! I don't want to pay for the Democrats mismanagement of our funds! Let them cut back on spending more instead of raising taxes! It's not the taxpayers fault it's their fault. It's the taxpayers money and not theirs. We are not individual ATMS!!

[Drew]

I'd like to publically thank every single one of you that voted to spend 20 billion dollars we dont' have on a train set that costs 10 billion dollars plus opperating expenses that "may be offset" by fares. But may not! Who knows! I'll certainly be on the edge of my seat to find out when the thing gets built, four years from now. Assuming of course that it does get built, which considering the first things to stop due to the budget chrisis are state construction jobs, looks unlikely! But nevermind that we now have some of if not the lowest rated bonds in the country, I'm sure that it's gonna look really bitchin' cool--I mean totally necessary because people absolutely cannot drive or fly a plane from LA to SF. Thousands of people are being laid off, bills aren't getting paid and if this package passes we will all be paying an extra cent on the dollar for everything we buy + 12 cents per gallon for gass, eight and a half billion dollars of funding for schools and cost-of-living increases for people with disabilities on supplamental security will evaporate... BUT YOU GOT YOUR TRAIN! GG. Fantastic work, I hope it was aaaaallll worth almost half of our current debt.

[Rachel]

We have only ourselves to blame. Why do we require a 2/3 majority for a budget? Do we really want the fate of the world's 8th-largest economy in the hands of a strawberry farmer from the Central Valley? Someone should write a proposition to repeal the 2/3-majority requirement. I would gladly contribute to the cause.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

To be fair to both sides, I think the proper names are Demon-rats & Repulsiv-cants.

[TakeFive]

Drew wrote:

"I'd like to publically thank every single one of you that voted to spend 20 billion dollars we dont' have on a train..."

Let's also thank Schwarzenegger for getting it on the ballot and campaigning so tirelessly to get it approved by the nitwits that will never go near it once it’s built.

Yes, by all means, let's raise taxes on ourselves so the party doesn't have to end.

[Chirelstein]

Rachel, are you nuts? The LAST thing I would do is repeal the 2/3rds requirement. Hell, we should make it 80% or even 90% That requirement is the only thing that stands between the spendthrift Democrats and my wallet. I am grateful the Dems can't keep raising my taxes (which are the highest in the country) without Republican support.

Usually the only people that call for repealing the 2/3rds requirement are people that don't really pay that much in taxes anyway. I don't own a home or have kids so I pay the full monty. If you feel like you are not paying enough Rachel, feel free to make a donation. You don't need my money to donate more in taxes if you so choose.

[Frank]

Arnold looked misserable at the state of the state address, take a look at it and see how long it takes him to mention that horrible "budget" word.
http://gov.ca.go
He wants out, let's give him a graceful exit. 26% of our states income is from sales tax, hurts the poor and middle class, 56% is from income. Isn't it about time to adjust that.
http://www.sco.ca.gov/ard/cash/summaries/0209.pdf

[LL]

Good for Republicans. You did a good thing! Get rid of the leader who betrayed us. Hang in there and we full-heartly support you!!! Cutting the spending is the ONLY way to balance the budget. NO MORE NEW TAX!!!

[JK]

I'm a Democrat but for this issue, Republicans are the only ones standing between the California Democrats and our wallets! I thank God for the 2/3 majority requirements. Hang in there Republicans!

[syscom3]

Rachel, I like your enthusiasm. In fact, I want to see you send a $1300 check [the amount of taxes that will be going up] to Lauren Beale (and she can donate it to charity as she sees fit).

Its absolutely amazing that the democrats have done every thing possible to drive tax paying business's out of the state, encouraged illegal immigrants to come in and drive down wages while giving them govt services, and now raise the taxes on the middle class who are keeping this state functioning.

If the state isnt forced into insolvency this year and make vitally needed reforms, then next years problems are going to be even worse.

[LibertarianForever]

It is my most sincere hope that the majority of those that lose their jobs in california will be republicans. Perhaps then they will finally learn their lesson. Anyone who follows politics in California at all, anyone who is actually informed and does not just repeat what their party tells them (see the average California Republican) knows full well that Republicans have been there all along happy to spend spend spend while the times were good, but what seperates them from Democrats is that Democrats at least realize all this spending means more taxes. Republicans are the most foolish party because they love to spend, but think for some reason that all this spending will never lead to taxes. Then of all things they want to cut education first, but it is obvious why, they want the voters of their party to be less intelligent than they themselves are. That way Republican voters will keep voting them into office, because they are too ignorant to realize the people they are voting for are actually working to harm them. Please Republicans for the love of God and Country inform yourselves before you speak.

[smrr]

Give me ate miyyon dalla bond an I fix every-ting. What an idiot Arnold is. Just as bad as Davis. CA has huge boom based on RE, and he doesn't see bust in CA revenues coming. What a fool. Just as bad as Davis not preparing for the dot.com crash -- record revenues to bust - overnight - because these fool politicians don't have a brain in their head. We should jail them all.

[Liberaltarian]

Why not just proportionally scale the budgets? This would not be entirely fair (perhaps some programs should be cut completely before reducing funding for some other program), but it would be nonpartisan. Let us “enjoy” one year of a balanced budget, *then* let the politicians reallocate the budget among their favorite programs.