A night after ABC's Laura Marquez blamed California's budget deficit on the citizenry's “unwillingness to raise taxes” and a law “mandating an almost unachievable two-thirds vote by the legislature to raise taxes,” on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News George Lewis similarly ignored soaring state spending as he focused on victims of upcoming budget cuts and asserted: “Part of California's problem is that it takes a two-thirds vote in the state legislature to raise taxes.”
Though the ballot initiatives turned down by voters on Tuesday involved raising and/or extending an income tax surcharge, the sales tax and the tax on cars, Lewis euphemistically described them as “a series of ballot measures, backed by [Governor Arnold] Schwarzenegger, aimed at easing the deficit.” Lewis concentrated on potential victims: “$5.3 billion would come out of education in the Governor's proposed budget, $2 billion from health programs and hundreds of millions from the state's prison system” while a college student, Lewis paraphrased, complained they “are in a bind as California hikes fees to make ends meet.”
Like Marquez on Tuesday's World News, Lewis ignored how taxes and spending have spiraled upward in recent years. Though personal income tax collections “dropped 14% last year,” a Tuesday Wall Street Journal article noted they “soared 70% from 2002 to 2007.” And columnist George Will pointed out in a May 3 column that the state government has hardly been starving for money: “If, since 1990, state spending increases had been held to the inflation rate plus population growth, the state would have a $15 billion surplus instead of a $42 billion budget deficit.” In addition, in Arnold “Schwarzenegger's less than six years as Governor, per capita government spending, adjusted for inflation, has increased nearly 20 percent.”
From the Wednesday, May 20 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Now to the American west we go and huge problems for the most populous state in the country. California is pretty much insolvent. $21 billion in the red with depressed tax revenue and bigger expenses because of this recession. Last night, voters said "no" to a plan to try to close this gap. Our own George Lewis has our report.GEORGE LEWIS: 38 million Californians woke up this morning with their state $21 billion in the red. A big defeat for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Washington trying to nail down stimulus money from the Obama administration. Voters yesterday turned down a series of ballot measures, backed by Schwarzenegger, aimed at easing the deficit.
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: So there was a clear "no" on all of those issues and so now we have to recognize that and move forward and make all of the changes through cuts.
LEWIS: $5.3 billion would come out of education in the Governor's proposed budget, $2 billion from health programs and hundreds of millions from the state's prison system. To further plug the holes in the budget, the state may have to sell off a number of landmark properties including this one, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Also, the San Quentin state prison, the Del Mar fair grounds near San Diego and the Cow Place arena south of San Francisco. Part of California's problem is that it takes a two-thirds vote in the state legislature to raise taxes, while voters oppose any cuts in services.
BRUCE CAIN, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY: Now, with this cataclysmic economic decline we just have a combination that is just unimaginably bad.
LEWIS: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates in 2010, 47 states will fae deficits totaling $145 billion. Curtis Schlaufman, student body president at Cal State University-Fullerton says students are in a bind as California hikes fees to make ends meet.
CURTIS SCHLAUFMAN: Right I have a part-time job, so I might have to find another part-time job just to be able to afford to pay for my schooling and my books.
LEWIS: This as the fiscal crisis in California and elsewhere deepens. George Lewis, NBC News, Los Angeles.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
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Comments Policy
The problem here
May 21, 2009 - 02:00 ET by KC MulvilleDecades of financial mismanagement, by both the governors and the California state legislature, have pushed the state over the edge. Now that disaster's imminent, and they want the taxpayers to rescue them from their own mistakes, they're blaming the people for everything. This is a crime by the political class against their fiduciary responsibility.
Ah, the irony. No bailout for them!
Well, KC, that's what you
May 21, 2009 - 06:07 ET by motherbeltWell, KC, that's what you get when you ask the people for permission before raising existing taxes and slapping on more.
Bet they won't do that again!!
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
How Comforting
May 21, 2009 - 03:17 ET by DoktorFrankenIt's nice to know that if our fiscally irresponsible elected officials cannot get a balanced budget in place and excessive spending in check that we have the US news media (known throughout the world as economic geniuses) to take over and bail us all out with their new, Progressive ideas.
I just threw up in my mouth.
Everything about the economy from liberals...
May 21, 2009 - 05:00 ET by NavyBuckeyereminds me of the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Yosimite Sam is dividing up some treasure.
Its the same thing going on right now. The damn libs are taking all of our money, letting us have a little bit of what we worked for and then are giving the rest to themselves for everybody that they are on the hook for......and they are on the hook for a lot of people.
I wonder if we can assign these idiots a credit score and tell them there credit is not good enough anymore....and then keep our money tor ourselves.
"You see Obama is going to tax those not payin taxes...those making
over 97,000 dollars ayear. Once you make that much you don't pay
taxes...he's going to make them pay. And I will finally get a break." -My mom who is on welfare and foodst
Sky Is Falling
May 21, 2009 - 06:24 ET by Red JeepWhat is the purpose of this “scare” story? (Guess flu season scare stories are over.) How does it benefit ABC/NBC? If they did in depth reporting on all the history of the “whys” behind the situation in Ca., they might gain in audience numbers.
Guess it is easier just to scare people into believing that most of Ca.’s prisoners will be released, that students won’t be able to go to school and that their will be no health care, and … and don’t forget it is a Republican governor’s fault and the result of 8 years of Bush/Cheney and the uneducated voter too.
California Dreaming
May 21, 2009 - 06:29 ET by richb313In California the people keep electing the politicians who promise the most. The citizens of California do not want to give up on any of thier State run give aways. To only blame the elected officials while not at least holding the very people who keep sending them to the State house some small measure of responsibility is a bit hypocritical. Maybe, just maybe the citizens of California have begun to understand the implications of thier past actions but I do not think so. I think that the good citizens of California really want the rest of the country to pay for all thier problems while allowing themselves to be held harmless.
California will have to scale back massivly on a lot of popular services and programs in order to get the budget even close to balanced. The cries of suffering will be broadcast relentlessly in the coming weeks so that Obama can ride up on his Unicorn and come to the rescue. Look out America we are about to be scammed in a way that will remove the last vestigages of States Rights.
California is where
May 21, 2009 - 07:00 ET by MidAmericaCalifornia is where obama is leading the nation so it will be interesting to watch the 'oh so superior and enlightened' Californians come to grips with reality.
Obama's plan to burn down the house so everyone has an equal amount of heat will eventually leave us all homeless.
Bailout!!!
May 21, 2009 - 07:14 ET by GecksI live in California, and I voted NO across the board...Not that I wanted the Feds to bail us out, but in the hopes that California will have to file for bankruptcy. If the state files, we'll have to go through a conservatorship, then maybe, just maybe, this madness can come to an end. No longer can California be expected to pay the bill for every person who comes here. As it stands now, we have NO residency requirements to get state services. All you have to do is step over the State line and get a PO box and you are qualified for all state services. This is INSANITY!!!
Destiny rarely calls on you when it is convenient!
I got an idea
May 21, 2009 - 07:20 ET by 10ksnookerWhy not have a nationwide strike ... Everybody stay home for a day ...
The revolution is on!
Like a person drowning in Credit Card debt
May 21, 2009 - 07:47 ET by c5thenIt has taken CA a while to get where it is and it will take them a while to get out. They now have to make tough choices on what programs and services to cut to live within their means.
Over the last 6 years CA has lost 150,000 millionairs to other states because of their tax structure. These are the folks that they want to soak to pay for everybody else, but they are also the one group that can choose to live almost anywhere. How much revenue has CA lost as a result? How many jobs went away with those relocations?
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
www.loyaltoliberty.com
not just the millionaires have moved
May 21, 2009 - 13:31 ET by UndercoverConservativelook at all the industries, manufacture, production, that have left CA over the decades as taxes, wacky overrestrictive enviro requirements, over powered unions, and political hostility (to anyone remotely connected to the Evil Military-Industrial Complex) have convinced them to move elsewhere. Other than service industries, software and light industry, there's no wealth creation here. After the Dot Com Bomb, that pretty much left service industries which are tied very tightly to the economy and cannot either prosper independently of the general economy, nor be a catalyst or initiatior of economic growth.
WWW.GS2AC.COM. 2nd Amendment Grass Roots Action in the Bay Area, CA. We're not all "Breakfast Cereal" folks here! :)
Quite the contrary. The
May 21, 2009 - 09:07 ET by fitzfongQuite the contrary. The 2/3 majority requirement and Proposition 13 are the only things that have maintained some semblance of sanity in California. Hell, the leftist scum in the legislature floated a ballot initiative a couple of years ago to make the requirement to raise taxes a simple majority...they even ran a wildly dishonest ad claiming it was designed to "end budget gridlock". Fortunately, the voters wised up and beat that lame initiative. The only reason that California is in the position it is in is because of excessive government spending. The State maxes out spending in high revenue years and projects revenue increases every year...and maxes spending commitments based on those projections. No tax refunds, no "rainy day" funds, just greedy legislators spending too much money and the stupid Governor ratifying the spending bills. Then they play to the lowest common denominator by putting public safety and frail school teachers out front to claim that cuts to scheduled increases are actually cuts to vital services. It is the most dishonest, manipulative tactic going, but it usually works. But Schwarzenegger has failed so miserably that even that maneuver doesn't work any more. Now, if only Californians would stop voting for Rob Reiner "sin tax" slush fund ballot initiatives, school bond propositions and mythical light rail projects, the State might some day turn around. It would also help if they flushed out the legislature and made it part-time...these greedy socialists can't be trusted as full-time "servants"...they can't help but to steal and break things.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill
Taxes vs Spending
May 21, 2009 - 10:32 ET by slickwillie2001The initiatives that California has in place to make it very difficult to raise taxes need to be balanced by similar measures to block increased spending on anything that doesn't match revenue, or population growth/inflation.
I am told that California spending has grown far more quickly in the last five years than population. Why not pull a 2005 budget off the shelf and use that as a starting point for writing a new one? If Republicans can take Congress back in 2010 or 2012, this is the tack we may try as well, only use the 2007 budget.
Schwarzenegger needs to go to the Legislature and ask for carte blanche to mark up the budget and make the cuts necessary. Let him fall on his sword and thereby rescue his reputation, and give the Legislature deniability. He's at the end of his career anyway.
On the 2/3'rds requirement in CA
May 21, 2009 - 11:27 ET by Gary HallOn the 2/3'rds requirement in CA.
The LA Times has been pounding on that view for months. In yesterday's and today's coverage; in which most every single news article, news analysis, column and the paper's editorials have pounded the reader with the paper's and the writer's views on the subject.
However - they seem to be failing to note that 2/3rds of the votes were against the tax increases - yes, 66% voted NO!
It's also interesting to note that all 58 counties in CA voted against the tax increase measure, 1A.
Ya got your 2/3rds - now shut up and cut the spending.
All the local Los Angeles area television stations used the same
May 21, 2009 - 11:54 ET by Rush Fanapproach when discussing the defeat of the ballot initiatives. They focused on the negative impact the loss of taxes would have on state and local governments, as well as school districts. Their focus was on how the state could obtain more revenue, rather than how the state could and should cut their bloated budget.
It was hilarious to hear the commentators warn how the cuts in school budgets and teacher layoffs would increase class sizes and affect the quality of teaching. With dropout rates close to 50% in some California schools, and California ranked 46 in the 2005-2006 state education rankings the quality of education has already hit bottom. Moreover California K-12 teachers' salaries are the highest in the nation.
Not to be outdone, RINO Gov. Schwarzenegger threatened to release 38,000 prisoners, probably half of them illegal aliens, if the ballot measures failed.
Thanks must go to KFI 640 talk radio's John and Ken, who led the fight against these tax hike initiatives in Southern California.
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“Understand something about liberalism. They never stop until they get what they want, and when they get what they want, it's never enough. That's why it's a constant thing to have to oppose them. You can't join forces with them, you can't moderate them, you can't slow them down by joining them, you can't make them like you and have them change their agenda. They have to be stopped.” ~ Rush Limbaugh
Our "problem" is not
May 21, 2009 - 13:25 ET by UndercoverConservativethat we need a 2/3 majority to pass taxes, but we waste 2/3 of our taxes to support a lawbreaking minority and all the problems and costs and consequences they bring.
WWW.GS2AC.COM. 2nd Amendment Grass Roots Action in the Bay Area, CA. We're not all "Breakfast Cereal" folks here! :)
constitutional convention
May 21, 2009 - 21:55 ET by DaleneWhen the voters and courts refuse to bow down, the special interests in California will demand a constitutional convention to continue their hijacking of our once vibrant state. This is when the people of California will have to claim their place in the state and refused to be tricked and bullied by greedy politicians and even greedier special interests.
What NBC failed to mention
May 22, 2009 - 09:30 ET by jeffinsacThe only people against the 2/3 rule are the democrat politicians and Unions. The latest field poll here in CA reported the following, which NBC didn't feel was important to mention when bashing the 2/3 vote requirement.
http://field.com/fie...
"Overall seven in ten registered voters (70%) favor the two-thirds vote rule."