You’re facing yet another $4 – $8 billion deficit. You’re in the middle of a recession. So do you cut back on spending, or do you propose billions more in new programs which would have to be funded through even more tax increases?
Well, Russ, no one can be that stupid. The Democrats in the California legislature, having just gone through a months-long bruising budget battle, have to understand some basic economics, right?
Wrong.
We’re seeing proposals to charge shoppers for carry-out bags, to add fees on drivers licenses, pornography, and other targeted markets, and for universal health care.
State Senator George Runner (R-Lancaster) noted on the Flash Blog that the $46 billion proposal for universal health care has been resurrected in Sacramento. Just what California businesses need: more taxation that would drive them into neighboring states.
It appears I may have drastically underestimated the budget deficit as of June. I was thinking it would be on the order of $6 billion. Perhaps $16 billion is closer to the mark.
At least there’s a chance that if people are paying for things they use, the state will start acting a little more like a business.
But it’s vanishingly unlikely.