Shock: Tax Collections Down in California

It’s time for a Captain Louis Renault Award (thank you, Hot Air, for the idea).

The United States is suffering a recession. California’s legislative leaders not only had a bad budget back in February, they had relatively rosy projections of revenues.

What happens when tax rates go up? Tax collections go down. Add in a recession, and it’s no surprise that we’re looking at an $8 billion deficit projection. That could be $14 billion if budget propositions A-F (on the May 19th ballot) fail. I’ll begin posting on these propositions tomorrow.

Nationally syndicated columnist George Will called Governor Schwarzenegger the best thing for neighboring states. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I do think we’re going to see a lot of nastiness in Sacramento in June.

I’ve been saying the same thing for months (soon to be years): California must drastically cut spending. A lot of the boards and regulatory agencies that are also found in the federal government need to be eliminated. Government can’t be everything for everyone (nor should it be). It may well be that California will be forced down this path, though given the state legislature I think it will take the voters imposing their will in order for this to occur.

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