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Earlier this week I requested that you guys pray for Kali's budget deficit to get worse. Apparently God was listening and it paid off. A big thanks to all you guys.
But we can do better. This idiotic state just enacted today (or yesterday) dramatic "Greenhouse gas curbs" that will further destroy the Kali economy:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-climate12-2008dec12,0,7794111.story
So pray even harder for worse budget numbers so we can bankrupt the most evil of gun-banning state governments.
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California deficit to hit $41.8B in next 18 months
By JUDY LIN, The Associated Press 2:27 p.m. December 11, 2008
SACRAMENTO — California's budget deficit will hit $41.8 billion over the next 18 months, potentially forcing the state to issue IOUs for everything from its electricity bills to food providers if lawmakers don't solve the problem soon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
administration said Thursday.
The shortfall is far worse than already abysmal estimates. A previous projection by the Legislature's nonpartisan analyst had pegged the gap at $28 billion through June 2010.
The governor's finance director, Michael Genest, said the administration was making the budget figures public before their typical release in January because Schwarzenegger wants the public to understand the unprecedented scope of the problem.
But the grim news did not appear to yield results with legislative leaders, who failed again to make progress in a budget meeting with the governor Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, said Republicans would prefer to work out a deal with Democrats in the state Legislature rather than continue talking with the Republican governor in he said were futile.
"I just don't see this process as being productive or helpful," Cogdill said.
Schwarzenegger blasted Republican leaders on Wednesday, saying they had come to negotiations unprepared and had failed to present a complete proposal about how to address the mounting deficit.
California is projected to run out of cash in February and may have to issue IOUs for its bills.
While the state is obligated by law to pay employees, schools and its debts, it could halt payments to vendors who provide everything from the gas for California Highway Patrol vehicles to food service in prisons and utilities for state offices.
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer also had warned the state will have to stop financing $5 billion in infrastructure projects next week unless lawmakers agree to take action, which could mean the loss of about 200,000 jobs.
Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that sales, personal and corporate tax collections have continued to tank, and he declared that the state is "heading towards a financial Armageddon."
He said the shortfall for the current fiscal year has grown to nearly $15 billion – $3.6 billion higher than the deficit lawmakers already have been unable to solve during two special sessions of the state Legislature. That together with deficit estimates for the next budget year total $41.8 billion.
Schwarzenegger had proposed $4.7 billion in tax increases and $4.4 billion in program cuts, as well as an economic stimulus plan, as a starting point for negotiations back on Nov. 5 when he declared the first special session for the fiscal year.
But such a plan is a tough sell for his fellow Republicans, who have remained steadfastly against raising taxes.
The state's stringent two-thirds requirement to pass a budget or any tax increases means Republican minorities in the state Assembly and Senate hold unusual sway in negotiations.
Last summer brought about the longest budget stalemate in state history at 85 days, and the November election left Democrats three votes shy of a supermajority in both houses.
Republicans last month rejected a Democratic proposal to fill a then-$11.2 billion gap this year with $8.1 billion in cuts and $8.1 billion in tax increases. They have failed to present their own plan, but promised to release a package next week that is expected to contain spending cuts, a cap on future spending and relaxing labor and environmental regulations.
California leads the nation in the sheer size of its budget gap, according to the most recent survey of states by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Thursday's projections could leave the state's gap as high as 19 percent for the 2009-10 budget, based on California's current $144.5 billion spending plan.
Fourteen other states are facing double-digit percentage gaps in their 2010 fiscal year budgets, with Arizona and New York leading the way in the percentage size of their deficits, followed by California, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kansas.
Genest said the $41.8 billion deficit figure assumes that the state will not complete a $5 billion borrowing plan based on future state lottery revenues. The budget lawmakers approved and Schwarzenegger signed this year relied on that proposal to generate cash, but it's not clear that the state can find investors willing to take that risk without a solid budget plan.
And it could still get worse.
A court-appointed federal receiver is demanding $8 billion in bonds to build seven new prison medical centers. Receiver J. Clark Kelso has asked federal judges to force the state to pay $250 million immediately and more than $3 billion by June 30.
But we can do better. This idiotic state just enacted today (or yesterday) dramatic "Greenhouse gas curbs" that will further destroy the Kali economy:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-climate12-2008dec12,0,7794111.story
So pray even harder for worse budget numbers so we can bankrupt the most evil of gun-banning state governments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
California deficit to hit $41.8B in next 18 months
By JUDY LIN, The Associated Press 2:27 p.m. December 11, 2008
SACRAMENTO — California's budget deficit will hit $41.8 billion over the next 18 months, potentially forcing the state to issue IOUs for everything from its electricity bills to food providers if lawmakers don't solve the problem soon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
administration said Thursday.
The shortfall is far worse than already abysmal estimates. A previous projection by the Legislature's nonpartisan analyst had pegged the gap at $28 billion through June 2010.
The governor's finance director, Michael Genest, said the administration was making the budget figures public before their typical release in January because Schwarzenegger wants the public to understand the unprecedented scope of the problem.
But the grim news did not appear to yield results with legislative leaders, who failed again to make progress in a budget meeting with the governor Thursday.
Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, said Republicans would prefer to work out a deal with Democrats in the state Legislature rather than continue talking with the Republican governor in he said were futile.
"I just don't see this process as being productive or helpful," Cogdill said.
Schwarzenegger blasted Republican leaders on Wednesday, saying they had come to negotiations unprepared and had failed to present a complete proposal about how to address the mounting deficit.
California is projected to run out of cash in February and may have to issue IOUs for its bills.
While the state is obligated by law to pay employees, schools and its debts, it could halt payments to vendors who provide everything from the gas for California Highway Patrol vehicles to food service in prisons and utilities for state offices.
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer also had warned the state will have to stop financing $5 billion in infrastructure projects next week unless lawmakers agree to take action, which could mean the loss of about 200,000 jobs.
Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that sales, personal and corporate tax collections have continued to tank, and he declared that the state is "heading towards a financial Armageddon."
He said the shortfall for the current fiscal year has grown to nearly $15 billion – $3.6 billion higher than the deficit lawmakers already have been unable to solve during two special sessions of the state Legislature. That together with deficit estimates for the next budget year total $41.8 billion.
Schwarzenegger had proposed $4.7 billion in tax increases and $4.4 billion in program cuts, as well as an economic stimulus plan, as a starting point for negotiations back on Nov. 5 when he declared the first special session for the fiscal year.
But such a plan is a tough sell for his fellow Republicans, who have remained steadfastly against raising taxes.
The state's stringent two-thirds requirement to pass a budget or any tax increases means Republican minorities in the state Assembly and Senate hold unusual sway in negotiations.
Last summer brought about the longest budget stalemate in state history at 85 days, and the November election left Democrats three votes shy of a supermajority in both houses.
Republicans last month rejected a Democratic proposal to fill a then-$11.2 billion gap this year with $8.1 billion in cuts and $8.1 billion in tax increases. They have failed to present their own plan, but promised to release a package next week that is expected to contain spending cuts, a cap on future spending and relaxing labor and environmental regulations.
California leads the nation in the sheer size of its budget gap, according to the most recent survey of states by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Thursday's projections could leave the state's gap as high as 19 percent for the 2009-10 budget, based on California's current $144.5 billion spending plan.
Fourteen other states are facing double-digit percentage gaps in their 2010 fiscal year budgets, with Arizona and New York leading the way in the percentage size of their deficits, followed by California, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kansas.
Genest said the $41.8 billion deficit figure assumes that the state will not complete a $5 billion borrowing plan based on future state lottery revenues. The budget lawmakers approved and Schwarzenegger signed this year relied on that proposal to generate cash, but it's not clear that the state can find investors willing to take that risk without a solid budget plan.
And it could still get worse.
A court-appointed federal receiver is demanding $8 billion in bonds to build seven new prison medical centers. Receiver J. Clark Kelso has asked federal judges to force the state to pay $250 million immediately and more than $3 billion by June 30.
