Comments on: Don’t Like the Nat’l Budget? You Try. http://luxamericana.com/2009/06/22/dont-like-the-national-budget-you-try-reduce-deficit/ Light, Life, Love and Liberty Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:32:15 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: David Claiborne http://luxamericana.com/2009/06/22/dont-like-the-national-budget-you-try-reduce-deficit/comment-page-1/#comment-279 David Claiborne Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:32:56 +0000 http://luxamericana.com/?p=769#comment-279 California takes in nearly twice as much in state tax receipts as any other state, but we're actually about 10th per capita ('05 stats here - http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/05staxrank.html ) Spending isn't ever going to go down - it shouldn't. Number one, government spending has to keep track with inflation just like personal spending does. And just as individuals strive for a higher standard of living (higher income, higher spending), so too will the government/society/"the commons" whatever you want to call it. Part of the reason I personally live in California is because I like being on the cutting edge. I want to be living in the first state to get all the cool new toys, and that means a lot of spending - which means a lot of jobs, and a lot of wealth going back to private citizens. California's tax code is insane. After capping the property taxes, and passing a law that says the voters of the state have to approve tax hikes by referendum, we simply can't raise enough money through taxes to pay for the services people demand. Yeah there's a lot of waste, and we have to crack down on that. But there's also a lot of tax cheats, and insane decision-making that favors cutting spending on social services before cutting say, state legislature salaries (over $100k in California - http://www.theliberaloc.com/2007/12/03/california-legislature-set-to-get-a-big-raise-do-they-deserve-it-2/ ) or tax breaks for fat-cats. The little guy always gets the short end of the stick. California takes in nearly twice as much in state tax receipts as any other state, but we’re actually about 10th per capita (’05 stats here – http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/05staxrank.html )

Spending isn’t ever going to go down – it shouldn’t. Number one, government spending has to keep track with inflation just like personal spending does. And just as individuals strive for a higher standard of living (higher income, higher spending), so too will the government/society/”the commons” whatever you want to call it. Part of the reason I personally live in California is because I like being on the cutting edge. I want to be living in the first state to get all the cool new toys, and that means a lot of spending – which means a lot of jobs, and a lot of wealth going back to private citizens.

California’s tax code is insane. After capping the property taxes, and passing a law that says the voters of the state have to approve tax hikes by referendum, we simply can’t raise enough money through taxes to pay for the services people demand.

Yeah there’s a lot of waste, and we have to crack down on that. But there’s also a lot of tax cheats, and insane decision-making that favors cutting spending on social services before cutting say, state legislature salaries (over $100k in California – http://www.theliberaloc.com/2007/12/03/california-legislature-set-to-get-a-big-raise-do-they-deserve-it-2/ ) or tax breaks for fat-cats. The little guy always gets the short end of the stick.

]]> By: David Caldwell http://luxamericana.com/2009/06/22/dont-like-the-national-budget-you-try-reduce-deficit/comment-page-1/#comment-277 David Caldwell Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:42:56 +0000 http://luxamericana.com/?p=769#comment-277 Problem I have with that is this.... California already taxes harder than it's other 49 states, but there is no transparency to the MASSIVE spending influx which has never slowed down. Even if they upped taxes and received the "$6 billion" increase they supposedly needed...the spending hasn't slowed down at all. Therefore even with tax hikes, they would still be dramatically in debt, from impractical spending budgets. The most inane response to this deficit is cutting off all programs that give future jobs such as education and social welfare (Programs that ARE designed to get those hurting back on their feet). This seems like a very temporary fix, that will cost California more money in the future by having uneducated Californians running the state in 10 years or more. Granted school districts like Los Angeles Unified CAN hold their own without financial aid from the state, it leaves over a hundred districts penniless and/or closed for good. Problem I have with that is this….
California already taxes harder than it’s other 49 states, but there is no transparency to the MASSIVE spending influx which has never slowed down. Even if they upped taxes and received the “$6 billion” increase they supposedly needed…the spending hasn’t slowed down at all. Therefore even with tax hikes, they would still be dramatically in debt, from impractical spending budgets.
The most inane response to this deficit is cutting off all programs that give future jobs such as education and social welfare (Programs that ARE designed to get those hurting back on their feet). This seems like a very temporary fix, that will cost California more money in the future by having uneducated Californians running the state in 10 years or more. Granted school districts like Los Angeles Unified CAN hold their own without financial aid from the state, it leaves over a hundred districts penniless and/or closed for good.

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