California - Declares state of Fiscal Emergency

• CenterBHSFan

  

  California governor declares fiscal emergency - Yahoo! News
  
  Well, this doesn't suprise anybody. We've seen the writing on the wall in that state for years now. From everything from huge benefit packages for the public sector to outright mismanagement and reckless finances. A perfect example of chasing "shinies" lies in that state.
  It's really stupidly shameful in the fact that Ca. has so much to offer as far as tourism, employment opportunity and such.
  

  
  California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of fiscal emergency on Thursday for the government of the most populous U.S. state to press lawmakers to tackle its $25.4 billion budget gap.

  
  I'm also going to branch this out and add in another factor in California's woe: Illegal Immigration and all the ramifications that come from it.
  
  Welfare Tab for Children of Illegal Immigrants Estimated at $600M in L.A. County - FoxNews.com
  

  
  Antonovich acknowledges that the children whose benefits he's focusing on are U.S.-born. But he argues that the money is collected by the illegal immigrant parents, putting a painful burden on taxpayers, including those who are legal immigrants.
  ......
  
  "We can no longer afford to be HMO to the world."

  
  Costs were naturally higher in states with large illegal immigrant populations -- in California, the total annual cost was pegged at $21.8 billion.

  
  In THIS problem, California has to make the dreadful choice(s) between:
  - Massive spending cuts in the "welfare" sector in an overall sense
  - Massive spending cuts in the "welfare" sector in education
  - Dumping off/restructuring alot of the public sector spending
  
  No matter what they choose (choices are limited) alot of people are going to be in an uproar, feelings are going to be hurt, alot of political upheaval, and probably some massive protests and/or riots.
  
  What do the OC'ers think?
• QuakerOats

  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/business/economy/21bankruptcy.html?_r=2&src=busln
  
  We are at bankruptcies doorstep.
• BGFalcons82

  

  Cali needs to declare bankruptcy and thus invalidate all of their union contracts and re-negotiate. There is no money tree anymore and it's time to live within their means. Tough choices? You bet. If it was easy, they wouldn't be in their current mess.
• jhay78

  

  CenterBHSFan;646563 wrote:[
  No matter what they choose (choices are limited) alot of people are going to be in an uproar, feelings are going to be hurt, alot of political upheaval, and probably some massive protests and/or riots.
  
  What do the OC'ers think?

  
  Never want to see that stuff, but at this point it's not out of the question.
• Belly35

  

  Hey! How about all those Liberal Actor and Actress donating some of their cash...
  Hey! How about telling all the illegals to get the out....
• CenterBHSFan

  

  I just noticed a HUGE fail on my part. *sad face*
  
  Looking at the numbers from both links that I posted, let's look at the numbers.
  
  California has a $25.4 billion budget gap. Now, $21.8 billion of that is created by supporting illegal immigrants.
  25.4 billion
  -21.8
  _________________
  = The difference of only $3.6 billion.
  
  That's freakin ridiculous!
• Belly35

  

  CenterBHSFan;646810 wrote:I just noticed a HUGE fail on my part. *sad face*
  
  Looking at the numbers from both links that I posted, let's look at the numbers.
  
  California has a $25.4 billion budget gap. Now, $21.8 billion of that is created by supporting illegal immigrants.
  25.4 billion
  -21.8
  _________________
  = The difference of only $3.6 billion.
  
  That's freakin ridiculous!

  Add a little to this, estimated Hollywood Actors and Actress donated to the Haiti relief fund over 6 million ...
  Illegal get the hell out .... Hollywood Actor and Actress donate and with some adition cuts Calif back in business..
• believer

  

  There's an old saying, "As Goes California, So Goes the Nation."
  
  California is a mess and testimony to the failures of decades of liberal policies, unionism, illegal immigration, and American socialist thinking.
  
  I'm with BG on this one...bankruptcy for states is the only alternative...including all the ramifications that go along with it.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Whatever the solution ends up being -- I want ZERO federal dollars going to help that state.
  
  They did this to themselves, a lot by voting for or against specific things that ended up hurting their state's economy.
  
  To me this is no different than when California was suffering from power outages and brownouts because they haven't ALLOWED companies to build the infrastructure needed to meet the needs of the state (much of it in the name of ecology, mind you). I didn't like that companies from other states were selling them power that might have put the needs of those states in jeopardy if a shortage had developed.
  
  They should have let them sit in the dark and reflect on what they've done to themselves, rather than waiting for someone else to bail them out.
  
  Same response here. Let them dig themselves out of this hole -- however painful it may be.
• dwccrew

  

  I know what they could do, pass "stimulus" packages and borrow money. You have to spend your way out of debt!!!!!!
• believer

  

  dwccrew;647499 wrote:I know what they could do, pass "stimulus" packages and borrow money. You have to spend your way out of debt!!!!!!

  They can also increase and extend unemployment benefits because unemployment checks are good for the economy.
• dwccrew

  

  believer;647764 wrote:They can also increase and extend unemployment benefits because unemployment checks are good for the economy.

  
  Absolutely. Gotta keep the economy moving!
• I Wear Pants

  Well I mean, it was Friedman who suggested a negative income tax for the poor so...
  
  But yeah, this isn't good. Though I find it funny that Belly is trying to tell people what they should do with their money and also acting like giving to Haiti (a whopping $7 million) is a bad thing or statistically significant.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  Pants,
  
  For some reason you and BS bring up Friedman alot...
  
  And about Haiti... I'm glad there was no more donated to that pitiful place. Out of whatever monies were given to them, only about 100 families were given some sort of new cardboard box to live in. Which I don't think suprises anybody.
  Look at all the money/food that was donated through LiveAid. The people over there in charge sat on most of it, money disappeared and the bulk of the food rotted.
  Same scenario as Haiti. Sure, it was a good gesture done in good faith, but still.
• BGFalcons82

  

  CenterBHSFan;648473 wrote:And about Haiti... I'm glad there was no more donated to that pitiful place. Out of whatever monies were given to them, only about 100 families were given some sort of new cardboard box to live in. Which I don't think suprises anybody.
  Look at all the money/food that was donated through LiveAid. The people over there in charge sat on most of it, money disappeared and the bulk of the food rotted.
  Same scenario as Haiti. Sure, it was a good gesture done in good faith, but still.

  
  Haiti is the poster child for liberal do-gooders who parade ravaged villages, homeless people, and malnourished children in front of the TV cameras and make people feel guilty for not giving any money to help out. They say, "if you only send 10 cents a day, then Haiti will be saved, people will eat, homes will be built, and all will be great. Please help." Then...when millions after millions of dollars are poured into the country, we are left to see how NOTHING has changed. The warlords/corrupt elistist leaders can't see themselves giving anything to the masses and then they call back the networks to film even more devastation to show ONCE AGAIN on American TV sets. It's a vicious cycle that's been going on for decades and we are still duped by these puppeteers and then they enlist none other than.....Slick Willie and the Moving Lips Liar to beg us to send more. And we do. And for what? What do we get for our umpteen millions?
  
  If Obama wants to name Haiti as the 51st state and take it over, it makes far more sense than continually sending millions upon millions of "aid" to the people whom never seem to see any of it.
• Belly35

  

  Never give money the third world counties... Like piss up a rope
• I Wear Pants

  CenterBHSFan;648473 wrote:Pants,
  
  For some reason you and BS bring up Friedman alot...
  
  And about Haiti... I'm glad there was no more donated to that pitiful place. Out of whatever monies were given to them, only about 100 families were given some sort of new cardboard box to live in. Which I don't think suprises anybody.
  Look at all the money/food that was donated through LiveAid. The people over there in charge sat on most of it, money disappeared and the bulk of the food rotted.
  Same scenario as Haiti. Sure, it was a good gesture done in good faith, but still.

  I'd like to see some credible evidence that only 100 families received aid and that said aid was so bad to be called a cardboard box.
  
  I love how conservatives lately have been acting like wanting to help less fortunate people is a bad thing and scoff at pretty much any international aid.
• I Wear Pants

  Belly35;648678 wrote:Never give money the third world counties... Like piss up a rope

  
  Yeah, let's give tax cuts to dudes making a million dollars a year. That'll make everything better.
• gut

  I Wear Pants;648811 wrote: I love how conservatives lately have been acting like wanting to help less fortunate people is a bad thing and scoff at pretty much any international aid.

  
  Yes, because being imperialistic and using the military to make real change is just so horrible....So much better and more admirable to piss away money that mostly ends-up directly in the pockets of the oppressors who are the real problem.
  
  Not that I support imperialism, but I don't necessarily pat someone on the back for writing a check to feel good about themselves while they pretend to make a real impact.
• queencitybuckeye

  I Wear Pants;648812 wrote:Yeah, let's give tax cuts to dudes making a million dollars a year. That'll make everything better.

  
  That's far more likely to cause something positive to happen, that's for sure. Good call.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  I Wear Pants;648811 wrote:I'd like to see some credible evidence that only 100 families received aid and that said aid was so bad to be called a cardboard box.
  I love how conservatives lately have been acting like wanting to help less fortunate people is a bad thing and scoff at pretty much any international aid.

  100 boxes was my number to emphasize the sad state of progress being made in Haiti. Anybody who's read at least 2 separate articles since then knows how pitiful of a state that those people are in. Sadly, the number isn't all that off the mark.
  I say "cardboard boxes" because there's no comparison to building codes in Haiti. I'm hoping I don't have to "prove" that, too.
  
  Haiti mourn quake dead, find hope in own resilency - Yahoo! News
  

  
  Businesses were closed. Instead of traffic, streets were filled with people dressed in white, the color of prayer and mourning. They waved their hands, cheered and called out to God as they wound down roads beset by ruins. Astride the unrepaired buildings are camps where an estimated 1 million people still live, unable to afford new homes

  
  Less than 5 percent of the debris has been cleared. What's left would be enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper halfway around the world.

  
  The earthquake shattered the old building, where many workers were killed in one of the blows to the public sector that helped paralyze the government following the earthquake.

  
  Haiti One Year Later: No Progress |
  
  In No Man's Land: Searching for Signs of Progress in Haiti - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
  

  
  According to Roland Van Hauwermeiren, a country director in Haiti for the aid organization Oxfam, 2010 was a year of "missed opportunities" for rebuilding.

  
  Google it up. This subject has over 10million hits on just this topic alone.
  
  The fact is, Belly pretty much nailed it. It's like pissing up a rope. And who is suprised, really? Hell, we had our own people still living in government provided camping trailers for years after Katrina. And they STILL haven't even bothered to clean up all the garbage and rubbish in New Orleans. And that's in our own damned country - much less another country! Ughh, but that's another topic, eh?
  
  I stand by my statement that it was just about as fruitless of an endeavor as LiveAid was. Although the intention was good, the cold hard facts is that reality never equals dreams, and good intentions always come with mismanagement.
  
  And for the record, I never said that helping Haiti was a bad thing. I specifically said, and I quote:
  

  Sure, it was a good gesture done in good faith, but still.

  
  It's not the want of helping that I scoff at. It's knowing that actual realities of mismanaged money that NEVER gets spent the way it's supposed to, it's the political factions that block one another from doing what needs to be done, etc. As evidenced by our own standards of "helping the less fortunate", much less around the world.
  
  I would appreciate not having what I say purposely twisted around just for the sake of argument or because my thoughts do not align themselves with others. I think it's better to ask to confirm first. Something like: "Are you saying that you think helping other people less fortunate is a bad thing?" It would have saved a good 5 minutes of all this linking, quoting and other "stuff".
• CenterBHSFan

  

  P.S.
  
  Has there EVER been a time where people see more than 5 or 10 cents to the dollar of actual relief, food, housing, clothes, etc.?
  
  PSS
  
  Pants, I'm thinking that you were either a little tipsy or in an extremely bad mood last night? lol
• derek bomar

  

  Reefer Madness - legalize Pot is coming...they'd be able to balance the budget this year just by doing this and taxing the shit out of it.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  derek bomar;648974 wrote:Reefer Madness - legalize Pot is coming...they'd be able to balance the budget this year just by doing this and taxing the shit out of it.

  
  Not really, but it would be a start.
  
  Stop funding the so-called war on drugs AND legalize pot, cocaine and smack (and regulate how it's distributed), and adopt the Nevada method of dealing with prostitution, and you'd probably have a healthy treasury, even after setting aside a significant portion for rehab programs and quality control (gotta test the drugs and the whores to make sure they're not contaminated).
• cbus4life

  Writerbuckeye;649146 wrote:Not really, but it would be a start.
  
  Stop funding the so-called war on drugs AND legalize pot, cocaine and smack (and regulate how it's distributed), and adopt the Nevada method of dealing with prostitution, and you'd probably have a healthy treasury, even after setting aside a significant portion for rehab programs and quality control (gotta test the drugs and the whores to make sure they're not contaminated).

  
  I like this idea!