Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is finally going to finish off California
By John Amato Sunday May 31, 2009 9:09amGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget cuts will finally finish off our state.
The cuts Mr. Schwarzenegger has proposed to make up the difference, if enacted by the Legislature, would turn California into a place that in some ways would be unrecognizable in modern America: poor children would have no health insurance, prisoners would be released by the thousands and state parks would be closed.
Nearly all of the billions of dollars in cuts the administration has proposed would affect programs for poor Californians, although prisons and schools would take hits, as well.
“Government doesn’t provide services to rich people,” Mike Genest, the state’s finance director, said on a conference call with reporters on Friday. “It doesn’t even really provide services to the middle class.” He added: “You have to cut where the money is.”
In less than two weeks, the administration has gone from warning residents that a vote against the budget measures would send the state — some $24 billion in the red — into utter turmoil to sanguine acceptance that “the people have spoken” and that the government must move on.
It gets worse.
These proposals, as well as those that would make cuts to state parks, the prison system and other state agencies, are winding their way through Sacramento now, where they will be voted on by committees and eventually the full Legislature.
If lawmakers sign off on closing the health insurance program for children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid, California would be the first state in the nation to close the popular program. Begun in 1997, the program, known as S-CHIP, reimburses states at a higher rate than for Medicaid to deliver health insurance to children and teenagers. With the cuts to Medicaid, the state would probably increase its number of uninsured people by nearly 2 million, the California Budget Project says.
But Gray Davis just had to be recalled.
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You vill be terminated.
Look I know it sucks to see it happen, but something a lot of Dem's do not seem to get no matter how many times it's said.
The belt needs to be tightened somewhere and hard but no one wants it to be their belt. It's going to be painful no matter what we do, if you DON'T makes cuts now California is finished.
CA has a very specific problem, in that 2/3 of the budget is tied up by various initiatives and various other initiatives have made sane tax policy impossible. They're not cutting where the money is; they are cutting the only discretionary items in the budget.
We can always grow pot.
If they do arrest us, we know they can't afford to keep us in jail.
Now is the time. Marijuana is here to solve all our problems.
C'mon curt, I want weed legal too (although my recovery forbids me
from partaking)but that would be a small fix.
That would be funny if you legalized it an a lot of people quit their jobs as a result and California's tax revenues decreased further, creating a bigger mess.
But de-funding a broken government is the only way I see the people getting back power and representation on a national level. We don't have any reason to believe California's government isn't just as corrupt.
he wants to tax it like cigarettes to help get CA out it's hole, if he does that those who smoke pot will wish their dealer was still around because the prices will be insane.
A lot of recovery plans don't know about them, so its like a work-around.
If Cali out and out legalizes marijuana, the amount of kids willing to pay out of state college tuition will increase tenfold!
Seriously, you have to believe that California would REALLY benefit from legalizing marijuana.
If they do, I plan on setting up a weed store in a border town! I'll be richer than Bill Gates!!!
California already grows huge amounts of commercial marijuana. The fed is just too weak to stop it, the state too weak to really legalize it, and both of them too stupid to tax it. Like it or not, drugs are big business, so why give that business to gangs.
-As for the Governator, this is what we get for hiring a terrible uber-rich actor, and expecting him to perform a real and meaningful job. I live in California and I can tell you it's been dead in the water for a few years now. It's just that it's gone beyond critical mass and become newsworthy. No surprise since the CA economy is the national role model for consumer fueled solvency.
The extra money, although untaxed, goes a long way to help local economies. It ends up being taxed when it's spent, but the main point is: It is there to BE spent...
If Cali exported pot...
That's what Republicans do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuaAxs04fAQ
Textbook case.
Somehow, I think CA will survive. And I sorta doubt that Gray Davis would have been able to do much better. If there's no money, cuts have to be made.
Everyone has to pull back on spending. At least he's not putting all of those expenses on the credit card.
Health insurance is not a right unfortunately.
Hey, I have an idea. Why don't all you rugged induhvidualists come over to Texas> Your pals are already in charge here, so you can't really ruin anything else. But at least the rest of the country can get on with being a civilized modern country.
I'm a disabled low income Californian. I'm sick to my stomach waiting for the NY Times article to load out of fear I might lose my Medicaid.
it hits those with the least influence most...while the crony capitalists shrug their responsibilities whilst sucking the golden te*t dry
That would be sucking the golden tea bag alive.
Time for Speilberg, Clooney, Pitt, Jones, Lucas, Jackson and all the
other Hollywood movers and shakers to start setting up clinics and
day care centers! Put your money where your mouth is biches!!
Winfrey, Streisand, and even why not Norris and Travolta too!!
How about a huge benefit concert with EVERY killer band that is still
together!!! CALI-AID!!!!!
Think of all the bands that are from Cali, nation wide live coverage of
the 21st Century Live Aid, but not for starving Africans this time
although they are deserving) but for at risk Americans.
Cut all state funds to Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and the agra-business centers in the valleys. We'll see how stiff the resolve is to not raise taxes.
cut off la lakers
hahahahahahahaha
Since when does “Government [not] provide services to rich people”?
Every big tax break that depletes the coffers, every capital gains tax break. Every corporate giveaway to (supposedly) "create jobs" (that are never created), are all big-ticket "services" that cost the state Billions in tax revenue.
I'd like a dollar amount attached to each group please, then we'll talk who's getting the short-ent of the stick.
Government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations… and their buddies.
Of course not one of the 'reporters' questioned the statement.
what to remind us what kind of guy you're staying with?
The moderate conservative ideologues of the Economist recently offered a superficial analysis of the crisis. Their explanation reduced to the 'extremism on both sides' fallacy. The fact of the matter is that there is only one brand of extremism at play here: libertarian extremism begun by Reagan. Krugman put it correctly recently: there's no reason why California should not be a strong state. A slight raise in taxes would solve the budget crisis. But the changes to the legislative process make that impossible.
The libertarians are gleeful at the current situation, because it makes governance of any sort impossible.
California will be a libertarian paradise!
Just like Somalia.
Nice going, Californians.
You recalled a boring but competent governor (Mr. Grey Davis, who looks like a genius now), and replaced him with an action star who had no experience in politics. But he has a lot of great catch phrases, though!
Hope you like Arnold terminating your state.
Don't look over here! I voted for Davis and begged everyone I knew who could vote to vote for Davis http://crooksandliars.com/comment/permalink/1020188. But, alas, Arnold did have a lot of SUPER catch phrases. It's cold comfort being able to say I told you so to friends and family who insisted on voting for Arnold over the sensible Davis.
I hope Davis isn't laughing his ass off at Californians too much--it's not nice to laugh at the mentally disabled.
Yeah, I'm bitter.
I was against the recall from the start. And right now it's beyond me why there isn't a large movement to recall Ah-nold. It's not like there isn't a precedent set for that.
Damn this state has problems... but at least we don't have a bunch of dumbass secessionists.
Not so good, huh Arnie? Why how about that, there is no such thing as something for nothing! Tell that to your crack addled GOP colleagues who are convinced that tax cuts are a magic solution when in reality, they are a fraud perpetrated by frauds pandering to the public for some cheap and easy way to endear themselves to the voters.
..including the assinine Prop F that limits politicians pay raises.
My reason was not to force cuts, regardless of AS's threats prior to the election.
My reason was to send the message that this "term paper" from our students (elected politcians) was an "F" and they needed to go back to work and do the right thing.
The only two things I should have been asked to vote on were:
1) Recall Arnold Schwarzenegger
2) Repeal Prop 13's horrific 2/3rds majority rule for budget deals.
This is exactly what the the sinister republicans want. They want to destroy this state. Why? Because they are a minority without any power and they would rather burn the house down than let the wife and kids have it after the divorce.
So you gave a drunken sociopath an "F" and he burned down your house. Does your moral righteousness keep you warm at night?
Yes.
You, and Arnold, predict the end of times. The death and collapse of civilization. The heralding of doom and gloom.
Baloney.
Why should I care if 20 people get laid off from the Dept of Consumer affairs? or 30 people from the Department of general Services? or 10 CHP officers? or 20 IT support technicians in Sacramento.
That's what is going to occur. Those that get pink-slipped are in a world of hurt, and I feel sorry. But the government must reduce its expenses and suppport obligations in order to achieve fiscal stability.
If GM needs to lay people off, they do so. They don't whine about having to increase the cost of ther cars, they can't.
Government needs to be right-sized, as they say in private businesses.l
Another cut and paste from some Atlas Shrugged fantasy blog. You don't feel sorry for anyone. Libertarianism is just a pseudo-philosophical justification for Antisocial Personality Disorder.
Good retort, thanks. It is probably still aligned with an abundance of testosterone circulating around the eyeballs.
It really is. The philosophy for douchebags who haven't matured emotionally past the age of 5. "Everything is mine and you can't have it! Only my happiness counts!".
The public in California were sold a bill of goods regarding proposition 13.
And their anger at Davis' inability to properly budget for the state after Prop 13 was then used as a strategy to toss him out.
Unfortunately, not even the Terminator could make CA government work as long as Prop 13 is in place. Prop 13 turned into a veritable gold mine for anyone who already had the economic means. And it's been like a noose around the necks of those who can least afford it.
Can't really blame Ahnold for the shit pile he stepped into, he's just the front man/fall guy for deeper and broader (and more evil) machinations taking place behind the scenes.
repeal proposition 13.
Oh please. Prop 13 does nothing but cap property tax rates at 1% of the assessed value of the home. It's not like, $50 bucks or something. I pay about $2600 a year for the home I bought in 1999. My mother pays about $1300 for the home she bought in 1950.
Californians pay the 10th highest property taxes in the country.
Cut the salary of the legislature by 100% and make it a volunteer legislature similar to a volunteer fire dept. We can discuss my consultation fee later.
Then the only policians we have left are those that can afford to not take a salary. That's exactly how you destroy democracy. Then we can have our own "House of Lords" in California.
you may need to come up with the 99.94% that remains of the deficit after all legislative salaries are dropped to $0.
I try to visit everytime I go on vacation. But, you know how the saying goes, you reap what you sow. We have our own problems here in Florida, although not as bad.
Our problems here in Florida are not that bad yet, but each day they do seem to get a little worse.
I hope you've got some place to go on your next visit here - the threatened "cuts" to state parks means CLOSING state parks, specifically several up here in the great, green north. Betwixt the collapse of the lumber industry and fishing industry, tourism is about the last legal thing we have up here. Now?
Thanks a lot Arnold.
It depends on who gets released. If the prisoners released are first-time convicts for simple drug possession, that would be fine with me. Rather than spending billions to feed and house prisoners who made one mistake in life (and some would argue that it wasn't even a mistake), and risking turning them into hardened criminals while in prison, they should be released and given the chance to be productive, tax-paying citizens.
...Look, the way the police control gang members and keep them in line is by busting them for habitual petty crimes. Those crimes are much cheaper to investigate and easier to get convictions on. -So alot of nasty gang members are in jail for what looks like petty non violent behavior ie theft and drug possesion. This is not always the case, but releasing them en masse would be generally fortifying gang armies while reducing crime fighting activities. NOT a good move for a bankrupt border state in my opinion.
I don't know a lot about politics in California, but back when they were tossing Davis out for Arnold, I did wonder what in the hell they were thinking. Arnold isn't much of anything but an actor. History has shown us that actors don't make the wisest pols.
He bankrolled the recall petition. Got enough signatures and put Arnold on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Voila!
Gray Davis stuck the sword of death into the Enron Dragon and killed it. He was singled out to be destroyed by the republicans for his act. He was even blamed for the energy crisis, even though he brought sanity back to the market.
California may be a "Blue" state, but it still has 10 million republican idiots that would just as soon pour gas on this state if they could get away with it.
I knew about Issa's roll in this but I didn't know that Davis played a part in slaying Enron. Thank you for that information. Now what happened to Davis makes more sense.
California may be a "Blue" state, but it still has 10 million republican idiots that would just as soon pour gas on this state if they could get away with it.
Haven't we just had a bunch of wild fires across the state within the last 6 months?
I always thought Texas could be as great a state as California if it could just shed the corrupt libertarian dogma. It seems California has decided to level things in reverse by turning itself into another Texas.
the Wichita (KS) abortionist, as he walked into his church for Sunday services...
I used to live in California, where I experienced all the fun and games of the past 31 years. Just returned from a visit, where I saw how scary things now are. I know the wingnuts love to argue ad nauseum that California has a "spending problem." Of course this is utter rubbish, as California has a serious revenue problem. Revenue has collapsed, thanks to the recession, and that, coupled with how poorly run the state has been for years, has led to this disaster. How do we fix this situation? In the long run, California needs to rewrite its constitution. But what about the short run? From where can California find more revenue?
I've heard a lot about the proposal to redo Prop 13 and create two tiers, raising taxes on commercial property, while allowing homeowners to continue to enjoy their prop 13 protections. I'm fine with this possible solution, as long as it focuses on sticking to to businesses like Chevron. I'm a little worried about raising taxes on smaller businesses, because I've friends working in such places, who've told me about the serious troubles their employers are now facing.
Oh, and to finish my rant, I think the best of all bad solutions would be for California to raise gas taxes to European levels. There really is a revenue problem...
California ranks 6th in the nation for over all taxes. It's not some kind of rogue low tax state.
And for that we get next to nothing.
I'd vote to raise the rate to European rates. If that meant free healthcare, free college educations and guaranteed retirement income.
Unfortunately, our tax dollars are getting thrown into a bottomless pit-like the largest prison system in the US.
We replace Grey Davis with this pawn of the right-wing...who sold out working people, the middle-class, social services in favor of big business.
I thought that the deregulation of the enery companies (ENRON) was the downfall of California. Was that Prop. 13?
And was the beginning of the end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)
Thanks Arnold!
I knew he was bad news. Just another Reagan without the citizenship to become President (thank god).
Jobs are tight, money is tight, and it's going to get worse.
There is a movement to , if not repeal all of Prop 13, to at least change the 2/3 for a budget rule to simple majority which will help. Basically the 2/3 rule games the system so that the legislators against progress just have to hold out long enough to gum up the works, then it looks like SUCH a crisis, everyone gets nervous about the time it is taking and gives up.
We need some strong Democratic leadership in this state, and sadly, we don't have any to speak of.
I knew he was bad news. Just another Reagan without the citizenship to become President (thank god).
Thank God. I still say Arnold had delusions of running for President. He probably thought the Congress would amend the Constitution just for him.
That ain't gonna happen now.
He's a bad actor. Why would anyone think he'd be a good governor? The idea of him as president in scary.
Ok but why? California has ranks 10 out of 50 in property tax rates. It's not super low as it is. We already have a large renter, which would surely get larger under a higher property tax rate.
I am a California native. I pay a TON of taxes, the SIXTH highest in the country for I receive next to NOTHING.
John, to be fair you should offer some solutions. The Governator has to do something and there has been very little in the way of any ideas on what to do. I will say that the Republicans in the legislature are of NO help whatsoever. In no way am I an apologist for Schwarzenegger believe me.
Also, this problem has a lot more to do with the Bush economy that Prop. 13. Bush; The gift that keeps on giving.
This is what happens when no money comes in to cover the money going out. What they don't seem to understand is you have to have money come in so you can meet your budget, because, sooner or later you are going to run out of money. This all started with prop 13. Nobody wants to pay taxes but everybody wants the services. Sooner or later this will happen to the federal government. If California could tax the businesses in the state just think of the money they would have. Almost 11 billion is what they are loosing every year from businesses not paying taxes. I know they say businesses in America pay the highest taxes, but they don't pay any by the time they get done with all the loopholes. So guess who gets to pick up the shortfall. The people of the State of California. Or the people who can least afford it.
For a truly awful suggestion, how about a lottery in which every Californian family, rich or poor, must enroll? The lucky ducky families get euthanized and their property seized by eminent domain and sold off to raise revenue. Market forces at work! Horrible to contemplate, yes? But to some extent this already is happening, but not to rich folk. The poor die of preventable medical conditions due to lack of available health care, and their houses lost to foreclosure.
Is there not a federal remedy, when a state becomes dysfunctional, to step in and reform finances, including tax code? Sure, sure...state's rights, but a state's citizens are US citizens as well, even the irresponsible ones who voted for prop 13 in the first place.
The people of CA want more services and less taxes, they can never agree when it is time to raise taxes. There really isn't anything that he or anybody else could do other than to make big budget cuts. Other than legalizing marijuana (which there has to be some action on the federal level FIRST for that to happen.) who else knows how they can raise 24 billion dollars? You really only have 2 choices in this matter, cut services or raise taxes, and since the voters of CA voted not to raise taxes then that leaves you with 1 option, the one that the gov is taking as unsaviory as it is.
I'll get behind this!
Me too!
We pay the 6th highest taxes in the US, for which most of us receive next to nothing-our schools rank 47th.
Pardon us for not wanting to continue to open our wallets and take out our last pennies to support a state who does not support US
Whew! That was close. Thank god the super-rich are not going to be hit or have their taxes raised.
I thought getting rid of gay marriage would solve all of California's problems.
adults...yet.
But I'm still scared... :(
here.
Good God I'm really worried now.
:(
in-home health care providers cuts (weakest of the weak)
nice.
Oooooh this makes me so angry!
Most states have cut Medicaid reimbursement for home care over the past few years.
Medicare has curtailed reimbursement as well.
You can blame the pharmaceutical companies for that, not Arnold.
most ... doesn't play well
choices made by calif governor and legislature ...
choices made by calif governor and (majority democratic) legislature....and CA voters...
we agree. this was a choice. made by calif
Nice to meet you. Have a good week. :)
We're seeing what happens when we say we want to overspend to our heart's content and yet not pay any extra money into the states coffers. Sure the government is also to blame for the way it spent a lot of our money, but we didn't care how it was being spent when the times were good, so now we're feeling the pinch of those reckless days and I can only say it's good to see us suffer.
and yet I still doubt we'll ever really wake up.
Right! It's solely Arnold and the Republicans fault! Lord knows the Dems have long been the lowly minority out in the wilderness in CA!
From the Times piece:
“There is no drawing lines in the sand,” said Alicia Trost, the spokeswoman for State Senator Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat and president pro tem. “Everyone knows we’re the majority, and we all know where we stand.”
Where do they stand? Oh, right, with spending cuts and against tax increases. This is a textbook example of fiscal mismanagement on all sides. When the tech boom filled the state's coffers with cash, Gray Davis and the Dems decided to spend it all on state programs. Their intentions were good, but their long-term planning was piss poor. Now California, like many states, has seen a dramatic drop in tax revenue and has to cut those same programs. As the article above indicates, the Dem majority is doing nothing to change that.
You can blame it on Arnold all you want, but that's not going to change the reality of the situation, nor will it solve the problem. Californians have long been shielded from the fiscal realities of the programs their government has lavished upon them. Now the chickens have come home to roost. It's that simple.
Some people need to disabuse themselves of the notion that California's rightful destiny is that of a utopia.
Arnold inherited a mess, just like Obama did. It is unfair to lay all the blame on the Governator, when Californians have been voting against tax increases for years.
he ran for gov twice so his holding the office confers a measure of responsibility if not accountability. despite his being in an "inherited mess," it is the nature of leadership that what you do (or don't do) is measured by its outcomes. likewise, if things had gone well, praise would attach.
he is an abject failure at a time when successful leadership was needed... maybe the next gov will be better.
majority is not a super majority (2/3); hence, the protracted budget process, low these many decades which did not address need for revenue beyond 'no new taxes' but fees ok and propositions for favorite expenditures providing resources or tax favors.
cut/paste out of ny times w/o honest insight is telling. fwiw
The article doesn't say the Dems have been thwarted in their attempts to raise taxes and eliminate the proposed cuts.
It says they've been silent.
I'm certainly not laying it all on them, but to ignore their role in this is just ridiculous.
read/cut/pasted ny times article. you do not know or perhaps don't understand ca legislative politics it seems. even w/i the last budget cycle. if inclined, you could read up and present a more coherent comment or cogent argument.
are the one who has not provided a cogent argument. The premise of the discussion is that this is somehow all Arnold's fault; the he is going to single-handedly "finish off California". My point was that both sides are to blame. You've done nothing to disprove that.
leader, arnold is failing to pull it together. the budget crisis is too involved to just say " but, but, but the dem's were bad, too." it's his watch, he gets the credit/blame.
should you want to learn more about ca legislative politics, ample is available. the system is now broken by people who don't believe in govt but want to be in govt .
(and someone who is low-income with a life-threatening psychiatric disability), I hardly consider having being able to have the medications (and not much else) that keep me alive being "lavished" upon.
Frankly I find it offensive that we're being told we're getting our "just desserts" when someone like myself routinely votes for the tax increases to go along with the progams.
It's the most vulnerable people of this state that are being punished by Ahnold right now.
Children, poor families, the disabled and the chronically ill, etc. So please spare us the smugness. If it were the people of means and ability who made the bad decisions that were being hit by the cuts, I would be fine with smugness, but it's not, so I'm not.
Thanks.
I spend within my means too, I also depend on state programs. I don't enjoy the luxury of tax loopholes or outsourcing. This is a clear case of the financially rich abandoning the financially poor.
Umm... to say this is what I have coming because I've been so irresponsible as a citizen is ignorant and elitist... Like chocolate and peanutbutter! Ignorance and elitism go hand in hand.
Arnold isn't to blame for everything. But he sure is responsible for his office and it's actions.
that "you can't spend more than you have" would be apt. Voters are too disengaged, too ignorant of issues and consequences. We've been 'dumbed down' enough that it isn't going to change very soon.
attitudes some of the people are having in here towards this.
They won't have to live with these cuts, but children who have no say in matter, and poor families, the disabled, and the chronically ill, many of whom have voted responsibly over the issues will be *suffering* because of it.
Those who have a decent job, those who don't have a bunch of mouths to feed, and the temporarily able-bodied and temporarily able-minded should be thanking their lucky stars right now.
You are all possibly one pink slip, one unexpected pregnancy, one accident, one illness, or one mental breakdown away from having Ahnold and politicians like him balance the budget on your backs and livelyhoods. And I hope and pray that none of you find yourselves in a situation like those of us Ahnold targets are now in.
takes a special sort to reject those-- who if but for fortune go you or i--who will suffer enormous adversity whilst others suck their teeth thankful that they are so darn smart and worthy not to be in need of help.
word--you or your beloveds are one accident or trauma or severe illness away from lifelong adversity.
civilized states provide safety nets for their vulnerable and invest in the future of their citizens
themselves in the foot. I am currently in remission from my bipolar (but still need to continue taking those life-saving meds so as not to have a relapse), and had been very much considering and wanting to look for a part-time job. In a way, paying taxes would almost be a joy, as it would mean that I'd reached such a state of wellness that I would finally be able to work and pay into the system that has helped me so much.
But with my meds in danger, working is out of the question for the time being!
Anna you said you voted for the tax increases, but you also say that paying taxes would almost be a joy. So you don't pay taxes, but want to tax people that do more so you can get what you think you deserve? And your "life-saving" meds are in danger so working is out of the question? I think that would be a tremendous incentive to get a job to pay for said meds.
Bass-banger you live within your means, but depend on depend on state programs. If you lived within your means you shouldn't need to depend on anyone but yourself.
Where are the two of you posting from? I'm guessing from home on your personal computers? There is one expense you could cut, the libraries offer free internet use, I've used it before myself. Have cable TV? How often do you eat out? Smoke? Drink? Go out to movies? etc. How about gardening? Do either of you do any of that? Doesn't take any property just a window and a couple of pots. How about looking for odd jobs in your off time, sewing, yard work, cleaning, general handyman type of stuff, or whatever you can do that someone might pay for. Anna I might be mistaken but if I remember right, you do crocheting/knitting or something of the sort? Put a ad at your local store for homemade baby clothes or since your on the internet put it on ebay.
"And your "life-saving" meds are in danger so working is out of the question? I think that would be a tremendous incentive to get a job to pay for said meds."
I'm sorry, but putting "life-saving" in airquotes is as insensitve and dickish as when McCain famously did so with "health of the mother."
I am disabled Tim. I have a psychiatric disability. I have Bipolar I (the smaller the Roman numeral the more severe the disorder) and PTSD. On the third day without my medications I will at that point have gone 3 days without sleeping, the voices and hallucinations will return, and the PTSD symptoms will come roaring back at that moment too. I have been rushed to hospital for a suicide attempt in 2002, and in the summer of 2003 I barely escaped having to be hospitalized long-term due to a severe manic episode that caused me to not sleep for three weeks, and then a subsequent crash that saw me sleeping 22 hours a day every day for about another four weeks.
In other words, there is no way in hell I can function *at all* without a steady source of medication. I want to work, and had planned to work, but I *need* the safety net of knowing that I have the medications I need to be a productive member of society, much less be any good to myself. Normally Social Security allows for some disabled people to work part-time and still retain some of their Medicaid and disability benefits. My meds cost about $1000 dollars a month every month, and I only have $640 a month at my disposal for *all* my needs, the Medicaid is so that I afford all of life's other necesities. These new changes may now dictate that if I choose to work while reciving disability that they will take away Medicaid. I can't risk losing my medications, so if electing to work causes me to lose my medication I have no choice but not work despite my wanting to work.
As to your "advice," this computer and internet is actually quite necesary. I am in college, and taking online courses allows me to do my work but avoid the fatigue from campus life that seems to come with my disability and has made school rough. Satellite TV is my only entertainment bill which I split with my caregiver. I neither smoke nor drink, but I do garden. I do cook. And you're close, I do make jewelry, but right now it's only good for a bit of grocery or bill paying money here and there.
Good grief, you're trying to lecture someone with a disability who's been living with her disability for 14+ years. I think I know what I'm doing by now.
Next thing I know you'll be advising someone in a wheelchair to get off of social services by lifting boxes for a moving company. *sigh*
I have been diagnosed with bipolar I also, currently am not taking any meds for it, the ones I could afford that didn't make me feel and act like a zombie were making me break out in a rash so...I deal with it. Also there are only two roman numerals of bi polar but four types. Personally I feel that according to what it takes to be diagnosed as bipolar, if you can't be diagnosed with it your dead or possibly comatose.
And wouldn't a better safety net be working and able to afford them, rather than depend on gov to give them to you? I know that I trust what I can provide for myself and my family more than what the gov can.
And I'm glad you garden, its a good thing to do. That was supposed to be taken as one of the things you can save/make money with. But do you grow flowers or edibles? Both are worthwhile endeavors I grow both along with my wife, but if you don't grow edibles it's something you might want to check into. Seeds and water are a hell of a lot cheaper than veggies at the store. But flowers you can always sell on the street corner for money so its a toss up, depends on which you prefer/are better at.
And as for advising someone in a wheelchair to lift boxes for a moving company. From my previous post "or whatever you can do that someone might pay for." I might advise them if they have the skills to do accounting for the moving company or scheduling etc. Or a guy I know works for a moving company and has a bad back, he stays on the truck and blankets straps down the stuff the movers put on it, he doesn't make as much as them, but its something he can do and it saves the company money while a person in a wheelchair couldn't do it a "disabled" person can. And before you jump on me for the quotes around disabled is I think for the most part people are only as disabled as they think of themselves. At least regarding physical disabilities, yes they can't do the same things others can do, but then again I can't swim like Michael Phelps either does that make me disabled?
Also I never said having access to a computer and internet was not a necessity in this day and age it almost is. But can you do your schoolwork online at the library? My sister in law finished college for her nursing degree last year and did a good bit of her classwork online, the majority of it she could download and work on it and then upload it. So hit the library stick in a jump drive download what you need to, go home work on it then hit the library and upload. Yes not as convenient as having it at home but doable and cheaper.
And as for "Good grief, you're trying to lecture someone with a disability who's been living with her disability for 14+ years. I think I know what I'm doing by now". See the first paragraph of this post, if you want to go from the time I had a shotgun in my mouth and the only reason I didn't pull the trigger was because I didn't want to wake anyone up and didn't want to leave a mess I've been dealing with it for oh around 20+ years, also I have a family member who has been diagnosed with bi-polar, schizophrenia, clinical depression and ptsd(yes he's fucked), and two others who were vietnam vets, talk about ptsd and have been told off the record that I probably suffer from ptsd along with showing clinical signs of having a mental disability. Hell I had a dear friend of mine tell me she wanted to do her dissertation on aberrant psychology on me. She was only half joking.
ETA oh and the family member I referred as "yes he's fucked, he worked full time+ until he blew his rotator cuff out, then did clerical work at the company until they found a reason to fire him. He's on SSA and I give him shit about it on occasion because there are jobs he can do, his right shoulder is screwed yes,(he's had 2-3 surgeries and they can't do any more) but he can work.
Americans have been so dumbed down by the "rugged individualism" lies of their 1% ruling class that they actually believe the capitalist pigs who offer them "free enterprise" while the wealthy wallow in socialism only for the rich.
It's time for Americans (Californians especially) to wake up and realize that the word "community" means exactly that: a communal, cooperative working together to build a better, stronger society populated by happier, healthier people. As are all other primates, humans are a cooperative species so anything other than that is unnatural. The way to do that is by financing the needs of the people with TAXES. Public schools (and ALL schools should be public) cannot be financed by PTA bake sales or by exploiting school children by having them sell products to their families and neighbors for corporations. Public schools should be supported 100% by TAXES.
What California needs is what the United States needs: HIGHER AND MORE EQUITABLE TAXES. Sweden taxpayers pay about 60% of their income in taxes. The result is that they enjoy a much higher standard of living than their U.S. counterparts--and are much happier (and enjoy greater freedom, education, health and safety) to boot!
Unless we elect legislators with the guts to push for true tax reform which would include MUCH HIGHER TAXES, California and the rest of the United States will continue to sink into Third World status and eventually collapse completely. Perhaps the Army of the Peoples Republic of China will run California and the other states more effectively than gutless cowards such and Arnie and the California State Legislature. That probablity is certainly on the horizon thanks to George Bush and the Republicans.
I suspect that is including the VAT, or sales tax.
Here in Norway, for 2008, I paid roughly 29% in direct taxes, then comes sales tax on my consumption on top of that, which is 25% on most purchases, and 14% on food.
Direct taxes is fairly neat, you pay 7,8% on gross income, then apply a (roughly) 10 000 USD deductible, and pay 28% on that amount. Go above 90k USD income or so, and you get a progressive system to increase the rate on amounts above that.
And what we get in services in return, Michael Moore didn't dare show in Sicko, as you can see by his own comments in the dvd extra to said movie.
..when the oil runs out.
maybe, you hate their freedoms -- as your former leader would say.
The reality of the situation is that oil production up there peaked a long time ago. It accounts for about 1/3 of government revenue. When it runs out taxes will have to be increased or programs cut. I'm thinking taxes will increase.
through an american proto-classical capitalist lens. exhibit other scandinavian nations that did not revert to dissemble social infrastructure during downturns ... those who travel or read or both know this.
norway has invested its profits, converting to financial assets in anticipation of oil run out. this to safeguard its social infrastructure. (petroleum fund) . . . the profits are seen as part of the nation's assets and people are part of the nation, you can follow where this goes.
and as you stated, taxes do offset what is valued, in this case the nation and its people.
and still you sound like you hate their freedoms just like your former leader.
What a concept!
Where did I even imply that I hate their freedom? They've got a good thing going. The original poster (correctly) refuted the claim of 60% taxes(at this time). I merely pointed out that at some point, not too far off, they are not going to be able to rely on oil revenues. Even the petroleum fund will eventually run out, at which point they will be faced with a decision similar to that of CA. I never said they were going to dissemble any social infrastructure. I said they would probably raise taxes. You disagree? I personally agree with programs like nationalized medicine.
they have economic depletion contingency (investments) in place and will transition. yes, taxes are also part of the scenario- we concur.
There is a few things I disagree with but I'll stick with this.
"Public schools (and ALL schools should be public) cannot be financed by PTA bake sales or by exploiting school children by having them sell products to their families and neighbors for corporations. Public schools should be supported 100% by TAXES."
First why should all schools be public? Yes private schools can offer a better education, but because I can't afford a Mercedes and have to take the public bus that means my neighbor shouldn't be able to drive one either? And for PTA bake sales, what wrong with them? Parents concerned about their child's education can't put in some time and effort to help better fund their schools? By that regard, parents that volunteer to help out at their child's schools should be forced to equitably split their time and effort at all schools. I do kinda agree with you about the catalog/chocolate bar fund raisers, if I want to donate money to the school I'll send it directly to them rather than have half or more of it go to a corporation.
Davis is probably laughing at all of us right now. the voters have spoken and we got what we voted for!
damn we're stupid!
Late,
QSE32
California voters: saps.
Reagan, Bono (Sonny), Arnold.
And Californians like to believe they're so "enlightened"...
I live in California and I voted against the recall, but one of the big motivations to recall Davis was because he wanted to put a large tax on new car sales (amoung other things) and the dumb-ass's in California are so selfish that they just had to recall Davis because they need to buy their 3rd SUV and they didn't want to pay extra tax for the luxury of have a fleet of cars.
This state is getting exactly what it asked for with the election of Arnold. It just sucks that the rest of us have to suffer along with the dumb-ass masses.
Let's change the name to Calabama. Then you can have a race to replace Alabama as first in ignoance, superstition, obesity and death. This budget is a good start off the blocks.
califississippi?
that hurt toiboi.
Come to Humboldt county and we'll make you squeal like a pig.
i just liked the sound of the combo name. no offense intended. i'll be more careful next time or try to.
Cut the government in half over there, do they really need that many people doing nothing all the time.
Plus instead of wasting tax payers money on trying to teach children things other and a proper education, get it out of the budget. Leave parenting to the parents please. Plus do need that many prisons and that many police, heck some of them are busy kicking people in the face or shooting harmless individuals anyway.
Plus people are leaving because it's too expensive to live there to begin with.
But ve cahn't ahford it
"But Gray Davis just had to be recalled"
Maybe if Gray Davis had shown a little leadership, a lot of backbone, and taken over the powerplants as his Lt. Gov, labor unions, and citizens encouraged him to do he would have fended off the challenge from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sorry I can't shed a tear for Gray Davis at all, he dug his own grave and he wasn't there when the people needed him the most.
For decades there was a luxury tax in California, but thanks to the GOP, that was eliminated, along with property tax hikes courtesy of Prop 13, so the heavy lifting in California is left to the poor and the middle class and the rich, once again, get a free ride.
BRING BACK THE LUXURY TAX!!!
US States going bankrupt, yet there's still enough money for the federal government to give Israel $30 billion. What about Americans that pay that tax?
A better target for your ire would be the corporations that through loopholes dodge billions in taxes owed, so they get a free ride on our backs.
a bit, just a little bit of vindictiveness, has seeped through after
the last election in california where Arnie's proposals that might have been a big step toward righting California's financial shipc were all defeated. Now he has to regroup find the best thinkers in california to assist him in reaching sound decsions, not the vindictive kinds he made recently to punish the people of california. Arnie can really take a page from the nation's leader on how to deal with adversity.
Sounds like it'll be a Libertarian dream, no government and all.
Idea, enforce immigration law. California has one of the highest illegal populations in the US. Illegals also have one of the highest state costs via welfare, school (needing to teach the children english), medical etc. And usually pay little or no income tax. Deport them and CA will have that many less millions on the dole. That and legalizing marijuana, which will increase tax revenue, along with saving money on law enforcement and jail/prisons. I'm sure would help with the debt.
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That's always the easiest route when adversity hits, blame it on the most vulnerable group and place the results directly on their shoulders. it's in fashion. The Mexican has caught the blame for everything from filling up our hospital waiting rooms to making vast amounts of money and sending it back to the folks in oxaca. They never did pay taxes on it. They just used fake social security numbers, paid into that system (whoa, did they pay into a system that they knew they would never collect on, how much?) and feared ever collecting, because they knew it would be illegal. so let's just keep blaming them and pray that in our next life we are not born to streets of calcutta or tijuana.
Who is going to pick all your fruit for $3 an hour, or whatever slave wages they pay? Who will clean homes and scrub toilets? White Republicans?
I wonder who the bigger parasites are, the illegals or the privileged white Republicans.
Yes, they complain about illegals, but want to keep their own domestics.
want to get into a discussion on who are the bigger "parasites" are?
And if there were no illegals to hire to be their "domestics" they would have to hire people who are here legally, and yes possibly pay more. Isn't that what you want? For the wealthy to spend more of their money on the less fortunate?
juana and juanito risk their lives in ways most of us can't and don't want to imagine to reach el norte and the streets of gold or at least the fields of fresno where they pick in the heat of noonday summer sun for their great wages. parasites, right. the whole issue of illegal immigration is not an easy one but one that requires both deep thought and compassion. but for the luck of the draw, there go you or I...
repub/libertarian, I have cleaned toilets, and much worse, and also worked in the ag business, where I live they have young adults do a lot of the hands on work during the summer. Actually they do that a lot in large parts of the country, do a search for corn de-tasseling. Yes prices on some produce may rise, but I don't think it will be that bad. I've read studies that show that the most a 15-20% increase for the most labor intensive produce. And a negligible increase for most.
That all sounds very nice, but those who do the hiring have actively sought to drive wages down for the last 30 years. They see labour as parasitical. Agri-business will not be keen on paying minimum wage, it cuts into profits.
When you did all those jobs you mentioned, were you supporting a family? I've done those kinds of things too, as a teenager, living at home. It was for pocket money, not living.
those jobs I did while supporting a family. Yes I might of worked more than one job or crap loads of overtime but I did. And a lot of the ag jobs are done during the summer when school kids can do them, for pocket money like corn de-tasseling around here.
Your property values have gone though the roof along with population. You cannot continue to cap property taxas as if it is 1976. It is the stupidity of the republican party. If everyone paid more taxes, you would solve the problem. How did that recall of Darryl Issa work out? You stupid GOP numskulls.
this really isn't Schwarzenegger's fault, when you have a 2/3 supermajority rule in the legislature that allows the minority party to hold the budget process hostage and an electorate that refuses to fund the services they demand, and budget crippling property tax laws on the books, nothing but pure disaster can result.
there's really nothing short of a constitutional rewrite that can truely correct the mess.
that would take massive amounts of political will, which both the elected officials and the electorate at the moment lack. perhaps living without services for a time will allow them to find that will.
Sorry, but what do you actually see Arnold's role in this as being?? Prop 13 and keeping property taxes low means that the one typically more stable tax revenue source is a lower percentage of overall revenue than in most other states... which means that CA is more vulnerable to budget shortfalls than most states are when a recession hits.
And whose fault is Prop 13? Oh yea, it was a ballot initiative voted for by the people of CA... because they wanted lower property taxes and didn't think about later consequences.
Then they were told 'we're going to have to cut virtually all state programs that you like if you don't vote for these resolutions to raise more tax revenue'... and what do the idiots in CA do? They vote against every proposition to raise more revenue.
So guess what California? You VOTED for all of these programs to be cut. Not Arnold nor the state legislature can fix this for you, Arnold didn't put in place your screwy system of government where they trust the entire population to vote on EVERYTHING. That's why most states don't do things that way. You can't trust the population at large to do things in their best interest.
While I'm at it... you should also stop bitching about Prop 8 not passing. If half of it's supporters spent 10% of the energy pushing for Prop 8 before the Nov. elections as they spend protesting its failure now... then it would have PASSED.
I know its more satisfying to point a finger at one person and scapegoat them, but it's the people of CA who have voted their way into this mess. Maybe next time they'll think before voting on these ballot initiatives.
"While I'm at it... you should also stop bitching about Prop 8 not passing. If half of it's supporters spent 10% of the energy pushing for Prop 8 before the Nov. elections as they spend protesting its failure now... then it would have PASSED."
Prop 8 *did* pass!
:)
sorry, my reply is above. had some trouble putting it in.
California has dug this hole with the inanity of propositions. Letting the masses vote on practically everything the legislature doesn't have the balls to vote on themselves, and by permitting recalls, the state has essentially doomed itself.
In a representative democracy, it is the elected legislature, which votes on laws, not the masses. It is time to bring order to California and restore the Constitution. Five hundred amendments to the Constitution shows that the people cannot be entrusted with the burden of legislating.
...and now Arnold will finish off our great state.
Prop 13 cut property taxes arbitrarily, and then really tied our hands by requiring 2/3's to raise taxes. It's the legacy of Howard Jarvis and a bunch of selfish, wealthy senior citizens.
The Healthy Families Program that he is proposing to cut will cut nearly one million children - citizens or legal immigrants - off of health, dental and vision coverage. This program, started by Clinton, is arguable the finest run and most successful of the SCHIP programs. It is for families who work, but make too little to afford private coverage, or are in jobs where no insurance for dependents is offered.
And by eliminating it (and it's $250 million price tag) from the budget, California will be LOSING $500 million in Federal match. That's our financial wizard of a governor for you.
But he's eliminating drug diversion/treatment/halfway house funding, senior citizen nutrition programs, even the state's poison control hotline.
How can the President and the Administration bail out the banks and the car companies, and let California - the largest state economy in the nation and the seventh largest economy in the WORLD - sink?
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