It’s taken the proposed destruction of practically the entire social safety net in California for progressives both inside and outside the political system to fight back. I’m actually more heartened by the work done outside it. I expect Lenny Goldberg to come up with a great alternative budget calling for tax fairness, and end to corporate welfare and a government for all the people instead of the rich. I expect Jean Ross to do the same, as well as AFSCME. They’re all good proposals, but this is what they are paid to do. What I don’t expect, and what I haven’t seen, is a citizen’s movement to rival the institutional and advocacy machinery. The Fix the California Budget Facebook page is really one of the first such grassroots pushes I’ve seen in recent memory.
Californians deserve real solutions to the budget deficit. Responding to our economic crisis with an all-cuts budget will only make the state’s problems worse. Deep cuts to vital programs undermine our economic recovery and President Obama’s investment in economic stimulus, disproportionately harm the most vulnerable Californians, and go against our core values.
More than 70 percent of voters sat out the May 19 special election because it is the Governor and Legislature’s job to fix the budget. Polls show the defeat of the initiatives was neither an endorsement of an all-cuts approach nor a rejection of raising revenues.
Under Governor Schwarzenegger, we have suffered $23 billion in spending cuts in the current budget year alone. Additional drastic cuts will irrevocably change the state we love. Californians support and deserve a state that provides for the common good and the needs of our residents, and we need to pursue realistic revenue solutions that will protect our shared priorities. Cuts are not the only option!
Our state needs courageous leadership. We will support those who stand against an all-cuts budget, speak out for fair ways of raising revenue, and work to deliver a budget that invests in our future and protects all the people of our state. True leaders get their strength from the people they represent. We pledge to be that strength, and mobilize to support a sensible budget solution.
The specific action items are to call your lawmaker and provide that counter-weight to the internal pressure to support the all-cuts approach. They reference the majority-vote fee increase as a legitimate option that must be put before the Governor in place of the worst cuts. County Democratic Chairs and local activists are actually driving the pressure from below, rather than having solutions imposed upon them.
This represents an opportunity. It doesn’t mean we win this fight – we’re going to lose more than we win at first. And in a way, this is the corporate “reform” community’s worst nightmare – the Bay Area Council and California Forward would rather drive the reform process themselves and keep it within their own particular boundaries. But we can build a movement of a newly-roused core group of activists committed to setting California on the right path by restoring democracy, eliminating the conservative veto and reforming the broken system. This is a first step.
Since a lot of the members of this Facebook group are DFA and OFA members too, we’re trying to involve them as well as the CDP. A lot has happened in the last few days, and a lot more will happen over the next few.
We’re spreading the Alameda statement to other county Democratic central committees. We’re preparing other online communications. And other groups are already holding meetings to plan other actions. There’s one that I know of in Watsonville on Saturday.
Frankly, my guess is that legislators can either get on board or get left behind. Because I don’t get the sense that my fellow activists are going to wait for them.
just exactly what services we are keeping.
Our school will see 17% cuts. They’re talking about closing all our state parks in this area… parks that generate $2.28 of revenue for every $1 spent. Our universities, which are our economic engine, are being cut. Cal Grants to let people go to those universities are being cut.
Here’s my suggestion. Let’s just eliminate the DMV. I mean, sure, it brings in far more money than it costs, but apparently we don’t care about that any more. Hooray for penny-wise and pound foolish. We won’t have the expense of issuing driver’s licenses or making license plates. The savings will be dramatic, eh? Good idea?
And if our kids can do without a week of school, surely our prisons can do their share as well and cut a week off the prison year. Think of the savings we’re passing up!
The Franchise Tax Board? How many Californians even know what that does? Surely they won’t mind if we just eliminate it. We’ll have this budget in shape in no time.
CalFire? Tell you what: let’s just not have any fires this year. Deal?
And the California Highway Patrol? That’s just creating a huge moral hazard. If people didn’t know that the CHP would be along to help them after an accident, they’d probably drive more carefully and the accident rate would fall to zero. Genius! And we’d save millions.
Do we have specific tax proposals to call on with regard to calling our legislators?
I hope that we learn from mistakes we have made in other places when american educated economist told latin american countries to cut all their social subsidies and social programs. In argentina this caused the collapse of their economy and left things worse than ever before. Too often people dont look at the social side of these cuts and cutting one thing can actually affect 100s of systems. In argentina things like cutting bus subsidies led to workers not being able to afford to go to work, thus even higher unemployment rates. Loss of subsidies on things like milk made it too expensive for mothers to buy and led to riots in the streets. At times like these social programs and subsidies hold the already strained fabrics of our economy together. I hope we keep that in mind with whatever plan we choose to support.
We’re coming out of the grassroots/netroots explosion of progressive activism that’s happened in California over the past 6 years or so.
Everyone knows California is the nation’s ATM for Democratic fundraising.
Not everyone knows that over 50% of all GOTV phone calls made nationwide for Obama during the last two weeks of the election came from California.
Almost no one knows that hundreds of 2003/4 supporters of Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich and Wesley Clark have become delegates to the California Democratic Party and are making a concerted effort to promote a progressive agenda in the Party.
I believe California has the most activated and politically committed citizenry in the country. Our challenge is to focus on the greater good for California, and not remain splintered into interest groups and/or mesmerized by the national agenda.
You’re absolutely right, we need a citizens’ lobby in California to set the agenda and make the changes we so desperately need.
Perhaps we’re reaching a critical mass of networking, political experience and available online tools to do what has never been done before in California.
That’s what I hope anyway.
caligal
(Janet Stromberg)
Founder, Fix the CA Budget Now!
Former Campaign Manager (volunteer) Hilary Crosby for CDP Controller
Organizer, East Bay DFA
14th AD CDP Delegate and Executive Board Member