At today’s press conference unveiling the May Revise of the 2010-11 budget, Arnold Schwarzenegger said “the budget should be a reflection of California’s values.” If that’s the case, then California’s values are protecting the wealthy and the large corporations from having to contribute anything to this society while making old people and children suffer. Arnold’s California is a place where if you aren’t wealthy, you don’t deserve to have health, food, or any other form of economic security.
Today’s May Revise should be seen then as the bill for protecting the rich and the large corporations. $19 billion in cuts, particularly to health care for the kids and the elderly, and to the CalWORKS program that helps reduce child poverty, would not be proposed if Arnold Schwarzenegger valued their lives and their economic security.
Perhaps we’re being too charitable. After all, Arnold has only a 23% approval rating, so the notion that he understands California values is almost as laughably absurd as his claim that “I know how many people are suffering out there,” which has to be an outright lie given the budget he just proposed.
But Arnold’s still the governor, and until Democrats win a 2/3rds majority or eliminate the 2/3rds rule, we still have to contend with him. So it was very encouraging to see Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg react strongly against this budget.
Steinberg and Senate Budget Chair Denise Moreno Ducheny said they “won’t pass a budget that eliminates CalWORKS” and argued that we need to look at closing corporate tax loopholes, including the oil severance tax and looking at extending the tax increases enacted last spring.
Those are all the right places to begin. California’s economic recovery will continue to be stunted if these budget cuts aren’t stopped.
Exactly, So far Fuhrer Arnolds idea of values looks more 19th Century than 21st Century. Cut this and cut that, Please He needs to resign as His performance is the worst I’ve ever seen in My 49 Years on this planet. And I’d hate to have to deal His successors eMeg and acidic Poizner…
@SSPIJack: CDE staff still working to analyze the Gov’s proposal, but it appears the guarantee for K-12 funding not reduced from Jan #cabudget
That’s at least one piece of good news. Also the fact the Democrats aren’t just turning their head and coughing on command is encouraging.
The Governor’s staff by 75%.
Probably totally unrelated:
Optics?
And the result, from the Speaker’s official response to this budget (via email):
Google, “Politics of Extraction” and the top result is an academic paper with that title that uses “extraction” as a negative synonym for “revenue” or “taxation” — quite a neat trick when California finally adopting an oil severance tax is at the top of the list of revenue.
Extraction, it just sounds evil! So let’s not engage in it, no, let’s “specifically not engage” in it.
I’m starting to seriously think about moving to another state. This just isn’t working out here.
This is typical of the Gov/Repub strategy. Start the negotiations so far to the right and keep pushing the Dems to accept them and then when the Dems try to save any semblance of programs that protect children, the elderly, disabled, etc. they pull out more awful cuts making the Dems have to acquiesce just to save these programs (ala Prop 14,etc.) Dems have to know that this is their game. We have to go in tough. They are NOT our or our constituents ‘friends.’ They are masters at this game. God help us if NutMeg or Poll-ster get in!!