California balances budget with your money

Finally, the state of California has passed a budget. This is good news as the state’s fiscal year began over three months ago, and there was reason to believe that the state would have to issue IOU’s to pay it’s bills if no budget was passed. There is more good news in that the budget is actually balanced as is required by state law.

But, there is only one small problem, that is, unless you live in California.  The budget is balanced by assuming that the state will receive $5.4 billion from the federal government.  Of course, that’s $5.4 billion that our federal government must borrow from somewhere as we are already some $13 trillion in debt.

That’s $5.4 billion that each and every American will have to pay for whether they live in California or not.

California has become the poster child for irresponsible spending, caving in to virtually every demand made by its public unions including gold plated pensions, gold plated health care and ever increasing salaries.  Now, everyone in the country gets to pay for their irresponsible spending.

 Is it any wonder why we have tea parties?  Is it any wonder why most Americans are fed up with government?

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

10 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on October 9, 2010 at 2:06 pm

    California is like the spoiled kid with rich, doting parents that are always there to bail them out of jail for making bad decisions.

     

    I wonder what happens when the parents finally put their foot (feet?) down?



  2. Dimsdale on October 9, 2010 at 2:07 pm

    Come to think of it, aren't we really bailing out millions of illegal aliens?



  3. JollyRoger on October 9, 2010 at 5:14 pm

    Let's just sell it back to Mexico and revoke the citizenship of all Californians- they're a hopelessly blue state anyhow.  Stop the flow of American $$$ and let the Mexican government tax the wealthy and create the egalitarian utopia that Hollywood wants anyhow! We'll know Paris, Brittney and Demi are taxed well enough when they start asking for money after sex!



  4. GdavidH on October 10, 2010 at 12:33 pm

    No one should be surprised by this. Speculation about bailing out the states has been ongoing for….well… since the passage of porkulus. The big question now  is …which state will be next to ASSUME fed funding is coming?

      The other troubling line in the article is this one:

    " The rest of that revenue comes from an expectation that sales- and income-tax receipts will be higher than a previous forecast."

      In this economy, would anyone living within any sense of reality EXPECT these revenues to be higher than forcasted. Every forcast we have been getting in this political climate is already ridiculously over-reaching.



  5. Dimsdale on October 10, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    Bailing out the states is great!  Now who is going to bail us out?

     

    Oh yeah, China.



  6. SoundOffSister on October 10, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    Agreed, GdavidH.  And when that "expectation" proves incorrect, as it most assuredly will, Americans will be <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">asked</span> told to make up that shortfall as well.



  7. winnie888 on October 11, 2010 at 2:50 am

    Wasn't the CT state budget going to be balanced with "assumed" funds from the federal gov't?  This all just sounds so vaguely familiar…

     



  8. GdavidH on October 11, 2010 at 5:34 am

    SooundOffSister,

    This is becoming an all too predictable pattern.



  9. Dimsdale on October 11, 2010 at 2:02 pm

    Maybe they can just "deem" the deficit away.   And make the recession disappear at the same time!



  10. PatRiot on October 11, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    Dimsdale,  this tactic has already been used on a smaller scale.  It is called a "one time accounting change."  Only the Feds will do it more than once and it will smell 5 times a fishy. 

    What are these folks smoking?



SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 05:  California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks to supporters after being sworn in for a second term as governor of California January 5, 2007 in Sacramento, California. Schwarzenegger will begin his second term as governor of California after a landslide victory over democratic challenger Phil Angelides in November of last year.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Arnold Schwarzenegger

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