No new taxes on California's richest cause for smiley faces.
Remember this?
"Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore…"
California is adding a new line….
'So we can f*ck them over.'
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders announced Monday that they had reached a deal to close California's $26.3-billion deficit and begin paying all of the state's bills again, potentially ending months of partisan wrangling and a cash crisis that threatens to push California into insolvency.
Their agreement, which could go before the full Legislature within days, does not include any broad-based tax increases, relying instead on deep cuts in government services, borrowing and accounting maneuvers to wipe out the deficit.
California, self-handcuffed by it's requirement of a super majority in their state legislature to raise taxes, has decided the best way to ease their financial problems is to punish the poor and vulnerable citizens in their state. Better, I guess, to punish the many rather than ask the richest few to pay a few more percentage points in taxes on their millions. The poor and vulnerable are getting what they deserve, after all, it's obviously their fault that they are poor and vulnerable. The richest few, on the other hand, have earned their no-new-taxes, privileged treatment by government.
Keep in mind, as you read further, that California leads the nation in total number of millionaires, 662,735. That's approximately 2% of California's 36 million population.
To make sure that the top 2% isn't insulted with new tax obligations, here's who must suffer….
Tens of thousands of seniors and children would lose access to healthcare, local governments would sacrifice several billion dollars in state assistance this year and thousands of convicted criminals could serve less time in state prison. Welfare checks would go to fewer residents, state workers would be forced to continue to take unpaid days off and new drilling for oil would be permitted off the Santa Barbara coast.
Schools are expected to have to increase the number of students in classes, lay off teachers and scale back their offerings.
Fees at the state's universities were already raised in anticipation of the deal. The number of students admitted would be reduced by thousands. And university employees are facing unpaid furloughs. They would join California's 230,000-plus state workers who will continue to be forced to take off three unpaid days per month through June 2010.
Work requirements under the state's welfare program would be increased, forcing many recipients to drop out. Emergency cash grants intended for the children of families not meeting those requirements would be eliminated for the first time. Entire groups of seniors currently eligible to receive healthcare in their homes no longer would be. Those that are eligible would be fingerprinted, an effort to eliminate fraud.
Despicable is not a strong enough word to describe California's handling of their economic crisis.
Many conservatives in America, in and out of elected office, will nod their heads in complete agreement with California's choices to hurt the masses in order to protect the few from tax increases. These conservatives only hold one coin in their political pockets. One side reads, "No Taxes", and the other side reads, "Cut spending."
On the national front, conservatives and the corporate media who love them, are pulling out that coin during health care reform negotiations, flipping it over and over…..moaning and whining that the top 1 1/2%, the richest Americans, will actually have to pay a couple of percentage points more on their bloated incomes if the filthy masses are to be bequeathed with the "entitlement" of health care. The nerve of those commie health care reformers.
It's funny, in a sick, demented way, that America's conservatives claim loudly that our nation is a Christian nation. Every so often a conservative will introduce a bill in Congress asserting that America is a Christian nation or founded on Christian principles, etc, etc. What's odd is that I don't remember the words or teachings of Jesus including stuff about f*cking over the poor, weak and vulnerable so that the communities richest didn't have to endure the humiliation of sacrificing a bit of their treasures.
I suppose I could have missed that part of the New Testament, but I don't think so.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Define "Poor". Dynasty welfare families and hoodrats have no empathy from me. I grew up in a poor family with a divorced mother, and no support from my father. I elected to join the military and obtain the GI Bill to help put me through some college and then get grants and loans and spend 10's of thousands of dollars for the rest. I took initiative. I am back working on my Master's. Nothing was easy for me. Why should I pay or give a break to someone that doesn't have the motivation or drive to do the same as I did? Why should the "rich" pay for these idiots? Tell you what? Start sterilizing irresponsible breeders and close the border down, and we will have a lot less problems.
Oh yeah, and thank god I am an atheist, so I don't have to agonize over the poor, weak and vulnerable. (IE: The Section 8 scum)
It will interesting to see what this does to Nevada and Arizona, will they be bankrupt too, due to an influx of immigrants from California? The regulatory burden in California is the highest in the country. Jobs are leaving the state, in many ways the State of California is like an old rust belt factory that we are all too familiar with. Tough choices need made early on if it is to be saved. It doesn't sound like the leadership in California has either the vision or the nerve to handle it. This is a great example of "government is fine, if you can take the politics out of it".
Congratulations Balkanize on your self-initiative. I'm not sure that justifies using words like "sterilizing irresponsible breeders" to describe others with less initiative than you, but congratulations anyway.
We're in a period of American history when taxes are unusually low. That being the case, I don't quite follow the "tough choices" explanation for effing over the poor. I don't think it is a "tough choice" at all, to ask filthy rich Californians to pay an additional 3-5% in taxation. In a Christian country….and conservatives swear America is a Christian country….asking more from the richest wouldn't be tough at all.
Why aren't all those rich compassionate liberals in California volunteering to close the budget gap ? Let's see them put their money where their mouthes are.
Good to hear your story Balkanize.
In fact Rev the New Testament does warn about slothfulness and laziness. Those folks will not eat. Remember. I love how you tear down the Christians when it was your party that forced prayer and moral teachings out of the schools. Now look at what you've created, a generation of unmotivated, uneducated dolts. Nice.
Also Balkan makes another good point, being an atheist. Christianity in America, especially California which has one of the lowest number of Chritians in the country, has in many cases become atheistic, in a sense that it has become something the folks did on holidays and other special events. Also being a blue state how can you expect anyone other than the govt to take care of the poor. The rich in Cali are only interested in promoting abortion, gay rights, animal rights, and every other loony project that involves anything BUT loving thy neighbor and treating one as you want to be treated. Look at Cali and you are looking at future America. Let's elect a movie hero with no experience to run our govt. Could they take a hint from MN when they elected their favorite wrestler and now their favorite comedian, LOL.
Well, they tried to, but Ronnie's 2/3rd's majority needed to raise taxes, proved, as Ronnie intended it, to be too high of a hurdle.
I wonder….would conservatives back a Constitutional Amendment calling for, say, a 75% majority in Congress before taxes could be raised?
average…
" I love how you tear down the Christians when it was your party that forced prayer and moral teachings out of the schools. Now look at what you've created, a generation of unmotivated, uneducated dolts. Nice."
You must blame that on Thomas Jefferson….the f*cker….what the hell was he thinking with that "wall of separation" nonsense?
Secondly, I guess I don't follow your thinking. Are there no "moral teachings" in public school? Do teachers simply avoid instruction about violence, stealing, sharing and all that?
Finally….taking prayer out of public schools, as the Constitution demands, has resulted in "a generation of unmotivated, uneducated dolts"?
Really? There's some direct correlation of those two things?
FYI, I only indicated my religious preference to pre-emptively counter the normal reponse that many people have towards my opinions. People immediately tell me that I MUST be a Christian conservative, because I harbor so much "hate". It is now standard policy to accuse people of being "Conservative", "Christian", or "Right-Winger", if a person does not accept the progressive, liberal doctrine in this country. It is the easy way out to call names and label people. It saves having to counter with logic and substance.
How come no one has addressed the fact that many of these "few" rich people, actually employ a large number of people? Go ahead and screw with them, and see where they recoup their losses. I know exactly where I will be cutting in my organization, when I get taxed higher. Benefits and payroll.
I just like that Rev sees it as a privilege to not pay higher taxes to the government.
It's the governments money, apparently, they're just kind enough to let us keep some.
Hey Balkie!
You say you went into the military from a poor family? Interesting.
Did you know that the military is a socialist welfare program? It's a program designed to benefit the masses (welfare) paid for by everyone (socialist). So you think are better than a person who doesn't work because you went through basic training and learned to fire a gun? You learned how to live by taking money from the people who work for a living? Then allowed yourself to be indoctrinated with the rhetoric of how poor people our the root cause of all the problems, when in fact the job of the military is to protect the whole nation, not just the rich investor's interests in other countries.
Way to go!
See I'm a military supporter, but I'm tired of all these idiots who say "I was poor, but didn't need welfare, I went into the military." The fact is you took advantage of the biggest welfare system we have. So go get bent.
Ouch.
G-Mann….I just didn't have the heart to go there, even though I wanted to.
And my friend pdt….do you know that income taxes have not been raised on the wealthy for about 20 years? And do you know that during that time, the richest have accumulated a historic amount of America's wealth? Sure you do.
Income tax rates haven't been this low on the richest since the Depression, thanks to Ronnie and the Bushes. I'm guessing returning the tax rates on the richest to the Clinton-boomtime rates won't turn all those rich into the new homeless.
And yes, the richest have been privileged by the government for way too long.
Balkan, after telling his own inspiring personal story, has proceeded to lay down the "blackmail" script of today's conservatives. If taxes go up for the rich, he says, then the rich will immediately punish their employees.
Adds a bit more credibility to that Christian nation stuff I referred to in my blog post, no?
And isn't it true that if taxes for the rich go down, like they did during Commander Guy's reign, the rich still punish their workers…..as witnessed in the high unemployment rates, and lagging wage rates at the end of Decider's terms?
So…is the moral of the story that…either way….tax the rich more or cut taxes on the rich…..employees get punished? Just askin'.
"And isn't it true that if taxes for the rich go down, like they did during Commander Guy's reign, the rich still punish their workers…..as witnessed in the high unemployment rates, and lagging wage rates at the end of Decider's terms?"
Maybe if Clinton hadn't signed in NAFTA and they hadn't forced business' to leave the country through excessive fees and taxes and then capping it off by making china a favored nation. This left us as a consumer nation, with jobs that rarely pay more than $13 to $18 per hour, peanuts. Also Bushes unemployment rate was in the 5's until the Dems took over congress. Is their a correlation? Absolutley. Then the closer Obama got to being elected that faster investors left the markets and they crashed.
G-Mann – leave it to a liberal jerk to compare our military to a welfare program. Serving your country and sacrificing your life to protect our country is welfare? That is one of the stupidiist comments I have ever heard on these posts. A person that serves his country doesn't sit around waiting for the first of the month, waiting on a check that I worked for,
so that they can feed their kids, whose momma has no idea who the real daddy is, who can't get into the military because they can't pass a piss test, who won't get a real job because they are too lazy get off their fat asses to make an effort to better themselves. I have these kinds of people in my own family. They are a drag on society. Maybe Hitler had and Dracula(Vlad the Impaler)had the right ideas, kidding. It doesn't matter if they tax the rich 2%, 5%, 25%, it will NEVER be enough.
Rev, it's not about punishing the employees, it's about making enough profit to stay in business. What is so hard to understand about that? And about taxes. Our taxes are raised all of the time. As far a wealth building, I would consider not having to pay taxes and getting it all back at the end of the year like 30% of our people do, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
One other thing, they do not teach morals or standards in the schools today. You aren't allowed to teach these things.
No, G-Mann..
I offered the military a lot of hours worth of blood, sweat and tears for very little pay. $810 a month, to be exact. Nothing was free.
So, if you want to tell me to get bent, do it in person. I love to choke libs.
Average,
One thing he failed to mention is that if we listen to his twisted idea of the military being a "welfare" system, then at least I used it to better myself. Most of these primates that are on it, do nothing but pop out more pups and milk the system. A sad fact. I would like to see drug testing for welfare, and a lifetime benefit cap.
Oh, and G-mann, if they want to dump money into letting poor kids go to college, I can get with that. Welfare should be a stepping stone or a lent hand, and not a "reparations" check. So, go get bent yourself.
One more thing, looking at that picture of Arnold. Wouldn't you just love to slap that silly lib smerk off of his face? This man is not a conservative. He was a lib dressed in Conservative clothes. Failure. But then again when hollywood elects one of their own because he was an action hero, they deserve what they get…just like Minnesota.
you have to love it. "The richest have been privileged by the government for way to long" Having grown up in an upper class enclave I watched those men work their ass of and sacrfice in ways I was never willing to do. My grandfather came from nothing and did what ever had to do to build a company that employed hundreds of men that were then able to provide the things necessary for their families. He loved this country paid his taxes and asked for nothing from the government.
Rev, keep demonizing those people and take away their incentive and the golden goose your government steals from will cease to exist.
Bush supported NAFTA.
Balkinize, be VERY careful in your choice of words. Your comments come very close if not breaking the line of assault. Be careful what you wish for, you might get it!
Oh, by the way, all of you bloggers out there should be critical of Balkinize`s comment. Some Christian nationout there, huh?
I suppose the fact that California's state-local taxes are already quite high (6th highest in the country) won't make a dent in the Rev's rant, will it ?
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/443.html
Of course it won't. Facts are meaningless to the Reverend, unless there is a fact that can be spun into "it's the Republicans fault," such as the Rev trying to blame Ronald Reagan, who last governed California in 1975, for what's going wrong there in 2009. The Blog Of Mass Destruction – all the spin, all the time.
Yeah, California's problem is that it's a conservative state, completely red. LOL.
And Rev, why didn't you answer my question before ? Why don't all those super-rich compassionate liberals in California step forward to close the budget gap ????
@G-Spot"Mann"
Your claim to be a supporter of the military is laughable because you obviously look upon the men and women that choose this career option with disdain. It seems to me that you feel superior in some self absorbed way. That's OK. It probably has to do with how you were raised and you can't help it.
I think it's humorous to see you denigrate those that have given oaths to defend your right to be an idiot. In effect, those who have served, and serve today, have made a commitment to something larger than just themselves, i.e. Duty, Honor, & Country. Many have sacrificed their lives for these ideals. It has made us the world leader and envy of all.
Please enlighten us with the principles in your life that you are willing to die for…especially those that benefit someone other than yourself.
California's problem is that conservatives were allowed to handcuff the legislature with a 2/3rd's majority requirement before raising taxes. That makes it almost impossible to deal with economic crises….like the one they're dealing with right now.
The "super-rich liberals" have no problem paying higher taxes…..the legislature can't pass any higher taxes.
Arnold….is a Republican governor.
Now to angry…."Having grown up in an upper class enclave I watched those men work their ass of and sacrfice in ways I was never willing to do. My grandfather came from nothing and did what ever had to do to build a company that employed hundreds of men that were then able to provide the things necessary for their families. He loved this country paid his taxes and asked for nothing from the government.
Rev, keep demonizing those people and take away their incentive and the golden goose your government steals from will cease to exist."
Was your grandfather in the top 2% of the richest Americans? If not, then he and those like him are not part of my recommendation.
The idea that a handful of very rich movers and shakers will just quit if they are asked to pay 39% instead of 35%…..is silly. And if some would just quit, you know, for spite…..then there are thousands and thousands of Americans ready to step up and fill the void.
I don't fully understand this raising of the richest up on a pedestal, as if they are super-human job and business generators. The richest Americans have been on a glut-orgy for about 20 years, mostly paper shuffling and stock gambling, specifically so in the last 8 years…and yet I don't see any jobs produced. Instead we're losing jobs.
Those who defend the richest from having to pay even a few more percentage points in taxes are either part of the richest themselves…..or dream about being part of the richest some day…..or they simply hate the government helping the nation's poorest and most vulnerable.
Thanks everyone for all the participation.
Welcome Panem…
G-Mann, rightly, pointed out the irony in Balkan's comment. It is absolutely true that the American military is financed with tax dollars.
Balkan said…"Why should I pay or give a break to someone that doesn't have the motivation or drive to do the same as I did? Why should the "rich" pay for these idiots?"
G-Mann said…"Did you know that the military is a socialist welfare program? It's a program designed to benefit the masses (welfare) paid for by everyone (socialist). So you think are better than a person who doesn't work because you went through basic training and learned to fire a gun? You learned how to live by taking money from the people who work for a living? Then allowed yourself to be indoctrinated with the rhetoric of how poor people our the root cause of all the problems, when in fact the job of the military is to protect the whole nation, not just the rich investor's interests in other countries."
I think the point G-Mann was making was that Balkan, himself, benefitted from government money. Welfare recipients also benefit from government money. Yet, Balkan is critical of anyone who didn't receive his government money from serving in the military, calling those recipients of government money…. "Dynasty welfare families and hoodrats", and my personal favorite, "Start sterilizing irresponsible breeders and close the border down, and we will have a lot less problems."
The military is part of the corporate welfare system in the U.S.
The recent fight over the F-22 is the proof. Insisting on continuing to manufacture something no one in the military wants or needs just so defense contract welfare checks continue to flow.
@Reverend -
For the purposes of discussion, I'll give you free reign to set a tax policy that will balance this budget and offset the deficit spending binge we are presently debating. Am I to infer from your posts that only a 5% increase in income taxes will resolve all of our current financial problems?
I really want to understand your rationale. Have you calculated the revenues that you expect to receive from such an increase? Do you expect that those with the most means will happily pay the new amount without adjusting their revenue streams to minimize the effect of such an increase?
How much additional money will you get? I hope it's a lot, because there seems to be no limit to the amount of money we are willing to spend on government programs lately.
I need to be comforted that 5% more from the evil rich will solve our problems. It would be helpful to know what rates you expect average families to pay as well.
Details please.
BTW – your comments in support of G-Spot were disappointing. I really thought you were better than that.
That`s what I thought.
Me too, Fred.
Panem….I expect the Bush tax giveaways to the rich….capital gains, income taxes and the other welfare deductions for the rich that all Americans must pay for…..to be rolled back to Clinton boomtime rates.
Unless some very wise conservative, like yourself for example, can reasonably justify the continued accumulation of wealth by a tiny percentage of the richest Americans while the masses of American families tread water, lose jobs, health coverage, their homes, etc……I'm not buying the sobbing and hand wringing by those who defend the staus quo.
As we've witnessed over the last 8 years, giving tax breaks to the richest doesn't equate into job productions…so why do it?
Example of what I'm getting at: California has 663,000 millionaires. California's deficit is $26 billion. Asking those millionaires to pay an additional $10000 per year over a four year period would make up the deficit. Instead, millions of poorer and vulnerable California's must have vital services cut.
That should be unacceptable in a, you know, Christian nation.
AND….Panem is "disappointed" with this…
"I think the point G-Mann was making was that Balkan, himself, benefitted from government money. Welfare recipients also benefit from government money."
Something incorrect about that statement?
Rev says, "California's problem is that conservatives were allowed to handcuff the legislature with a 2/3rd's majority requirement before raising taxes…Arnold is a Republican governor"
This ball of crap is just too much to take. You are either a simpleton or a liar. Except for 1995-96, the California assembly has been controlled by the DEMOCRATS since 1970. The California Senate has been in continuous control by the DEMOCRATS since 1970. The governorship has alternated back and forth. Are you trying to tell me that the Cali state legislature couldn't have reversed that tax rule in the last 34 freaking years if they wanted to ? If you do try to tell me that, you are the biggest liar in the country.
Cali's actual problem is that they already have extremely high taxes, and the citizens don't want any more (but the Cali libs still want all their government services. That's the liberal modus operandi, 'let somebody ELSE pay for it,' not ME). They keep voting down more taxes. People are moving out of that state because it costs so damn much to live there. It's imploding. Cali is the end result of liberal politics. That's the beginning AND end of the story. Now they are paying the price. Cali has the highest sales tax in the nation. Cali has the 4th highest income tax in the nation. Cali has the 4th worst business tax environment in the nation. Cali's top income tax rate is the highest in the nation.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/15.html
Arnold CAN'T raise taxes, you dimwit. Cutting the budget is all that's left for him to do, and he can't even do that without the okay of the DEMOCRATS who control the state legislature. Those budget cuts were APPROVED BY THE DEMOCRATS. But not a word from the lying sack known as the Reverend about that. Man, I get tired of your BS. Your endless lies are really a disservice to everyone. What an ass. Start telling the truth for once.
And there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that would stop the super-rich liberals from donating money to the California government. All they have to do is write a check.
In 1978, this is what happened…
"….conservative activists led by Howard Jarvis put a seductively simple sounding proposition on the ballot. Under Proposition 13, the annual real estate tax on a parcel of property would be limited to 1% of its assessed value and this assessed value would only increase by a maximum of 2% per year, until a change in ownership. Voters responded and Proposition 13 scored a dramatic victory with 65% of the vote.
Proposition 13 further altered California politics by requiring a two-thirds majority for tax increases either at the state or local level."
Conservatives tricked voters by appealing to their individual greed. Slipping that 2/3rds majority for tax increases in with the property tax rollback, which everyone wanted, was how they did it. Now, GOP'ers in the legislature, even though a minority, can block increases which would help the state get out of it's mess.
Then libertarians can wag their fingers at all the progressives in California and say…."See, libs are stupid and ruin everything."
Quite a conservative parlor trick, huh?
Name calling notwithstanding…..I stand firmly on my original position.
Yeah, you already said that.
This is 2009, not 1978. Why don't you tell what happened in 1843 ? That's about as relevant.
All the California Democratic legislature would have had to do in the intervening DECADES is to change the conditions under which a tax cut could go into effect. You do understand that legislators make laws, right ? Cali has been controlled by the Dems almost forever.
You're incredible. Even in one of the bluest of blue states, you still blame it all on the Republicans, even if you have to go back 30+ years to do it. BS.
I don't suppose the fact that only about 34% of Californians supported the last tax increase will deter you from peddling your fictional narrative either.
http://us.altermedia.info/news-of-interest-to-white-people/california-tax-increase-scheme-shot-down-by-voters_5438.html
And I loved that nonsense about how "conservatives tricked the voters" into voting for their measure back in 1843 (or was it 1978 ?). You are one funny guy. You're running out of straws.
I don't think the legislature can overrule a statewide referendum vote unless it's declared unconstitutional. Prop 13 was a statewide referendum.
What I said about Prop 13 is exactly what happened.
Prop 13 had no effect on Cali voting down those tax increases. Your straw man is out of straws.
The legislature can propose another referendum to remove Prop 13 if that's what the people want. This ain't rocket science.
The California voters voted down those tax increases because they don't trust their profligate legislators anymore. They have learned that tax increases result in more spending, not balanced budgets.
The California Welfare System punishes those that want to get a college education for a better job,and rewards unwed, poor mothers for how many kids they can birth out. The more kids you have, the more Food Stamps,Cash,Medical you get. They reward you for being irresponsible,and having children you have no business having because you can't afford them on your own. It is an incentive to have more babies,and you get more of all the above services. It is a vicious cycle. So my daughter gets punished because she refuses to get knocked up,and wants to finish College,and wait until she's married,and financially stable before having kids too. I am so disgusted when all we needed was a "temporary" hand to get by because I am widow,and a new hand amputee that is having trouble finding work,and jobs are scarce for my daughter too,and her College school schedual is so full that it hardly gives time for most jobs. Finacial aide for school is not enough to survive,and we just need a little help with at least Medi-cal,and Food Stamps. As mentioned before they punish those that want to get an education to get a better job,and reward those that choose to be "reckless" and get knocked up non-stop,and rake in the Food Stamps,Cash Aide,and Medi-cal. People should be rewarded for "NOT" having kids. Sorry but I look at a culture that does this,a "loser" culture. There is a better life. How about some self control? Sorry but the grass is greener on the other side,and you don't have to keep on acting like animals. But then animals act better than the way some I've seen. I think the Welfare System has it all "backwards". And while I'm on a rant about the broken system. The border fence needs to be built so the Welfare System doesn't have take on all the Anchor Babies that Illegals are having non-stop. Try Birth Control.Your Religion is corrupt,and you are listening about no birth control from a bunch of child molesters. I don't get it.