n******n
发帖数: 12088 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 SanFrancisco 讨论区 】
发信人: newgumin (新股民), 信区: SanFrancisco
标 题: Judgment day for California (转载)
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Sun May 24 00:24:07 2009)
发信人: NeverLearn (Working Procedure), 信区: USANews
标 题: Judgment day for California
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Fri May 22 21:45:37 2009)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The day of reckoning that California has been warned
about for years has arrived.
The longest recession in generations and the defeat this week of a package
of budget-balancing ballot measures are expected to lead to state spending
cuts so deep and so painful that they could rewrite the social contract
between California and its citizens. They could also force a fundamental
rethinking of the proper role of government in the Golden State.
"The voters are getting what they asked for, but I'm not sure at the end of
the day they're going to like what they asked for," said Jim Earp, executive
director of the California Alliance for Jobs, which represents the hard-hit
construction industry. "I think we've crossed a threshold in many ways."
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
California is looking at a budget deficit projected at more than $24 billion
when the new fiscal year starts in July. That is more than one-quarter of
the state's general fund.
This week, voters said they no longer want the Legislature to balance
budgets with higher taxes, complicated transfer schemes or borrowing that
pushes California's financial problems off into the distant future. In light
of that, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made it clear he intends
to close the gap almost entirely through drastic spending cuts.
The governor's cutbacks could include ending the state's main welfare
program for the poor, eliminating health coverage for about 1.5 million poor
children, halting cash grants for about 77,000 college students, shortening
the school year by seven days, laying off thousands of state workers and
teachers, slashing money for state parks and releasing thousands of
prisoners before their sentences are finished.
"I understand that these cuts are very painful and they affect real lives,"
Schwarzenegger said. "This is the harsh reality and the reality that we face
. Sacramento is not Washington — we cannot print our own money. We can only
spend what we have."
He also has advocated selling state assets to raise cash, including the Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum and San Quentin State Prison.
Huge budget gap
The Democrats who control the Legislature do not want major spending cuts,
but so far they don't have a plan for closing the deficit. And if their
solution is higher taxes and more borrowing, they will probably not have
enough Republican votes to get the two-thirds approval needed for passage.
The crisis is a sort of political comeuppance for Schwarzenegger, who took
over a state with a projected $16 billion gap in 2003 and promised to end
California's "crazy deficit spending."
The gap has two primary causes: The state has been living beyond its means
for years by spending generously on all sorts of programs that the voters,
the politicians and the special interests wanted. And the recession has
hammered California's economy.
Personal income declined this year for the first time since 1938 and
unemployment is 11 percent, one of the highest rates in the nation. Nearly $
13 billion in tax increases and $15 billion in cuts enacted earlier this
year, as well as billions in federal stimulus money, have not been enough to
make up for the drop-off in revenue.
"This is the year everything has fallen apart," said outgoing Assembly
Minority Leader Mike Villines, a Republican from the Central Valley. "We don
't have an alternative. We're literally at the day of reckoning and have to
cut it all out." | i******l
发帖数: 828 | 2 哈哈。粥政府破产是不是狠好玩儿。 吸吸
裁撤警察巴。高速上赌车主要是大家不能开快一点的原故， 要是木有井茶了。嘿嘿。
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