California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took aim at our inept State Legislators, in today’s “State of the State” address, when he “called for a measure that would suspend all pay for the Legislature and the governor if a new state budget was not passed by the June 15 deadline, something that has only happened a handful of times in recent decades,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
He also called for the suspension of payment of the Legislator’s per diem. He should also cancel their car allowances and put all their staffers on immediate furlough.
If our Legislators cannot put the people of this state first, then they ought to feel the brunt of the current state budget crisis.
Let’s see if Schwarzenegger follows through on today’s tough words. I doubt that the Legislators will vote for these measures.
And we still don’t know how the state’s $42 billion dollar budget deficit is going to be resolved. Until it is, I say it is time for Schwarzenegger to pounce on the Legislators. Maybe he can hack their pay by executive order?
Should be more than just a suspension, there also should be some amount of forfeiture too.
You would have to change the system of government first. Cook do you want your side to go soft on taxes in order to get a budget? No? Did you expect our side to give up protections for education and labor? No. So why did your side propose it? They haven’t made a serious proposal all year – but they haven’t raised taxes so they must be ok.
No need to raise taxes or create new taxes, just cancel prior tax give backs.
The 2 percent car tax was reduced by 2/3 to give back a prior surplus. Return it back to 2 percent and screw John and Ken of KFI, that isn’t a tax increase.
There is a tax reduction for property owners, mortgage interest and rental interest and business interest.
Cancel those interest deductions, that is not a tax increase.
There are a lot of taxes that are decreased to benefit the chosen few, cancel those benefits and have the chosen few pay the same taxes as the rest do.
deadlines…
seem to mean less the higher up the “food-chain” you go
many of us who actually work for a living would lose our job for missing deadlines
I would LOVE to see Draconian consequences established, but I sincerely doubt that legislators are selfless enough to impose such measures on themselves
the Founding Fathers knew best…
they knew that government inexorably becomes self-serving and ignores the people served…
that’s why they attempted to ensure that individuals and states would have at least as much authority/power as the federal government…
unfortunately, the Fathers weren’t able to foresee all the future machinations (such as the Constitutionally ILLEGAL IRS) that the Federal government would use to enslave the masses…
anyone want to guess what percentage of Americans are beholden to the government teat?
S U C K on it
Cook, we agree on that. I mean shouldn’t that have been the first thing they did is close all the loopholes? No, they want to get rid of overtime laws? What does that have to do with the budget?
Wild and crazy guy, no one wants government until they need a cop or a fireman. If something makes you sick then you want it regulated and inspected. In between times of sickness and need no one wants government and no one wants to pay taxes.
Oh and suck on this. Not working for the government doesn’t make you any better or worse than those who do work for government. It sure doesn’t make you pay any more in taxes.
Oh and if you’ve been enslaved, call a cop, that’s illegal.