You wouldn’t think that Hermosa Beach would be an outpost for the Tax Revolt, but that is exactly what happened yesterday, as “Dozens of people hit the Hermosa Beach Pier on Saturday morning to rally against government tax increases,” according to the L.A. Times.
The Times also reported that “If voters reject those propositions, the state could face a $14-billion deficit that would grow by $16 billion if Proposition 1A also doesn’t pass, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.”
So maybe our State Legislators and our lame Governor better figure out what to cut out of our state budget? I have written about this ad nauseum, but it bears repeating. The Libertarian platform could lead us out of this mess! Here is what we need to do to dig out of our budget hole:
- Stop the drug war! That will allow local cops to focus on REAL crime. It will empty out our prisons, allowing us to close many of them and to fire a bunch of overpaid union guards.
- Legalize gambling, all of it. New casinos would eventually have a very big impact on tourism. If Nevada takes a hit in the process, oh well.
- Outsource, outsource, outsource! We have way too many state employees. Outsource as many of their jobs as possible!
- Reduce our State Legislators to part-time status. We have enough laws on the books. We don’t need these guys spending too much time in Sacramento. They will only come up with more stupid laws!
- Take free cars away from the Legislators! If they want to serve the public let them do it in their own cars! And no free gas either!
- Get rid of those six figure state commission appointments. If folks want to serve pay their travel and pay a regular per diem. But these jobs were not meant as retirement pork for termed out legislators.
- Take a close look at all of our state agencies and cut, cut, cut! Focus on basic services. If we don’t have a film commission, will anyone notice? Let the local agencies take care of most of this.
- Pass a new law that says we cannot spend what we don’t have, period. We are in a hole because our stupid politicians put us there!
We CAN resolve our budget problems – but not with a Democratic or Republian agenda. They put us in this mess. How about trying freedom for a change?
All good ideas, but I don’t see anyone or any group taking the lead to put any of these into effect. The Libertarian candidate for governor, if there is or was one, probably has a lot of negatives such as an “open borders” policy which sinks his election possibility. Hopefully, some group will step forward with an initiative/
There is no doubt there is plenty of room to cut. We could also solve the whole problem by leasing drilling rights to coastal oil – and with current drilling technology, no offshore rigs would be required. We need some elected officials with guts to do what is needed — and we need to have some that will stand up to the worthless public employee unions that run the whole state!