Gov. Newsom wants to run for president on his record of turning California into a bankrupt, filthy, crime-ridden sh*thole.
This from frontpagemag.com.
We’ve all heard this before:
Socialism works until you run out of other people’s money.
California has run out of other people’s money.
California’s budget deficit has swelled to a record $68 billion after months of unexpectedly low tax revenues, a shortfall that could prompt the state’s deepest spending cuts since the Great Recession.
The latest deficit figure—calculated by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office and released Thursday—far exceeds the $14.3 billion estimate from June.
$14 billion or $68 billion. Who can tell the difference anyway? Except that California’s budget deficit is bigger than the total state budgets of ten states.
Appropriate to mention here is the quote from the late Senator Everett Dirksen (R-IL):
A billion here, a billion there, and
pretty soon you’re talking real money.
Government bookkeeping makes the mafia look good.
H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for Newsom’s Department of Finance, said the administration will have different numbers when the governor presents his 2024-25 spending plan next month, but Newsom is preparing to address a significant deficit.
Of course, he has his own numbers.
The numbers are ‘sunshine,’ ‘peace,’ and ‘love.’
No, wait, that was Gov. Jerry (Moonbeam) Brown who was at least entertaining.
[U]nlike Gov. Newsom who was cooked up in some Bay Area cloning lab run by retired Nazi war criminals.
Still a billion here and a billion there…
[But] then you shut down the state, with the exceptions of Hollywood, Amazon, and the French Laundry and [you still have] money problems.
Analysts have also projected annual $30 billion deficits in future years.
If a $14 billion projected deficit became a $68 billion deficit, what might a projected $30 billion deficit become?
Don’t ask a California high school graduate. The only answer they know is, ‘that’s racist.’
California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins said in an interview:
Our economy is still good, but what we need to do is be incredibly cautious here.
We are in a deficit, and therefore, new programs, new spending—in fact, existing spending—we’re going to have to slow down over time.
Slow down? Well, Hell’s Bells, you knucklehead, you damn well should be cutting rather than slowing spending. One clue for you: Slowing spending DOES NOT work.
Captain, there’s an iceberg ahead. Should we stop?
No, but maybe let’s slow down over time.
The truth of the matter:
California could offset some cuts by further delaying spending, making some funding conditional on revenue bouncing back, or shifting money to bonds.
But there’s already stiff competition for bond money, with mental health on the March ballot and November ballot proposals for education, climate and housing.
‘ sounds like a plan: Bankrupt California to fund “mental health.”
His office recommended that Newsom declare a fiscal emergency, allowing the state to dip into as much as $24 billion of its rainy-day funds.
“Rainy-Day” funds, I’m optimistically thinking, will quickly become wrongfully used and prove themselves to be a mere drop in the old bucket.
And what happens when that money runs out?
Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones of San Diego said in a statement:
Hopefully, the supermajority will see it is time for a more realistic budget strategy instead of throwing money at a laundry list of projects that sounds nice on the national television debate stage.
Seriously, though, the only reason Gov. Newsom is even pretending to be concerned about California’s debt is because he foolishly sees himself as having a chance to become president.
The moment it’s clear that’s not happening, all hell will really break loose.
Final thoughts: The best idea I have heard so far was the one about giving California to China if they’ll call the debt fulfilled. China, however, recognizes California for the Red Herring it is and declined the offer which was part distraction and part insult in the first place.
