A California voter revolt rejected ballot measures that would have kept one of the ten largest economies in the world afloat a while longer. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget propositions were defeated soundly throughout the length and breadth of the state. See photos and a video below.
Schwarzenegger Budget Propositions
Of the six propositions presented to California voters, only one passed. Approval of Proposition 1F denied pay raises for the state’s elected officials. The budget propositions defeated:
Prop. 1A Rainy Day Fund would have allowed the extension of billions in income, sales and vehicle taxes and would have established a larger “rainy day” fund.
Prop. 1B - Education Funding was supported by the California Teachers Association in exchange for their support of all six propositions. The measure called for “supplemental” payments to K-12 schools and community colleges.
Prop. 1C would have provided funding for modernization of California’s lottery system. If passed, the state would have borrowed $5 billion to be repaid from enhanced revenues. Less than 2 percent of the education budget comes from lottery revenue. This measure “guarantees that money provided to schools by the lottery, would come from the state general fund.”
Prop. 1D Child Services Funding would take $1.7 billion from early childhood development programs and shift it to the state’s budget.
Prop. 1E would have shifted one-quarter of California’s mental health budget to the MediCal program to fund screenings for patients younger than 21 years old.
Voters were not sitting on the fence about their vote. They want the government to cut spending and forget raising taxes. Most propositions were defeated with at least a 60 percent margin. Polling officials reported “anger toward politicians” from the voters, and a feeling that the state will suffer dire financial consequences no matter how the vote turned out.
Earlier this year, the state cut $15 billion in spending and raised taxes in excess of $12 billion, but the measures did little to stop the surging debt.
The $21 billion state debt is estimated to grow by $1.7 million an hour, as California considers regulating and taxing marijuana to raise $1 billion, and selling off iconic landmarks like the Los Angeles Coliseum and San Quentin prison to raise funds.
As lawmakers now face their new reality, the absolute necessity of turning political dysfunction into sound political policy, education funding will be a target. Schwarzenegger has said he may cut the school year by seven days, layoff “tens of thousands” of teachers, and consider laying off police and firefighters. A quick visit around the web shows some raised-hackles at spending for illegal alien medical care and schooling, but there is no indication these expenditures will be specifically targeted.
Decades of demands for very liberal but impossible to fund, benefits from citizens, as well as legislators, has now left the state insolvent, and California is looking to all American taxpayers to shore-up the Golden State and provide short-term borrowing to get the State through the summer months.
This beautiful state with every natural resource to bring industry inside its borders and visitors by the millions, has flagrantly abandoned the moral principles of pay-as-you-go, protect your borders - in turn protecting neighboring states, and care of your legal citizens first. The out-dated water system nears collapse, the highways snarl and clog, but the legislative body curries favor from an illegal population whose offspring will be counted as a legal voter. Such a foundation is bound to fail. While illegals are not the only problem, they are a large contributor to California’s dysfunction and the need for ever-higher support from taxpayer dollars.
Californians are known for rebellious votes, as well as votes supporting fiscally-unsupportable measures. Governor Schwarzenegger’s election promises rang hollow and went south not long after taking office. The terminator has terminated himself, along with California budget propositions.
Schwarzenegger Photo
California Voter Revolt
Photos: www.wenn.com
May 20th, 2009 at 8:23 am
You hit proposition 1B on the money (it was a bribe to the teachers’ union) but it seems you totally missed the mark on 1C. The entire point of this special election was money. It wasn’t “modernization”, nor “spending caps”, despite the wording to the contrary. Specifically, 1C was all about the 5 billion dollars that could be borrowed immediately for short-term gain. It’s not like 5 billion dollars is a trivial amount of money. My advice to you: Never omit the 5 billion dollars when describing proposition 1C and you’ll then begin to understand why it was soundly defeated.
May 20th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Terminator terminated. Some say as goes California so goes the remainder of the country. If that means getting back to common sense and rejecting liberal insanity…. fine, before it’s too late.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:56 am
The undeniable consequences of unfettered illegal immigration, illustrates the terrible burden placed on Californians with a crushing budget meltdown. A time back city councilor Andronovich stated, ” $ 11. billion can be attributed to every illegal alien, who slips across the border.” Annually the cost of illegal immigration to Los Angeles County taxpayers exceeds one billion dollars, which includes $220 million for public safety, $400 million for health care, and $500 million in welfare and food stamps allocations. Public Social Services also shows that children of illegal aliens in Los Angeles County collected more than $21 million in welfare and more than $22 million in food stamps in March 2009 — an increase of $1 million from the previous month, according to a news release from Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. In addition Twenty-four percent of the county’s total allotment of welfare and food stamp benefits goes directly to the children of illegal aliens born in the United States he indicated. But that’s just Los Angeles County? That’s the awful quagmire of taxes of forced mandates. REMOVE THE STIGMA OF SANCTUARY CITIES & STATES OF WHICH CALIFORNIA HAS IMPLEMENTED AGAINST FEDERAL LAW.
It is estimated 3 to 4 million foreign nationals have illegal settled in this county alone. What about the rest of California? How about the the liberal stronghold of San Francisco, where illegals criminals are sheltered, and where a drained city treasury can still find hundreds of thousands of dollars to issue illegal ID cards. How about the mandatory taxes extracted from every American nationwide? The people will no longer accept higher taxes to support illegal immigrants and their families, who have strained the both federal , county and state funding. The reservoirs of money supposedly to pay for medical care, education and government to benefit citizens and residents in California have been paid out instead to illegal immigrants. The dire cash problems in California shows years of neglect by its legislators, who have genuflected to the business communities.
Analyst Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation found high school-dropouts-who headed households pay an average of $9,700 a year in taxes but collect an average of $32,138 a year in benefits. Overpopulation should be a major concern in the state. Only the nocturnal drivers are free over traffic clogs. In a third year of drought, this is the time to enact in California, the illegal alien extraction tool called E-Verify. Only the predatory businesses refuse to identify foreign workers with this excellent successful program. Only the corrupt members of Sacramento’s state assembly have not made it a permanent law, that should be used for all American workers. Only Sen.Harry Reid, majority Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other mostly Democratic Senators have tried to weaken or kill it’s power to perform. Learn more at JUDICIALWATCH, NUMBERSUSA & CAPSWEB.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
GOOD.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
@ Carena Sizemore: Thank you for the comment. I wonder where California would have gotten the $5 billion since they are in for $21 billion. Odd. I did understand that that the state expected to increase their coffers substantially, eventually…but first they had to pony-up $5 billion - no chump-change as you point out. Thanks for coming by.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
If they actually decide to regulate and tax marijuana, which I highly doubt will ever happen. It would be the smartest thing they could do.
NOW is the time if there ever was one, to regulate it. It would completely eliminate the black market drug dealers, and all of that money would not only be taxed, it would go back into our economy, instead of who knows where.
There would be so many new jobs and industry’s being made. It would end a useless, extremely expensive WAR against “DRUGS”, (war against our own citizens), and allow responsible marijuana smokers who are otherwise law-abiding citizens, not to fear being arrested, or violence. This is what the people want in California. REGULATE AND TAX MARIJUANA, PROBLEM SOLVED.
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
[...] Says the Coast of California is Now Up for Sale to Big Oil Maggie M. Thornton, Right Pundits: California Voter Revolt: Schwarzenegger Budget Propositions Defeated The Gaea News: Schwarzenegger says California should examine other nations’ experiences in taxing [...]
July 1st, 2009 at 6:06 pm
[...] Says the Coast of California is Now Up for Sale to Big Oil Maggie M. Thornton, Right Pundits: California Voter Revolt: Schwarzenegger Budget Propositions Defeated The Gaea News: Schwarzenegger says California should examine other nations’ experiences in taxing [...]
July 7th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
[...] Says the Coast of California is Now Up for Sale to Big Oil Maggie M. Thornton, Right Pundits: California Voter Revolt: Schwarzenegger Budget Propositions Defeated The Gaea News: Schwarzenegger says California should examine other nations’ experiences in taxing [...]