Ha ha ha, it's no wonder nature tries to burn our great state down every October. It knows that our government is complete shit and that we're in a hole so big that we can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel anymore. But hey, we can try to put small bandaids on this massive gushing wound.. so hey, why not take away Welfare. Bootstraps, bitches!
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers Friday to eliminate the state's welfare program starting in October and dramatically scale back in-home care for the elderly and disabled as part of his May budget revision to close a $19.1 billion deficit.
The Republican governor also proposed cuts to state worker compensation. Besides asking for a 5 percent pay cut, 5 percent payroll cap and 5 percent increased pension contribution, Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting one day per month of pay in exchange for leave credit.
The proposal would affect all state workers under the governor's authority, regardless of whether they are general fund or special fund employees. Employees would not be able to cash out any of this unused leave credit when they leave state service. The plan would replace the three-day-a-month furloughs, which are due to end June 30.
Schwarzenegger said the sour economy, the failure of the Legislature to make cuts he proposed in January and the federal government's failure to come up with about $7 billion leaves policymakers with no choice but to make deep cuts.
Schwarzenegger also proposed eliminating state-subsidized child care for all but preschoolers as a way to reduce the state's education funding guarantee.
"We literally have to take the ladder away from the tree and shake the whole tree," he said. "We're left with nothing but tough choices. ... I know how many people are suffering out there and how tough this is going to be."
He did not respond directly when asked if his proposal to eliminate welfare was merely a negotiating position with the Democrat-dominated Legislature.
Schwarzenegger also said he would not sign a budget plan unless lawmakers agree to overhaul the budget process, including creation of a "rainy-day fund" and downsizing public employee pensions for new hires.
The governor did not propose any new tax hikes.
I have to say, that's one way to end the Welfare state. It's sort of a rock and a hard place situation. This is happening because Arnold turned down the oil industry money when he changed stances on offshore drilling. Considering what is happening in the Gulf Coast, I would say it's a good thing he changed that outlook of potentially allowing off shore drilling here. It's pretty fucked up that he's not raising taxes, but at least he did the right thing in the events preceding this.
But come on, he's ending a $1.4 billion program that would also mean losing $4 billion in federal matching funds while at the same time preserving $2 billion in corporate handouts? I'll go ahead and say it, Arnold is 100% of what the republican party claims to want to be but he is the only one with the balls to do anything and for that I applaud him. The fact that he's only doing this at the end of his term, I guess I could call him a pussy for that. Just look at what he's saying in that press conference.
"We literally have to take the ladder away from the tree and shake the whole tree," -Arnold
He wants people to literally starve to death. For those of you who feel that the population is too high, this should be happy news to you. And who's next? Meg Whitman?Ha! She's going to lose to Steve Poizner of all people and it's going to be comical. She's got a very hate-able face and in the TV age, that's a big liability in big-time elections. She has a political career only in the East Coast or The UK where that kind of ugly is the norm.
Or maybe we're going to elect that guy who was governor before I was alive. But we sure as hell wont elect a CEO who has done nothing but destroy companies and I wont be voting for whoever the fuck the other Republican guy with a chance is, I think his name is really Mumbly Joe. Just think of how fucked California would really be if we elect someone more conservative than Arnold.
I know someone in Oakland who gets food stamps and it was around $200 a month for a single person. He's got like $600 just relaxing on his EBT card, why a card? Because they think food stamps may make a person feel like they're poor... But because the benefits carry forward and there's no way to spend that much money on food each month unless you're buying everything at Whole Foods without coupons and letting stuff spoil... Let's just say that maybe the State hasn't been the best in managing this welfare.
But to remove it altogether? That's just silly and stupid. People, especially in this economy need some help and you can't tell them to bootstrap their way because then you'll have people starving to death. Even if you can buy Doritos with food stamps but not Vitamin pills, the system needs to be in place so if you need help, it's there for you.
It's like Prop 13 is Ronald Reagan's middle finger to our face forever. Just look at all those old people who love Prop 13 as they're paying $300 dollars in property tax on their 3 million dollar homes. We just can't raise taxes! California already has the highest taxes of any state!!! Why do you all want our businesses to flee and evacuate our totalitarian nightmare socialist state bleeding us dry with taxes taxes death and taxes. No no no! Gotta trickle down the wealth..
But again, California is the most progress state...
Ha! I love it when people say that. California is far from the most progressive socialistic state and it never has been even when Jerry Brown was governor. San Fransisco MAYBE progressive, I'd just say they're liberal leaning, LA is a toss up, San Diego is a total shit city filled with old rich republicans, bigoted mormons, teabagger types, and military assholes and is burdened by massive sprawl, no public transportation or even any sort of decent bike lane.
LA is less right leaning, but for every 1 person who is all for giving gays the right of being unhappily married, there's at least 2 fuckers who voted for Bush. Some parts of Inland California have a serious case of The Hills Have Eyes/Deliverance-vibes going on.
Let's face it. We're fucked up. This is almost good news compared to what we dilute ourselves with. This also means that people in the state have nothing let to lose and no reason at all not to literally swarm Beverly Hills and Orange County and loot absolutely everything they can carry.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment