State of California is broke

[LongTimeListener]

"Prop 13 problem" is an old inside joke, maybe only between me and poin, from earlier in this thread or maybe another one. Someone was trying to tell us all the problems in CA trace to Prop 13 and that if we would just tax homeowners more we wouldn't have any trouble paying all those pensions.

 

[poindexter]

Lets see, in the last week we found out, in the midst of this horrendous budget crisis (on the East Coast, it's called the Prop 13 Problem), that Sacramento staffers got raises, CSU presidents got raises, and millions upon millions are lying around state parks.

Good luck getting that tax increase passed in November, Jerry.

 

[MileHigh]

"Prop 13 problem" is an old inside joke, maybe only between me and poin, from earlier in this thread or maybe another one. Someone was trying to tell us all the problems in CA trace to Prop 13 and that if we would just tax homeowners more we wouldn't have any trouble paying all those pensions.

OK, gotcha. I lived in SoCal for 30-plus years so I'm well aware of Prop 13 and its details so I didn't know where you were going.

 

[poindexter]

"Honor System"
WTF????

 

[poindexter]

We're closing park because of the budget crisis, but there are tens of millions in hidden funds.

forking lovely.

 

[LanceyHoward]

So let's say the 54 million accumualted over five years. So the State has an additional 11 million it did not know about. And maybe there is some more out there.

And let's assume the Cal State Presidents each got 50K more than they should have, so let's say that is a million total. And the State legislative aides got an extra million total a year.

So we have identified an extra 13 million in savings. That will go a long way to closing the gap in a State with a populaton of 38 million.

It is not a perfect world. It won't be a perfect world. But do you really think the schools should be whacked some more?

 

[Stitch]

So let's say the 54 million accumualted over five years. So the State has an additional 11 million it did not know about. And maybe there is some more out there.

And let's assume the Cal State Presidents each got 50K more than they should have, so let's say that is a million total. And the State legislative aides got an extra million total a year.

So we have identified an extra 13 million in savings. That will go a long way to closing the gap in a State with a populaton of 38 million.

It is not a perfect world. It won't be a perfect world. But do you really think the schools should be whacked some more?

Prop 13 limitations are mocked, yet the same posters are outraged over the small stuff.

 

[LongTimeListener]

LOL@small stuff.

Lancey's suppositions are so uninformed they really don't require a response. They stand on their own as an example that he has no clue what he's talking about here.

But the "small stuff" adds up to a $16 billion budget deficit this year, unfunded pension obligations that could add up to half a trillion dollars, and most recently a choo-choo train that will cost $100 billion and take nobody anywhere.

But yeah, it's all about nickel-and-diming the $13 million. BTW the link on that said there is $37 billion under agency control that's on the "honor system."

 

[poindexter]

I know this sounds completely crazy, but I get the feeling the state has a lot more economic malfeasances than just what the LA Times and Mercury News uncovers.

They close state parks because they don't have enough money, but untold millions are slushing around honor funds.

"We have no idea where the money goes, but we desperately need more of it!" - go fork yourself, legislators.

 

[MileHigh]

It's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[TigerVols]

Yeah, it's fun for anonymous message board posters to sit back and fix the "broken" economy of California...but solutions from Nebraska or Maine or wherever probably don't apply when you are talking about an economy that's larger than Russia's. heck, Los Angeles alone sports an economy larger than Saudi Arabia's.

Oh, and of the large nation economies, the state's economy is growing faster than all but Germany, China and Brazil's.

Remind me again of what a hellhole I live in.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/07/california-still-ranked-no-9-among-the-worlds-economies.html

 

[LanceyHoward]

LOL@small stuff.

Lancey's suppositions are so uninformed they really don't require a response. They stand on their own as an example that he has no clue what he's talking about here.

But the "small stuff" adds up to a $16 billion budget deficit this year, unfunded pension obligations that could add up to half a trillion dollars, and most recently a choo-choo train that will cost $100 billion and take nobody anywhere.

But yeah, it's all about nickel-and-diming the $13 million. BTW the link on that said there is $37 billion under agency control that's on the "honor system."

By what order of magnitude are my assumptions wrong? It is a heck of a long way from 13 million to 16 billion.

And we found out that the State of California has a maze of accounting systems and they don't automatically consolidate but rely on manual reconcilations. And that a group of people need to sit down and attempt to reconcile them. But do you really think there is 16 billion there?