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Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D, CA) new budget: more spending and higher taxes!

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  January 5th, 2012 at 09:45 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

To summarize: $92.6 billion in spending (7% increase over last year’s); $9.2 billion deficit over eighteen months (half in the first six months, the other half in the next twelve). Brown is requesting $7 billion in new taxes, mostly from raising the sales tax again (to 7.75%) but with a faux-populist-friendly soak-the-rich* (actually, soak-the-small-business-owner) increase to 10.3%. Or the state can ‘cut’ an additional $4.8 billion in educational aid (he’s already planning to reduce poverty assistance by $4.2 billion): the most increased spending appears to be in tax relief/local government**… and education. In other words, that cut would actually be mostly in a projected increase in education spending, which means that it’s not really a cut at all.

Or, to summarize the summary: Brown’s bailing out the municipalities; and he’s trying to blackmail the Californian populace into a tax hike to pay for it by threatening to wipe out an increase in K-12 education funds if they don’t vote said hike in. See how that works? Increase spending in a line-item; then call the threat to remove that increase a ‘budget cut’ and use it to justify a ‘temporary’ tax. It’s a great scam; or, rather, it was a great scam twenty years ago, when there was more give in the system.  Today, it’s just kind of alarming.

And, just for anybody still ready to believe in old Moonbeam: “Brown had been scheduled to release his general-fund budget Jan. 10, but was forced to unveil it today after it was inadvertently posted to the Finance Department’s website.” Oops.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Not to be rude about this, but California business owners should contemplate that, say, Texas has no state income tax and a state sales tax of 6.25%, with a maximum state/local tax of 8.25%. Which is one major reason why Texas now has four extra seats in Congress and California’s delegation has stagnated for the first time since it became a state.

**But don’t worry! …The Legislative, Judicial, Executive line item in the new CA state budget isn’t going to take a hit, either.

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COMMENTS

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  • libbasher

    Typical budgetary skullduggery. If the Park Service needs more money, then-nstead of cutting non-essential expenditures, threaten to cut essential or high profile or popular items, thus swaying public support just enough to carry the day for increased expenditures. Always threaten to cut police, fire and education first before the stuff gov’t. shouldn’t be involved in at all.

  • Adjoran

    or the commission their brother-in-law chairs.

  • carolina

    Which means that real spending is actually going up. Someday folks are going to learn how to post buget details (state and fed) on the www and point out exactly what our elected officials are doing to us. We must be getting close to this…… witness this post!

  • carolina

    Which means that real spending is actually going up. Someday folks are going to learn how to post buget details (state and fed) on the www and point out exactly what our elected officials are doing to us. We must be getting close to this…… witness this post!

  • Adjoran

    Maybe we can sell it to Mexico before the Democrats have finished it off completely.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    I go apartment hunting in the Commonwealth of Virginia CPAC week.

  • easyb

    I thought I was alone out here

  • jakeofalltrades

    When L.A. took some Christian symbol or another off their seal, Oceanside city council unanimously voted to add it to theirs. It’s like an oasis.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    But I’m sick of the coast dragging down the sane inland (well, inland plus SD and OC), sick of the miserable economy and no opportunity, sick of the downward spiral. I’m getting out.

  • trevorb

    to live in California and this is spot on. Highest sales tax, third highest income tax, 1/3 of all welfare recipients in the country, highest gasoline tax, not to mention that electricity in the 7th highest in the country here. All of this is going to climb still higher.

    One more: 2nd highest unemployment in the country. Yep, all this spending is really helping.

  • easyb

    Can you talk to my wife? :)

    I was born and raised here, but I’m over it. With the savings in taxes alone, I can afford to come back and visit Yosemite from time to time. Maybe Brown’s budget will push her over the top…

    As soon as I can convince her, we’re out of here.

  • toothpick

    Wait for me! I think I’ll head for Texas.

  • concap

    Exercising your freedom to choose.
    That?s what it?s all about.
    When there is no one left to pay the taxes, it will collapse on itself, and like all rats, they will move some where else, and if you like you can move back and help rebuild.

  • hobiecat

    Public sector jobs are the only major industry left in Ca. and state employee unions have owned Sacramento since the Grey Davis administration. Jerry Brown was elected because Meg Whitman wanted to privatize CalPers and take on CCPOA, the wealthiest barganing unit in the state.

  • Tom_Holsinger

    Moe, my quick scan last night showed the California judiciary budget being reduced by another $125 million. While Brown’s proposed budget shows lots of executive branch agencies being closed or merged out (such as the California Highway Patrol), I suspect the overall executive branch spending is going up.

    This is merely disguised by lumping all executive, judical and legislative branch spending together in the quick summary you refer to. IMO that summary is just PR.