I ran out of California a decade ago.

Sleeping Monkey: It's all those abortions and pot smokers

Mexicans.

I hope they don't all try to flee to the North.

I guess me getting out of state plates to avoid the ridiculous registration fees didn't help the matter

That state is due to snap off into the ocean any day now; they don't need any money.

ecmoRandomNumbers: Does the movie industry get huge tax breaks? Because they shouldn't.



But due to Enron Hollywood accounting techniques, technically speaking, only 4 or 5 movies in all of Hollywood history have ever turned a profit.

I thought Schwarzenegger was going to fix their money problems.

This is not a repeat from two months ago. Or last year. Or the year before that.

Darth_Lukecash:
The state government is actually hampered by restrictions on taxes and spending mandates. Local government have lost out on a whole bunch of revenue that could provide for their much needed schools and services.

Not really. The big problem is (and will be) spending.

California has a massive tax base. They have plenty of tax income, but they've easily passed the Laffer Curve peak. Adding taxes won't add actual revenue, and will just encourage even more companies to leave. They already have some of the highest business taxes in the country (one of the highest corporate income tax rates), an 8.25% sales tax, and also have a state income tax of another 10% or so on top of everything else. Oh - plus the highest gasoline tax rate in the country.

In theory, they have more than enough revenue sources. California is actually a great example of how increasing taxes does not always increase revenues.

It's easy to blame those voter mandates - except that only about 1/3 of California spending is on mandated programs, which are mostly about things that never get cut anyway (almost exclusively education spending). Even at that, the mandated spending on education was pretty much in line with previous education spending, and didn't really contribute much to the huge increase in outlays over the last decade or so.

They have to cut spending. A lot. It's going to happen, one way or another - the choice is just between "cut rationally while we can" or "we're out of money, everything's going to be cut in a panic."

FTA-Quick, someone come up with a plan that involves subsidies and tariffs on China,

Someone should tell the author(blogger?) about the interstate commerce clause.

Also, I'm in California, and I totally agree with the above posters, California is farked with the current restrictions on budget changes, not to mention the ballot initiatives that private companies get incredible ROI's from their advertising budgets with.

Another fine success story brought to you by liberal ideas.

Maybe if the state didn't survive on taxing property based on prices from decades ago, they'd be solvent.

Taxing houses is stupid. Either you wind up with people paying higher taxes on appreciation that doesn't match income rises, or you wind up with some Prop 13 lunacy that penalizes people for being young.

Get rid of property taxes other than estate taxes, and tax based primarily on income and profits.

And stop voting for "Spend money on things I like, and don't raise my taxes."

That's term limits for you.

cirby: ...Laffer Curve peak...

Guess how we know you don't know what you're talking about.

RickyWilliams'sBong: Taxing houses is stupid. Either you wind up with people paying higher taxes on appreciation that doesn't match income rises, or you wind up with some Prop 13 lunacy that penalizes people for being young.

Right on, the real estate values do not match income and are completely false in some cases. Taxes based on made up numbers are a terrible idea.

Obviously, the solution to this problem is more spending.

ghare:
Guess how we know you don't know what you're talking about.

You don't even know what the Laffer Curve is, do you?

Nobody in economics claims it doesn't exist, and the only way to show people it does is by demonstrating failures in overtaxing by governments. Like California, which has some of the highest tax rates - and which is losing businesses to other states because of them. That's a pure example of how the Laffer Curve works in a larger economy.

The only people who argue against the Laffer Curve are the same idiots who think they can keep increasing taxes forever, as long as there are rich people still alive.

Kazan: AbbeySomeone: I hope they don't all try to flee to the North.

^^^^ blockade the columbia Rogue River.

/FIFY
//Hey there are people here too!

California nearly bankrupt and will run out of money in less than two months, just like most Americans, if they miss a couple of paychecks.

But you ignorant asses keep on believing the states are protecting you from the big bad federal government...

winterwhile: move on folks

is just good dem-o-rats in charge

maby they can just blame Bush???????

Thank GOD! I was wondering where in the hell you were!

So are you using your "winterwhile random quote generator" today, or are you actually using your English as a Second Language picture dictionary to help you come up with something original to say?

Well the morons screwed themselves with prop 13.

EnviroDude: Nearly every year we hear about how bad the money is in California. Why, they paid people with IOU's a few years ago.

Nearly every year, certain people like to blame prop 13, because it limits government's power to add confiscatory property taxes.

What you hardly ever hear, however, is the demand that the government should cut spending.

/wouldn't care if California went broke or not, but that the braindead liberals that flee the state because they can't afford to live there anymore export their braindead ideas to the states they settle in

Phil EnviroDude thinks ONLY cutting spending without raising taxes will fix budget problems? Shocking.

/Yes, I know 'EnviroDude thinks' is an exaggeration at best.

cirby: ghare:
Guess how we know you don't know what you're talking about.

You don't even know what the Laffer Curve is, do you?

Nobody in economics claims it doesn't exist, and the only way to show people it does is by demonstrating failures in overtaxing by governments. Like California, which has some of the highest tax rates - and which is losing businesses to other states because of them. That's a pure example of how the Laffer Curve works in a larger economy.

The only people who argue against the Laffer Curve are the same idiots who think they can keep increasing taxes forever, as long as there are rich people still alive.

The Laffer curve at its most basic level is actually just a function of the cost/demand curve. If you tax an item or activity, you increase its cost. As you increase cost, demand goes down. At some point increased cost decreases demand to such an extent that revenue decreases.

A real world example of this is cigarette taxes. As the tax per pack has been increased, demand has shrunk so much that tax revenue has been decreasing. When you reach that point, increasing the tax further will result in lower tax revenue. The point that increased taxation begins to result in lower tax revenue is the Laffer curve peak.

Of course, things get much more complicated in macro economic settings. But the basic idea is still a very valid one.

/as is Keynesian economic theory

aearra: Well the morons screwed themselves with prop 13.

What blithering idiot that obviously knows nothing of economics nor governing signed prop 13 into law?

cirby: ghare:
Guess how we know you don't know what you're talking about.

You don't even know what the Laffer Curve is, do you?

Nobody in economics claims it doesn't exist, and the only way to show people it does is by demonstrating failures in overtaxing by governments. Like California, which has some of the highest tax rates - and which is losing businesses to other states because of them. That's a pure example of how the Laffer Curve works in a larger economy.

The only people who argue against the Laffer Curve are the same idiots who think they can keep increasing taxes forever, as long as there are rich people still alive.

The only people who argue for the Laffer Curve are the same idiots who think if we cut taxes to 0% we'll solve all of our national debt problems.