Re: [RC] closing of CA state parks - Truman Prevatt
Diane Trefethen wrote:
Everyone wants THEIR funding protected and their projects untouched.
Maybe
those who bitch the loudest will be heard but the bottom line is that
the well
is dry. There is not enough revenue to cover a huge percentage of
previously
free pass spending. Welfare, parks, salary increases (Ha! THE VOTERS
PASSED
THAT ONE!), teachers, medical support, police, fire, you name it. The
MONEY IS
NOT THERE.
That is the crux of the problem. Not only have the politicians been
unrealistic - so have the people. They want their taxes cut but they
don't want their services cut - they want the other guys services cut.
CA has been living on a bubble for years. FL has been living on a
bubble for years. The housing cost in both states was several times
over and above what it was worth - propped up by creative financial
instruments. It crashed - the property devalues so the taxes the local
and state governments got from property taxes goes down. The taxes from
sell of property dries up. Unemployment goes up - tax revenues go down
or in FL tourism goes down so does all the taxes collected from the
taxes directed to tourist dollars.
The bubble is deflating and the house of cards is coming down. There is
only two ways to balance the budget, raise revenue, cut cost or both.
But when it comes to cutting cost - too ofter the population cries "cut
the other guy." When it comes to raising revenue - too often the
population cries "raise the other guys taxes."
It will be very interesting to see how CA deals with its current
financial woes. Closing parks may be just the tip of the iceberg if the
problem is as bad as some of the articles I've read indicate. FL
finally did manage to balance its budget but it took all the federal
money to do it. CA has a bundle of that too but next year that is going
to dry up.
Truman
-- “I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in
pseudoscience
“I maintain there is much more wonder in science
than in
pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any
meaning,
science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one,
of
being true.” Carl Sagan
