It was 1967 when Ronald Reagan said:
What’s become apparent from California’s failure to rein in spending and streamline programs is that business cannot and should not, continue as usual. The buck stopped 26 billion dollars ago. The process of growing government and its programs without any sensible cost controls is unsustainable. Republicans have been shouting that warning for a long time now.
The Democrat’s promise of a government that does everything for everyone is nothing but a worthless IOU – and an expensive, destructive one at that. Sacramento has become a place where the Democrats work for only two constituencies: those who desire public assistance, and unions. Democrats respond like puppets to the needs of the one and the demands of the other and legitimate taxpaying citizens have been ignored.
And who pays for all this? Reluctantly, the taxpayer. California has one of the highest personal income tax rates and the highest sales tax rate in the country. Corporate taxes are way above the national average. State government regularly extracts weighty sums from California taxpayers and for what? Do we have better educated children? Do we have roads, transportation and schools that are the envy of the country like we used to? No.
California languishes near the bottom of most national rankings. Democrats will say the problem is that we’re not investing enough money in those areas, but the evidence says otherwise. Forty years ago, the state spent $1240 for every resident in the state, in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars. Now, we spend more than double that amount – $3200 per person – and quality of life has plummeted.
When will Democrats understand that government must be accountable to the people who support it? Senate Republicans repeatedly offer common sense reforms that would put people back to work and ultimately generate the necessary revenue to support programs Democrats want.
Republicans want people who need services and assistance to get it. By refusing to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse in social programs, Democrats essentially limit the number of families that can receive help.
Currently only 22 percent of CalWORKS recipients meet federal minimum work requirements. Without a 50 percent work participation rate, California faces penalties that could cost upwards of $180 million. The cost of In-Home Support Services doubled in the past decade and costs about 5.4 billion annually. The program has virtually no oversight. It is forecast to grow by 8 percent a year through 2014. That’s irresponsible, and we simply cannot afford it in these economic times.
It’s time to make sensible reforms to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently, and eliminate fraud. California citizens demand and deserve that.
7.13.2009
California's Budget: The Promise of a Failed Government
"The time has come for us to decide whether collectively we can afford everything and anything we think of simply because we think of it. The time has come to run a check to see if all the services government provides were in answer to demands or were just goodies dreamed up for our supposed betterment. The time has come to match outgo to income, instead of always doing it the other way around."
It's now 2009 and the time has come.
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2 comments:
Fabulous write up.
Says it like it is. Pendulum has finally swung too far. Hear that? Sound of union clout crashing and burning.
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