State of the State: Education, Healthcare, Water, and No Tax Increase
Posted by: Tomahawk | 01/08/2008 11:49 PM
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's annual address to the California State Legislature this afternoon was a pleasant surprise. Prior to the speech, rumors and speculations was flying around about possible tax increases from Arnold to deal with the ballooning $14 billion deficit in the state budget. I'm glad the Governor is still standing firm on his fiscal conservative policy, which is probably the last issue he has in common with the California Republican Party.
In his State of the State, Arnold proposed an ambitious agenda for this year which includes overhauling our healthcare crises, fixing our budget problems, and improving our water surface storage capacity. I'm interested to see how he intend to do all of this without raising taxes. I do not suspect the Democratic-controlled Legislature is keen on cutting social programs and entitlements to offset the cost of these new projects.
With that in mind, I am counting on the Orange County Republican Legislative Delegation to make sure there is no funny business with the state budget. I believe Assemblyman Chuck DeVore is the only Republican from Orange County that serves on the Budget Committee.
Mr. Ayer registered as a Republican to be electable in an interim election with no incumbents. He did...
Actually, the majority of the Republican legislators from Orange County serve on the Budget Committee.
4 of Orange County's 7 Republican Assemblymembers serve on the Budget Committee. In addition to Chuck DeVore, there's Mike Duvall, Bob Huff, and Jim Silva.
And in the upper house, half of Orange County's 4 Republican Senators serve on the Budget Committee: Bob Margett and Mark Wyland. Let's also not forget that Dick Ackerman is the Senate Republican Leader, and therefore a member of the Big 5 who negotiate the budget.
"I'm glad the Governor is still standing firm on his fiscal conservative policy"
Huh? What policy is that - sell endless indebtedness but don't raise taxes?
"I'm interested to see how he intend to do all of this without raising taxes."
See above. And don't forget the old standby - a plethora of "user fees" to enhance revenue without "raising taxes."
Redperegrine--Oh you cynic, you.