June 19,
2009
Dear
Editor,
Cool solutions call for cool head
What a mess
we’re in! The State of California is in the worst economic crisis since
the Great Depression. It may be only a matter of days until there is no
more money in the state coffers to pay the bills. As it happens with every
impending crisis, we tend to play the blame game—blame the Republicans,
blame the Democrats, blame the Governor, blame anybody but me. I believe the
state has gotten to the brink of economic collapse primarily because the
country and the world are in the middle of the Great Recession of the 21st
century that has severely reduced tax-generated state income. The
unemployed no longer pay state income tax, and pay far less sales taxes then
when they were fully employed. Folks who have lost their homes no longer
pay real estate taxes. Companies that go out of business, and there are
many of them, no longer provide the state and local governments a steady
stream of income derived from their sales. And at the same time, the need
for human services is on the rise. Unemployment compensation, food stamps,
law enforcement, health care, increased prison population, are likely to
draw heavily on state and federal financial resources in times of economic
downturn.
According
to the California Budget Project (cbp.org) the budget gap is estimated at
$21.4 billion. In his latest effort to find “solutions” Governor
Schwarzenegger has ordered severe cuts in state spending. Warnings posted
on the California Democratic Party website are pretty scary. For example—
-
Nearly two
million Californians will lose health insurance if the Healthy Families
program for children is eliminated and Medi-Cal is cut by $1 billion.
-
More than
1 million women and children will be left without any means of
subsistence if the CalWORKS program is ended.
-
California
kids and young adults will be harmed if the Cal Grant program is axed
and billions of dollars are cut from K-14 public education.
-
About
70,000 abused and neglected children will suffer if $200 million is cut
from foster care programs.
-
More than
400,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities would lose the
ability to live at home with help and would be forced into more
expensive nursing homes and group homes if In-Home Supportive Services
are cut back.
The
Governor’s proposal is unbalanced. Two-thirds of the dollars needed to
balance the budget would come from cutting services while only one-third
would come from increased revenue and borrowing. To my way of thinking the
imbalance is at best unfair to Californians who depend heavily on
state-funded support programs, and at its worst is unethical and immoral. We
are in a no-win situation any way you cut the pie, but we must face up to
the fact that the state needs huge increases in revenue, at least in the
short term, until the normal revenue sources recover. The Governor, the
Legislature, and the people must be willing to bear an additional tax
burden, and especially those of us who can afford additional taxes. The
big-profit making industries, like oil, insurance and tobacco companies,
must shoulder more of the burden then they are currently. Tax loopholes need
to be closed, such as the so-called “luxury” tax exemption on private plane
and boat owners that was defeated in Sacramento a year ago. Unless all
Californians are willing to pay more for the services they need and demand,
all of us are going to suffer enormous pain when social services are reduced
or eliminated. The time for clear, cool, unselfish thinking is now!
Dr. David A.
Foltz, Ph.D.
Resident of
Big Bear Valley
TOP
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