Please consider this notice to all my creditors, that effective February 1, 2009, along with the State of California, who will be paying me with same, I intend to pay my bills with the following currency:
Thanks. And, of course, like the State of California, I will be unable to pay interest on the money I owe you.
Sincerely,
BigSurKate
Attorney at Law
And here is part of an article by Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee published 1/30/09 covering my personal pet peeve about California’s budget:
“The fastest growing segment of the state’s deficit-ridden budget, by far, has been its prison system, reflecting severe overcrowding, generous labor contracts and federal court pressure to reform inmate health care.
“Corrections,” an ironic misnomer, has jumped from less than $5 billion a year to more than $10 billion in the last decade, over twice as fast as school spending, the biggest budget item. It now costs about $45,000 a year to feed, clothe and medicate each of the state’s 170,000-plus inmates, or roughly five times what taxpayers spend on a typical public school student. And that doesn’t count what it costs to supervise tens of thousands of parolees.”
~*~FOFLMAO!!!!!!!!~*~
Dang woman! I about fell out of my chair I laughed so hard.
Ya know….The way you put it here it was really funny. But in all sincerity I’m sorry. It really sucks whats happening to us all. An IOU does not even come close to cutting it. We were just talking about this today re: fire fighters. Cal Fire is now getting paid with IOU’s. How long do you think this will last? And how are they ever going to pay people the money they owe them if they are broke? Very scary situation. Just seems like with the IOU’s and stimulus packages, we are just digging the hole deeper and deeper.
And what happens to us this summer? We are still in a drought. If we have another round of fires, who will be here to help us put them out? No money for fire fighters, or planes, fuel, retardant, etc.
I intended it to be funny!! It keeps us from getting morose.
Actually, bigsurwoman, state employees will still be paid, so CAL-Fire will be okay, for now. What happens to the firefighting budget in the future, in the 2209-2010 budget, is the question.
The overall budget structure is the real problem, and the majority of this can be traced to the 2/3 “super majority” required to pass a budget. There are only 4 other states that require a super majority in order to pass a budget. This allows the minority party to hold the majority “hostage” so they can make demands for their pet projects.
Yes I agree. The over all structure is the foundation for this problem. And you are right the next fiscal year is one to be very concerned about. I was told today that some of the Cal Fire boys that we know are already getting IOU’s for pay. I heard on the news last night, all state employees are being asked to take a 10% pay cut to keep from having lay offs. And the employees are fighting this decision. I understand that if I took a 10% pay cut I’d be in trouble since I live pay check to pay check. I imagine most state employees are the same. Yet, I wouldn’t want to be laid off. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like in another 6-8 months. Like I said earlier, the hole just gets deeper and deeper. And if they do agree to take that 10% cut to keep their jobs, gas goes up, food goes up, and everything in between goes up, and the mortgage goes delinquent and the cycle keeps on going deeper.
I don’t mean to blog on your comments nor do I mean to be morbid. I’m just very confused on what is the right answer. Not that you have the answer but, my question to myself and in general is, how can we stop digging deeper and start filling the hole again? It appears that there is no end in sight. No miracle. No bail out. No stimulus will stop the bleeding.
But we DO have the answer, dear friend. We’ve both done it. Expenses cannot exceed income. Pure and simple. One, as an individual or a government, slowly pays off creditors, a little at a time, until, finally, one’s income is more than one’s expenses. You’ve done it. I’ve done.
In the case of a government, the principle is the same. It either increases taxes to cover all expenses, or cuts expenses to come within the level of income, or some combination of both.
My other pet peeve is the cost of incarcerating, FOR LIFE, someone for stealing golf clubs or videos. This is the subject for another blog at another time. I cannot find a way to make that funny, and I really, really need funny, right now.
In the last election I did NOT vote for Abel.
I heard this news and thought in my head, is Arnold also going to work two days for free? Will he cut his and his minion’s salaries 10%? Does he plan to bulk up California’s budget with some of hi9s millions?
Will he?