<rank mood=“embittered”>
If there are any other Californians out there I strongly encourage you to contact you representative and ask them not to cut the UC (University of California) or CSU (California State University) budgets any further. California Polytechnic, our CSU flagship school, is withering on the vine and the once high quality education is declining.
More importantly, when you go to polls the elect new state representatives, send an resounding message that says “time for change.” We’ve already gotten rid of a lowsey governor, now its time to clean out the rest of our state. We are paying the price now for nearly a decade of gross mismanagement, and I hope this time we will learn our leason. </rant>
it won’t even begin to be fixed until prop 13 is repealed…
We have millionaires not paying taxes on multi-million $ homes…
while middle class workers are paying more than thier share.
Ahnold won’t fix it either. He is for cutting, not keeping. His cronies aren’t for expanding education, they are for downsizing.
Grey Davis would have done the same exact things (except the stupid license fee repeal), and we would be in the same spot, if we had let him finish his term in office…
Ahwnold’s current budget proposal also includes a major cut for seniors and disabled people …
there is a little known program currently in place that allows the disabled and elderly that aren’t quite in need of full time nursing care but can’t live at home without assistance to stay there by paying homecare workers on their behalf.
these workers currently make barely enough to live and he wants to cut them all back to minimum wage with NO benefits and disallow relatives from participating … efectually closing the program, because no-one will want to do that work for (virtually) nothing and all those nursing home bills will far outweigh the current costs to the state…so there won’t be any ‘savings’, just a lot more screwed up lives.
:bad: Typical republican bone-head - balance the budget on the backs of the working class and the disadvantaged.
All his ivy-league upper crusty constituants can send their sons and daughters to expensive private schools and are adequately insured against old age and disability to not be affected by these kind of cuts.
…when he refused a paycheck, I thought there may be some virtue in this clown~Fuc_k :bad:
“typical republican bonehead”??? How do you think this state got so screwed up it was a DEMOCRAT controlled state legislature and a DEMOCRAT governor that spent out of controll. We wouldn’t have to make so many cuts if Davis didn’t spend $15 million on Oracle software the state didnt need. And he got a $25,000 campeign donation from Oracle 3 days after the contract was signed. Davis has been cutting eduaction spending heavily for the past 2 years, so thats not a “bonehead republican” thing either. And the Democrats are hardly pro-working man politicians, that is just a persona the uneducated buy into because it is easy to go along with.
Ronie was in office during prop 13 but bare in mind that it was the CITIZENS (most of whome are middle class) that voted on it. And if you understand prop 13 you would know that the benefits are equal for rich and poor on that one, what makes many working people pay more on that now is the fact that the have purchased a house recently, and in the past 10 years that demograph has been migrating more. My parents pay practically nothing for their house, but the condo they just purchased has a much higher tax rate.
Try setting aside the propaganda for a few and understanding what is really going on.
the reason Education funding was cut, is because the funding for education comes from property taxes. So, when those funds dwindled, the tuition fees for education in California went up. So, the rich can afford the tuition, the poor can get assistance, but the middle class can’t get grants because thier parents “make too much money” yet they don’t make enough to pay these outrageous tuition fees.
If Republicans had been in office during the bubble, they would have spent just as wildly. It is the basic function of gov’t to spend what they have today, lest they take it away next year. So during the bubble, it was expand, expand, expand. Are you saying that if there were a Republican in office then, that the money gained during the bubble would have been spent on education? Is that really the track record of the Republicans?
Try looking beyond the direct connection for a few and understand what is really going on…
don’t get caught up in partisan BS, think for yourself by looking at the big picture.
I was addressing the big picture in response to what Reland said. I am a middle class college student in CA, and the fees to attend our stat schools are not even close to being “outrageous.” Attending a CSU costs roughly $1,000 a quarter, that is nothing compared to the tuitions of other intuitions around the country. And I never said the republicans would have saved, but if you want to address track records, the republicans do tend to spend less then the Dems who believe that society should bare the burdon for the problems of the individual. You should take your own advice on setting asside partisan bs.
but they don’t have a ‘fund education first’ record either…
you did address Ronnie RayGun tho…
I say this as someone who remembers $1/credit at UC schools for residents… from that perspective, tuition today is outrageous… we grew up with an education almost guaranteed. It isn’t the same today, and we have prop 13 to thank for it.
and I’m also saying that we would be in the same deficit situation today, if we had a republican leader during the bubble. All you remember is good times in CA, which is true since the 90’s, after the defense bases closing, and 2 earthquakes, not the tough times right before that, and the option to go to school was there. Today, it is not for most people who can’t get grants/scholarships/paid for…
to blame this on Demo’s is just a short sighted observation, possibly even regurgitated from other source…
I never blamed the Demos for the problems, I was responding to Relands narrow minded statement that the republican governor is responsible for hard times now. You want lower taxes and a free education, and programs for the old. Where do you think this money is going to come from? That is the exact mentality that got us into this situation.
And just so you know, the option of education is there for most people. If you are willing to do a little work you can EASILY pay the CSU fees. But then again that reqiures personal initiative and not society handling your meger problems for you.
For one, YOU came in here crying about the cuts (&proposed future cuts) to the edu system … which are being submitted by - guess what - a republican… whom I added, is also going after monies earmarked for the elderly and disabled.
Then, you defend the price of that education as reasonable … I’m not sure that those two postures go together :-/
…Now, where the he ll did I say this ? :
I was responding to Relands narrow minded statement that the republican governor is responsible for hard times now
…if you answered “…why - you didn’t say that…” then you’d be right ! :thumb:
… actually, what I did say, in effect was, that the boneheaded republican(s) typical fashion is of trimming the fat to balance the budget starting with the working class->the disadvantaged (implying of course that they rarely go to the pockets of the well-off first, if at all)
let’s see…what else, oh yeah - you think 15 mil would make or break the calif. budget ?
You’re not old enough to remember, I’m sure, when Ronnie was the Gov, he was too good to stay in the historical Gov’s mansion like all his predecessors and spent waaaay more than 15 mil building a swanky govenors estate on the banks of the American river … then changed his mind … “pfffft … I don’t like it after all”.
That place remained a white elephant for years and years because it would cost yet again a sum close to what whats-his-name spent on software just to de-comission the property back to a saleable state.
I say again:
There are many places that they can cut costs without trimming the necessities of the less well off, 'cause only a bonehead would START there
There are so many issues to address here. I’ll start with the partisan nature of this discussion. The current problems and paralysis of our government cannot be blamed on Republican’s or Democrat’s alone. It is both parties faults, for both have sold out to special interests, and are run by the all powerful caucus system.
As for blaming the rich for our current problems? Well this is a stereotypical “not my fault” attitude. The rich are the gross minority in this state and country. In no way should they consistently be given extra special treatment, unless the representatives who give away these priviledges of access are repeatedly relected.
As for the underpriviledged? Well, it is real unfortunate if you are not given all the advantages, but that doesn’t mean you still cannot make something of yourself. Someone of incredible intelligence can get scholarships, it is the very reason for scholarships existence. Not smart enough for that, and not everyone can handle, or should go to college, that’s alright. There are plenty of necessary jobs in society that pay more than enough to live comfortably. A couple examples include mechanics, electricians and general construction workers. The disadvantage and underpriviledged cannot be caried in a democratic, and capitalist society. It just doesn’t work that way.
When it comes down to it, the current state of the nation is everyones fault, and always is in a democratic system. Instead of mouthing off, say something with your vote.
Reland, you keep going to back to Regan, what nearly 25 years ago now, are you kidding me? so you mean to tell me that what a governor spent 25 years ago has more to do with our problems then the rampant spending of the past 12 years?? And the 15 million was just one example of the attrocious spending of the last administration, not the only.
For three years running Davis aproved budgets spending upwards of $90 million, while for the same 3 years the states income was around $50 million. I’m sure we can all do the math on that one. When you are spending that much and earning that little eventually one of two things needs to happen: either increase revenue, or decrease spending. Everyone who wants more taxes raise your hand…Thanks what I thought.
keep going back to reagan ? That’s the first I mentioned him…
Again, I said no such thing (how can you be in college and have such a reading deficit ?)
You stated that Davis’ expenditure on software of 15 mil was the cause of our current budget crises and that was a ‘democrat thing’, I merely pointed to a prime example in equal singularity that the republicans also spend foolishly.
NONE of my point was to blame any one party for the mess (Ronnie spent likewise in calif and in D.C.) … let’s face this fact - politicians in general are boneheads …
but to get out of the fix we must cut something - but why the ELDERLY AND THE DISABLED first ?
…This is where the republicans shine best. :-/
What do you suggest is cut first? Healthcare? Education? Public transportaion? Workers comp? No matter what someone loses out. It is obvious we need budget cuts when our state has the fifth largest economy in the world, and yet is still spending more than it earns. I would take a guess that this program to support the elderly and disabled, note a very small percentage of the population, is quite costly. Sacrifices need to be made, and people will lose out on benefits. Unless of course, you personally would like to fund one of these people, considering it is such a travesty the program is lost.
Finally, you gotta lose the he said she said, republicans verse democrats attitude. That thinking further perpetuates our problems. If you only bother to look at the ills of other parties, and not question your own, you are not acting as a responsible voter and citizen in a democratic society.
something Ronnie RayGun did 25 years ago does make a difference today. How can you even think that it is all Davis’ fault. Oh, that’s right, you watch TV, and believe what the opposition (who spent multi millions just to tell you how bad Gray Davis was) told you.
I’m not saying he was the best, but to blame him for the slowdown in the economy and the record deficit is just short sighted.
If you are willing to do a little work you can EASILY pay the CSU fees. But then again that reqiures personal initiative and not society handling your meger problems for you.
this is narrow minded to think that you know what every other person who is needing monies to go to CSU is going through. The tuition alone is only part of the equation. To say such a snippy, biggoted statement is evidence of a growing ignorance in our youth.
If the economy is slowing, would it not be wise to cut back on spending? Davis should have recognized this fact, and encouraged the state senate to approve budgets according to the trend. A good leader, say a state governor, is supposed to see these problems, and address them. If an individual does not, then maybe he/she is not fit for office. Hmmm…
What do you mean, “a dream world?” Addressing, and resolving problems is the very point of our representatives in government. If they do not, then they shouldn’t be in office, and should not be relected. That goes for every single elected position all the way from president down to mayor. Isn’t that a sign that something is grossly wrong with our “democracy” when the government fails to do it’s job and citizens expect it?
To answer you, no I don’t think anyone currently in government would have slowed down the spending, but I also think everyone who holds a seat should be removed.
