With the budget standoff that never really ended this year, we now see the call for stopping spending on infrastructure, because the Assembly and Senate did not come to agreement on tax increase scams [yet] or any other budget fixes. [it was fun to see that the 4 new Dem Assembly members that took over seats previously held by Republicans abstained on the tax increase vote]
When the going gets tough, and taxpayers jobs are in peril, their hours are cut back, their take home pay isn’t stretching as far as it used to in a tough economy…the answer by the Sacramento political class is tax them and their employers even more. If they refuse, [as they have been making very clear to their elected officials, "do not tax me more"] then the response by Democrat leaders is, "fine, we’ll cut what you care about most"
The threats to law enforcement funding, keeping criminals locked up and now in today’s news, cutting the $ allocated to infrastructure that voters demand is the latest slap at them in this hostage situation to extract more car tax or sales tax dollars, [or even taxing domestically produced oil] from those already overtaxed productive Californians.
Perhaps we shouldn’t spend any more on any bonds at this time. Our highway building is way up just since the gas tax dollars we pay have actually been allowed to remain in the transportation infrastructure fund instead of being sucked into the General Fund black hole. Yet highway funding is the first thing we’re threatened with when we won’t pay even more of what we earn.
We have two major infrastructure items that the state should prioritize: both would improve our living conditions, and plant to our economy the seeds with which to grow.
1. WATER-As we should know and have been reminded, we are at crisis with the amount we have stored and available. Barring an incredible amount of rain and snow, which as of December 17, hasn’t happened, drastic water allocation cuts will be made statewide this year.
2. HIGHWAYS-Moving raw goods, finished products and the people that produce and purchase them in a timely and efficient way is an economic boost like few others.
Yet, we are threatened now, by not paying more taxes, to have this infrastructure stopped. Where are the threats to all the frivolous environmental bond spending, acquiring more state land? How much is still to be spent by the State of California on Stem Cell research bonds? Or other new bonds for which the previous bonds aren’t even expended yet? Why are we passing or expending bond dollars on "affordable housing" in a housing market like this…or any market for that matter? If you want to not expend bond dollars, then lets leave High Cost Rail on the shelf. What other bond spending isn’t being cut by the Left in favor of, instead, cutting highway dollars?
One can argue that we aren’t in a position to expend a single new bond dollar at all in our current condition. Given the disingenuous negotiating on water bonds that would include storage in recent years, we can figure that water storage bonds won’t be adding to the debt load anytime soon anyway. Or, one can argue, with water and highways being economic growth items and in crisis, that if we are to incur any bond debt, then it should be on these items that are truly needed for the type of economic growth we need and for quality of life, like not sitting in traffic for hours…not all this other "wouldn’t it be nice" spending.
At any rate, all productive Californians are insulted that the first items to be whacked are the ones that are going to pull us out of our economy’s doldrums. Then, to top that, we get end-arounds on the 2/3 vote required to raise taxes…which removes all accountability that at least Republicans can demand before new taxes could ever see the light of day.
Instead, fix the spending problem. Unshackle the businesses of this state by stopping the limiting factors on growth, like silly and wrongheaded Global Warming-AB32 nonsense. Implement the Californian Performance Review. Reform school spending and get dollars into the classroom. Get the state out of the business of being in everybody’s business and define its proper role [read as a much lesser one] in our lives and businesses. And finally, in this bond "conversation", shelve anything that doesn’t truly cause long term improvement in our state’s productive infrastructure. Then we’ll be on a fast track to not having year-round budget crisis lock-down sessions…and then not just termed out legislators like me can sing "I’ll Be Home For Christmas."