I may not be the biggest Schwarzenegger fan, but he had a strong message for the legislature this morning: solve the budget problem now, make real spending cuts and don’t punish the people of California with higher taxes. I have no doubt that the final agreement will include tax increases in some fashion (the people did put the never-met-a-tax-I-didn’t-like party in charge of the legislature and the governor has shown that he is willig to consider some level of tax increases). However, a responsible budget cannot ignore the need to cut the size of government.
Spending cuts are never popular. PTA leaders at my children’s schools are meeting parents at drop off and pick up with letters to send to the legislature to ask for schools to be spared from cuts. I refused the letter because I know that schools have to be part of this solution. So do health and welfare programs and the prisons. Those are the three areas where this state spends the majority of its money. But if we had real leadership in the administration of our public schools, we’d be making some serious changes in the bureaucracy, including making cuts in the fat in the school system (administrators) and giving local schools more power and flexibility with their budget.
The Democrats made their big move and the governor did the right thing and vetoed their tax increases this morning. Our economy is struggling. We need a responsible, balanced budget that doesn’t include huge tax increases on families and businesses.