Dedicated To The Calamity That Is California And It’s Politics

We find ourselves in a POLITICAL CALAMITY not just in our Nation's capital but here in California as well. Everyday we watch our Country slip farther and farther away from the original vision of our Founding Fathers. We watch as California crumbles underneath the weight of a crushing deficit without the needed leadership to put our state back on track. "We The People" can no longer sit idly by and wait. Take the first step. It is your responsibility to arm yourself with information. You must seek out facts and make up your own mind. No one can tell you how to think, YOU MUST THINK FOR YOURSELF! Part of the reason we are so deeply entrenched in mediocrity is we’ve been all too willing to accept people and their word at face value. We are far too trusting of our Teachers, Main Stream Media and our Politicians. We send our kids to school and expect they will be taught an accurate depiction of History, when in fact History is often rewritten to reflect the views of the “politically correct”. We read newspapers and watch the nightly news and expect we will be told the truth, but instead we’re given agenda based reporting. We elect politicians and trust they will stand by their word and make decisions based on our best interest, only to find we’ve been sold out to special interests. Look around: The herd mentality hasn’t worked out so well, especially here in California. YOU MUST GET INFORMED, BE INFORMED AND STAY INFORMED!

Jul

JULY 13, 2009: As Vacation Looms Will It Lure Legislatures To Resolve The State Budget Crisis?

By CalamityDevon

As a new week starts, hope is high that the state budget impasse may be resolved by weeks end. Friday kicks off the Legislatures summer break and no doubt there are some that might not want the budget stalemate to get in the way of vacation. No state budget, no vacation. We will see if ideology takes a back seat to the lure of a month off. But which side will cave? Which proposals are lawmakers willing to accept to balance the budget?

Governor Scwarzenegger recently proposed cutting $3 BILLION in school funding under Proposition 98, a 1988 ballot measure approved by voters that requires 40% of the general fund to go to education. The proposal is met with furor from Democrats and some education supporters. The California Teachers Association has launched a new TV commercial attacking the Governor’s plan. In a press release State Superintendent Jack O’Connell had this to say about suspending Prop 98:

“The Governor continues to attempt to balance the budget on the backs of our students and our schools. Suspending Proposition 98 is a shortsighted approach that drops school funding into financial quicksand and will harm a generation of students”. ”Proposition 98 was passed by the voters of California to provide a floor of funding for our schools. Suspending it simply pulls the rug out from under our students and the future of our state.”

On a side note, keep in mind California spends an exorbitant amount on education yet our state ranks near the bottom in results. Throwing money at a problem isn’t always the best solution.

The Governor is holding firm on his commitment to not raise taxes. So far the Democrats are not budging on spending cuts and tax increases. The battle lines are clearly drawn but for how long? Something has to give somewhere in order to pass a budget.

Try your hand at the budget balancing game on the Next 10 website. It’s not a perfect facsimile of the process and outside the box cuts aren’t an option but it sure is entertaining. As for the real budget…we will just have to wait and see….

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