Democrats pass austerity budget for California

Universities, courts and the poor would be among those losing funding in the new California budget. Officials admit the plan would not restore the state to fiscal health.



June 29, 2011
Reporting from Sacramento -- The Legislature passed an austerity budget Tuesday night that would cut from universities, courts and the poor, shutter 70 parks and threaten schools but would not — by officials' own admission — restore California's long-term financial health.

The UC and Cal State systems would face about a 23% funding cut, among the steepest in the proposal. Cash grants for the needy would fall, a program to help thousands of teen mothers get an education would be suspended and hundreds of millions of dollars would be siphoned from mental health programs.



The state park closures would be the first ever. Courts would face what the state's chief justice has described as crippling reductions.

In an optimistic forecast, lawmakers built in an extra $4 billion of revenue. If all that cash does not materialize, K-12 schools — which had so far survived negotiations relatively unscathed — would face a cutback equal to shortening the academic year by seven days.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20110629,0,1794731.story

I'm so glad they have their priorities straight.

leaving trivial items as the only ones to get through

I know that sounds bizarre, but it is how the system is supposed to work. The minority members do have a right to air their views and to oppose legislation they object to. They were duly elected to represent millions of real people.

Making a workable budget is not going to be easy. I cannot abide a member of either party who stands on a soap box and tries to put all of the blame on the opposing party. That's lazy, petulant, and intellectually dishonest regardless of which side is doing it.

if the Republicons had any say. There is no "cooperating" when it comes to Republicons in CA.

they have been doing this for decades

raw meat to the hungry right wing base

and they get to blame the Democrats for not compromising sufficiently

do they get a pass on the blame for the pain and backwardness of the results?

The media noise is the D's call the R's moronic for their unrealistic budget stance, and the R's respond that the D's are juvenile for saying so. At least Brown is talking some sense.

solutions.

so many times it is like a broken record. And the psychology of this mesmerization is that looking forward to having more money overpowers looking back at soured deals, regardless of facts.

They seem to want the collapse of government, because then its services can be privatized and it will have little power to regulate business.

so public services have to be cut. it's a double bonus for them if they can leave a democratic administration holding the bag.