Comments on: Bay Area lawmakers react to Brown’s budget

By: Jean Starr

Jean Starr — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:12:48 +0000

I just love bob Wykowski’s justification for more tax money for government schools, pitting them against private colleges by promoting taking away the latter’s ability to take school loans, and insisting that public schools are better than private schools. What a laugh!

By: Publius

Publius — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:43:32 +0000

RE: #4

I agree with Rick K. There is so much waste that needs to be addressed. The pensions may be a small peice of the debt, but the tax paying non-state worker perceives them as an injustice that must be dealt with before you boldly demand for more money.

The people of this state should not have to choose to save education or the state parks, these are basic services. This is an obvious political ploy to scare everyone into approving the tax increase. Brown was right about one thing, this is our day of reckoning. This is the day that the Democrats will have to make tough choices and stop kicking the can down the road. They will have to stand up to their Big Labor masters and live within their means.

I drove by 2 brand new schools being built today in Pittsburg. They were huge! Millions upon millions of dollars. The new High School in Pittsburg is also an impressive structure, another multi-million dollar project (all built under a PLA; AKA union only discrimination). In comparison I spend $5,000 per year to send each of my kids to a private school that is ran down and dilapidated. As a parent I am required to volunteer and we as parents are trying to raise money to expand the facilities. Our children attend class in out dated buildings with less than adequate space. Still on a shoestring budget this little school will out perform the public schools. Don’t ask me to pay more for your broken system Mr. Brown, there is a solution and it requires less government not more.

By: Bob Loblaw

Bob Loblaw — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:24:23 +0000

Do any of the Democrats in the legislature support the Governor’s 12 point plan to reform the runaway costs in California’s public pension system?

By: Bruce R. Peterson Lafayette

Bruce R. Peterson Lafayette — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:21:22 +0000

Rick K. is awake at 1:05 A.M. and thinking clearly. If I knew his full name, I would vote for him. Yesterday I watched taxpayer money used for tearing up good pavement & sidewalks to replace them for decorative purposes. This “beautification” has been going on for months. No election for this, or any other ridiculous waste of money. We get an annual survey asking what public services we like and that becomes the title of the tax.

By: Josh Richman

Josh Richman — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:58:05 +0000

Re:#4 -- Rick, while pension reform is badly needed, I think you’re setting up a false equivalency here. Unfunded pension liability faces us over the coming decades, while the general fund deficit – and the shortage of funding to meet our education obligations – is a problem right here and now. By the LAO’s figures (page 12), even if we eliminated every cent of general fund spending on CalSTRS, CalPERS and other state retirement costs from the budget (which I think everyone knows is impossible even with radical reform), we would still be about $10 billion in deficit. As for whether the governor is using kids as a front for the tax hikes, that’s a matter of perspective. From your perspective, it’s a craven political ploy. If one takes him at his word (which I know you don’t), he has protected education spending – which he believes is most Californians’ priority – from cuts at least until voters have a chance to choose whether to save it. K-12 education is 42.2 percent of the governor's proposed budget and higher education is 10.4 percent of it; you can't have a serious deficit discussion without talking about impact on education.

By: Rick K.

Rick K. — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:05:35 +0000

There is still lots of waste in the state budget that ought to be cut before shaking down the people of California. If things were as bad as the Governor claims, the special interests would be turning on each other — the teachers’ unions would point to waste in the prison budget, the prison guards would point to waste in public schools, all performing valuable public service in the process. Instead the special interests are crying in unison like a bunch of pigs at the trough, “Feed us more tax money! Don’t ask questions!” No rational Californian should vote for the tax increases until meaningful pension reform is enacted. No rational Californian should support higher taxes until Gov. Gray Davis and his ilk are forced to admit publicly that their S.B. 400 in 1999, which enacted the overgenerous “3% at 50″ pension scheme, was bad public policy that is literally bankrupting the state. Why should rank-and-file CHP officers and firefighters be allowed to retire at age 50 and receive $100,000+ per year for life? It doesn’t make sense that I should pay higher taxes so that government retirees can enjoy lives of luxury. The “3% at 50″ pension scheme needs to be abolished immediately for all new government employees. But Gov. Brown never talks about these truths. Instead he holds the school children “hostage” to try to ram through the tax increases. School children are much more sympathetic and less potent politically in Sacramento than greedy, middle-aged, grossly overpaid pensioners who prioritize their beach homes and jet skis over the public interest. The school children are just a “front” for Jerry Brown’s tax increase scheme.

By: Grant Klokeid

Grant Klokeid — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:35:08 +0000

No mention of us having over 30% of those on welfare but only 12% of the population. Cut deeper before you expect us to pay more.

By: Publius

Publius — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:37:30 +0000

Typical Dem argument.

If we don’t get more money then we can’t provide services that you paid for.

With a 10.2% year over year rise in State revenue the government still cannot live within it’s means. This is an epic failure.

Did some mention pension reform?

By: RR, Senile Columnist

RR, Senile Columnist — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:24:25 +0000

Yeah, they will be practicing their punting skills in Sac. Get ready for another round of kicking that battered old can down the road.