California, busted by this summer?

from LA Times:



California could be broke by July, state official warns
Despite the budget fix enacted in February, the state is on track to come up $23 billion short of what it needs to get through the year, the Legislature's chief budget analyst says.

By Evan Halper and Eric Bailey
10:26 PM PDT, May 7, 2009


Reporting from Sacramento -- California could run out of money as soon as July, the Legislature's chief budget analyst warned Thursday, as a new poll showed voters poised to reject five budget-related measures on the May 19 ballot.

If the propositions do not pass, the state could find itself as much as $23 billion short of the money it needs to pay its bills over the next year, according to a new forecast by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor. The poll, from the Public Policy Institute of California, found that even as voter interest in the ballot measures rises, all are trailing except the sixth one -- Proposition 1F, which would bar pay hikes for lawmakers in deficit years.

The other measures would provide the state with as much as $6 billion in the coming year through borrowing against the California State Lottery and temporarily reducing some social services.

One proposition, 1A, which barely one in three likely voters supports, the poll shows, would extend recently enacted tax hikes until 2013, plumping state coffers by another $16 billion. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-california-budget-crisis8-2009may08,0,7342537.story

and everybody thought it was a big fucking joke. Now the shit has hit the fan and the blowhard is scared but people are pissed.

Programs have pretty much been sliced to the bone. Taxes will have to be raised. Ahnuld now realizes this but he has no credibility with the legislature, the electorate or anybody else. He will be remembered as a disaster as big on the state level as bush was on the federal level.

But he would be forgiven if he legalized marijuana and put an end to the idiotic and futile war on some drugs.

Discussed in this thread:
"Propositions 1A - 1F, Request for comments"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=141x34066

See these posts in that thread:
"Courage Campaign: No on 1A, 1C, 1D, 1E, and 1F; No position on 1B"
"Calitics: It's All About Prop 1C Now"
"California Nurses Association opposes ALL of them"