Breitbart – Big Hollywood | by James Hudnall | May 10, 2009
There’s an old saying that says, “So goes California goes the nation.” As the world’s eighth largest economy, and one of the world’s richest, California is in many respects a microcosm of the US. It has geographical and population diversity. It has major industries and corporations. But many are in decline thanks to its punitive taxes and regulations. Many of its progressive policy ideas tend to spread to other states and eventually the nation.
The excessive regulations and taxes have driven many businesses and successful people from the state, just as the US polices are driving out corporations and manufacturing jobs. And that has led to a decline in tax revenues, the very thing the government needs to survive.
We’re witnessing what years of those progressive policies have wrought and its not pretty sight. The State, like the Federal Government is awash in debt and had to keep borrowing to meet its obligations. Now its credit is virtually worthless and people have stopped buying their bonds. The Federal Government is on the same track under Obama, with a projected 18 trillion dollar debt in the next 10 years.
Democrats everywhere should look to California and see the nation’s future writ large in stark detail. They should witness how ineffectual and toxic their policies are in the long term. If they’re smart they’ll start voting against Obama’s many frivolous bills before it’s too late. Of course, knowing them they’re likely to bail out California which will be another nightmare for the state. Taking money from the Obama administration is like borrowing from the mob. Once you do business with them, they think they own you. Ask the auto and banking industries.
The best and only real solution to California’s (and the nation’s) budget problems is to make real cuts. All the special interest programs that aren’t absolutely necessary need to go. They also need to seriously look at pay freezes, cutting hours and even laying off people in government jobs.
These ideas are heresy to Statists because they need to show that government jobs are invulnerable. But we live in hard times and that means the Governator has to make some hard choices.
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comments off Chris Banescu | Economics, Public Sector Reform, Taxation |
