We are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since 1929, being made worse in my opinion by the government’s feckless attempts at stimulus. The states have been called “laboratories of democracy” for many years and our two largest states have been governed the past 20 years by the Democratic Party. Since the Democratic Party has been in power in Washington for only the past three years, perhaps we should turn to the states to see what the future holds for us under Democrat control.
New York is a good example.
During the long years of Republican control, the all-white GOP “conference” would regularly bemoan its lack of diversity, and make extra efforts to recruit minority Senate candidates and hire minority staff.
During the first five months of this year, with the Senate under the control of its first African-American majority leader, Smith, top Democrats bemoaned the lack of minority Senate staffers.
But instead of trying to recruit new hires, they fired nearly 200 almost exclusively white workers and replaced them with a large number of minority employees, many of whom were seen by their fellow workers to be unskilled at their new jobs.
The move produced severe racial tensions, made worse by the fact that, as a high-level Democratic staffer confided, “We’ve been told to only hire minorities.”
We’ll see how much of a precedent that is over the next year. The first Supreme Court nominee by Obama is not reassuring. How does he think the future will play out ?
The Empire State — once a beacon of progressive state government to the nation — is on the brink of ruin. And it doesn’t look like anything can be done to stop it.
In two words: We’re doomed.
Well, California is the other large state with “progressive government.” How is it doing?
Things could be better
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and ordered state offices closed three days a month to save money as state officials began paying bills with IOUS on Thursday.
Deep budget cuts have already forced California school districts to cancel summer school programs, moves that have affected — among others — elementary and middle school students in Los Angeles, which has the country’s second largest district.
What is the solution ? Why, raise taxes, of course.
But labor and education groups, health care and social service advocates and (a bit more quietly) some Democratic lawmakers continue to insist that tax hikes should be part of California’s solution to its $24.3 billion budget deficit.
“The solution to this budget problem is not to slash and burn education but to re-evaluate our revenue policy,” Jeff Freitas, a lobbyist for the California Federation of Teachers, told a legislative budget committee last week.
“There are a plethora of options that are being ignored that must be brought to the table.”
Did anyone think the teachers union lobbyist would be in favor of cutting education spending ? What about voters ? You know, the people who pay those taxes ?
voters rejected five ballot measures on May 19 that included $16 billion more in temporary extensions of the February tax increase
Gee, I thought the ballot propositions didn’t include a tax increase ! The ballot argument didn’t mention a tax increase. Maybe voters are starting to doubt the veracity of politicians. Well, they seem to have believed Obama last fall. I wonder how long that will last ? I’m not the only one.
A nice summary of the problems of California.
Is there a state that is not in big trouble ? Yes, Texas. Here’s one reason:
Texas is home to more applications for new nuclear plants than any other state, with more than 9,000 MW of new capacity under development. These investments are a direct result of Texas’ world leading competitive electricity market, which has lead to more investment in electric generation capacity than any other state.
Tags: California, New York, Obama, taxes