Question for Californians

[Myke]

My wifes cousin worked in California for a couple months in 2008. He filed his taxes and got an I.O.U. from the state. Has anyone else heard of this? If you owe the Infernal Revenue, are you allowed to give them an I.O.U.?

[grant whipp]

Have you seen & heard the news, lately, Myke! This sorry-assed state is in a melluva hess, and we can't get our legislators to come together and agree on anything (at least, not anything that will truely help and benefit the majority of people trying to live & work here)! It won't be long before those bozos wil want to start paying our police & firemen in I.O.U.s ...

I've got a good friend who thinks we outta round up all our legislators, put 'em in handcuffs and march 'em all down to jail ... make 'em all wear the jail togs and eat the jail food and live in the general jail population for 48 hours ... then march 'em all back to the capitol and give them 24 hours to come together on a solution ... if they don't/can't, then it's back to jail they go for another 48 hours ... and so on and so on 'til they come to a real workable agreement. And, oh by the way, they'd also forfeit their last 6 months salary, as well ... they sure as hell haven't earned any of it, if you ask me!

Oh, but wait ... I'm from the State of Jefferson ...! At least, it's a nice state of mind ...

[dhazard]

Oh, but wait ... I'm from the State of Jefferson ...! At least, it's a nice state of mind ...

Doubled Crossed again?

[S. Heisley]

California ran out of money and can't pay its tax refunds. This week, the governor had to ask the federal government for money so the state could pay people who are out of work unemployment money.

[Senior Ninja]

Scary, isn't it? One in seven Americans live here. That's over thirty million people! Yet we can't elect legislators who'll pass a budget. They are so divided along part lines it looks as if nothing's going to get done. What a sorry mess.
Steve

[Senior Ninja]

Sharon,
How's the build coming along?
Any progress you can share with us?
I'm sure we'd all like to see it.
Steve

[Roly Nelson]

Now Calif is going to charge a 9% tax on all vet bills.......what's up with that?
Roly

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

I just read today that the Governator wants to start charging tax on golf, auto repairs and vetenarian services!!!

[Miriam C.]

Dare I suggest you all "Vote the Bums out." No incumbents.

In all seriousness there really isn't a whole lot they can do. Imagine rescinding all those entitlements. Where on earth would you start?

[Elumia]

Miriam, we already have term limits...but they move from the house to the senate, to executive before they get termed out! The governator does not draw a salary.

Part of the problem is that district lines have been drawn by politicians, we just passed a proposition to change that, we'll see how that goes.

Basically, we have a budget problem due to
- the economic downturn
- a law that requires a balanced budget
- Democrats that want to solve it by raising taxes
- A republican minority that wants spending cuts
- this cake is frosted by the fact that there are no consequences for not passing a budget on time (like they don't get paid, lose their state vehicle etc....) This happens most years, this year is just taking longer, and the deficit is larger than most years.

Since California is a high cost state, our manufacturing base has been continually outsourced to other states, and overseas. Farming has also been moving south of the border. Any product that can't be picked by a machine is moving towards being planted with a crop that can be harvested by machine or moving south where labor is cheaper. Farmland has been turned into subdivisions. We are in the 3rd year of a drought. Fishing seasons closed due to dwindling fish stock. The migrants aren't interested in low paying ag jobs in CA either, they'd rather do construction - and that has dried up. We have lots of families with Anchor babies.

30% of our States budget is allocated to K-12 Education, another 10% to Higher education and another 28% to health and human services. These are hardly popular areas to cut spending. The unions won't allow cutting retirement bene's either. Gov employees are allowed to retire earlier that the private sector. They also collect full pensions while they work another job. So much for "public service", more like feeding at the public trough.

It is not popular to raise taxes in a state that already has high taxes. How do you raise taxes on people already struggling to pay their current expenses? Property taxes are controlled by Prop 13. The only way they go up substantially is when a property is transferred - not much of that happening - and when properties are transferred these days, the value is lower so the Property tax is often lower.

At least the weather it pretty good!

Mark

[Roly Nelson]

The body-builder was going to "save" Kal-E-forn-ya from any new taxes. He won the election in order to dump the previous Gov. Now he is scrambling to dredge up money anywhere he can. Thank gosh I'm retired, don't have to pay income tax, (no income) but I'm still obligated to pay the excessive sales tax, property tax, gas tax and on and on. Next election, I'm with Auntie M, vote out the incumbents!
Roly

[Elumia]

Roly,

If you've lived in the same house for any length of time, you will find your property taxes are way lower than lots of Americans in other states. They likely will also be way less than your neighbor who just bought their house. I beleive my sister pays over 6K a year in Florida for a 250k house. I pay less than her for a more expensive house here in NorCal. If I hadn't gotten divorced and stayed in the house I was in, I would pay even less for a house worth much more, just because we bought way back in '94. Prop 13 was put in place to protect you from rising property tax assesments based on your house value increasing while your income was fixed.

Sales tax is high, but comparable to many other urban areas. At least we don't tax food like some states do.

Funny thing is, if we get all these cars with better fuel economy, they will use less gas, and generate less gas tax. How will we pay for the roads then? What about electric cars that use no gas, but use the road? how will we pay for the roads then? Just wait, you will have a transponder in your car that tracks how far you drive and you will be billed - oh yeah, Fast track can already track your movements......

We tax cigarettes high, so people quit, again less money.

Maybe the way to fight the drug war is to legalize them and tax the crap out of it.

Mark

[grant whipp]

Oh, but wait ... I'm from the State of Jefferson ...! At least, it's a nice state of mind ...

Doubled Crossed again?

Not a question, Dan ... pure unmitigated undeniable fact! Truth be told, there's not enough room on the flag to put all the "X"s that would represent the number of times we've been "crossed, double-crossed, triple-crossed," add nauseum ... ...!

But with regards to other posts/replies, here ... I really thought we might get two or three pages of reasonable rhetoric before someone started spouting misinformed, misguided, and misleading (unintentional or otherwise) figures, and even pointing a finger at unions for being a leading cause for the problems, here. Fact is, there are a lot of people who are/were complicit in the goings-on that helped to put us here ... a lot more who want to point fingers and blame everyone else ... and damn few (if any) willing to take responsibility and be held accountable for their actions/inactions. Fact is, it's the hard-working men & women of this state, and the under-educated students in our schools who will soon-enough be entering the workforce, that are going to be the ones who ultimately bear the burden and pay the price for any kind of recovery (if there is to be one). Fact is, no one in any substantial level of government or the upper-levels of corporate business is or-will-be willing to take any substantive measures to help the situation unless they, themselves, are subject to and feel the repercussions of losing their life savings, their homes, their abilities to work for and support their families. As long as they have "their's", there's no reason for them to honestly care about "us" ... and, I'll lay odds that all of them will leave the state before anything like that even threatens them ...!

O.K., for what it's worth, I guess I do seem rather sarcastic and perhaps a bit melodramatic ... I suppose I could lay some of the blame on the drugs I've been having to take (for the last three weeks) just to take the edge off the unbelievable pain I'm suffering while I wait for the powers that be to make the decisions and approvals for treatment that they've agreed and are obligated to do (no, I've got plenty of cheese to go with that whine, thank you!) ... and, some of you know my history of working and advocating for the working class of this state, and the passion I feel there ... but really, when you stand back and take a really careful and honest look at the situation (you know, without the blinders or the rose-colored glasses), you can't say I'm terribly mistaken ... can you ... ...?

Oh, what the hell ... maybe you can! But in the end, 200 years from now, will it (or you), have made a difference ... ...?

Grant

[Elumia]

I'm a working stiff who's lost 40% of my 401K in the last 6 months (my personally funded "pension") Pension funds are screwed because they were invested in the stock market (Calpers has lost 30% of its value) just like my 401K, but they are obligated to pay out not on the value of the fund, but by a contractual amount based on years of service and wage rate. Any shortage has to be made up somewhere - with government pensions, it is the taxpayer who will be asked to make up the difference. People can work 25 years, contribute 2-3% a year and retire at 55 to collect their pension for 25-30 years. If you are a police or fireman, that amount may be 90% of your last years pay. My retirement will be based on a decision of if I feel I have saved enough money to retire, not that I put in my time and have lived to a certain age. This is not a union issue per se, just how pension systems work. Unfortunately for most Americans, pensions don't typically exisit in the private sector anymore.

Believe me, those higher ups have lost far more in their retirement accounts and stock options than us working stiffs. They're feeling the pain, that's why they're laying you off. The higher they can keep their stock prices the better off they are, they don't care if you have a mortgage or child support to pay

I've also lost tons of "paper gains" in my house just like every one else.

Kids aren't uneducated because the school doesn't have enough money. Parents need to give a crap and not blame the schools. How many have a clue what their kid studies every day? Is it the school's fault the kid didn't do his homework? Did the school let the student watch 4 hours of TV and play video games all night? In general terms, the kids that do the best in school come from families that value education, not the schools with the most money.

I was trying to point out, that we are at a budget impasse because no one wants to give anything up. Many items cannot be given up because they are non negotiable parts of labor contracts - and the unions have already brought lawsuits against the government for the mandatory unpaid furlough days. No one want to pay more taxes either. Ultimately we can't take more from a smaller pool and expect to keep the status quo.

I would agree that those in charge of companies AND government have failed the ordinary folk.

Since I'm the only guy who posted figures, if you doubt them, you can look at them for yourself:
http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSum ... Charts.pdf
This is the Governerors "propsed" 2009-2010 budget since we don't have a budget.

Union Suing Government over furlough requirement
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... ewsbayarea

Want to know how much Ca state workers are paid?
look them up! http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/

Here is a summary of the highest BASE pay for Non UC employees (you might notice a trend...)
http://www.sacbee.com/1098/story/735831.html
First Name Last Name Department Title Base Pay
RUSSELL READ PUBLIC EMPL'S RETIREMENT SYS CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM $555,360.00

ALAN O TROUNSON CA. INST FOR REGENERATIVE MED PRESIDENT $490,008.00

JANET D FRANK STATE COMP INSURANCE FUND PRESIDENT/STATE COMPENSATION INSURANCE FUND $450,000.00

CHRISTIANNA WOOD PUBLIC EMPL'S RETIREMENT SYS SENIOR INVESTMENT OFFICER, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM (GLOBAL EQUITIES) $355,613.04

CURTIS D ISHII PUBLIC EMPL'S RETIREMENT SYS SENIOR INVESTMENT OFFICER, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM (FIXED INCOME) $333,912.00

CHRISTOPHER J AILMAN STATE TEACHERS RETIREMENT SYS CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, CALIFORNIA STATE TEACHERS' RETIREMENT SYSTEM $330,000.00

FAROUKI MAJEED PUBLIC EMPL'S RETIREMENT SYS SENIOR INVESTMENT OFFICER, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM (ASSET ALLOCATION/RISK MANAGEMENT) $324,999.96

MARIE E CSETE CA. INST FOR REGENERATIVE MED CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER $310,008.00

THEODORE H ELIOPOULOS PUBLIC EMPL'S RETIREMENT SYS SENIOR INVESTMENT OFFICER, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM (REAL ESTATE) $308,448.00

LEON G SHAHINIAN PUBLIC EMPL'S RETIREMENT SYS SENIOR INVESTMENT OFFICER, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM (ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS) $305,989.92

Mark

[emiller]

I heard other states are doing the same adding tax on certain things. I remember my friend in Los Angeles many years ago was getting IOU's from the city until the banks said they wouldn't accept the IOU's anymore and they started getting regular checks.