Wow - that's a great link with tons of info. Thanks! This is particularly surprising: State expenditures fell sharply relative to the economy during the 2001 recession, and for all states combined they remain below the FY2001 level. In 18 states, general fund spending for FY2008 — six years into the economic recovery — remained below pre-recession levels as a share of the gross domestic product. I'm amazed that state government as a whole today is smaller than 7-8 years ago relative to GDP. That's a good sign of some kind of fiscal sanity, at least.
It wasn't socialism of any kind that was the problem in CA. In fact not repealing the auto tax, would have greatly helped solve the problem. As far as property taxes, they are fixed on the selling price, but it is also possible to get the taxes redone if the value changes. Property taxes in CA are fairly low to begin with. Actually if CA had at least the automobile tax in place of like $4 a car, that would be a huge income for the state. It's the lack of tax that is the problem here.
the most socialist state in the union is having problems and you say it is because it isn't socialist enough? WTF my friend works there and pays tons of freaking state income taxes. I think she would disagree the lack of tax is whats really the problem.
what is so socialist about california, the state where the citizens won't pay for publicly financed stadiums?
I blame Gray Davis for not being able to combat the Enron cons in a timely and effective fashion. California's problems have little to do with the ills of socialism and very much to do with excesses of crony capitalism and the pushing of deregulation at any cost (and large profit to a few). The systematic failure of the Cal budget has been a slow motion train wreck since 2000 and the housing crisis merely an accelerator.
Damn. This election has really made it apparent how few americans have a clue as to what constitutes socialism.
no its not a joke, they are liberal socially, they are not socialists, no more than any other state alaskans get a bunch of money from the oil industry there, that would be more socialist than california not a peter gabriel fan
Wow ... just wow. You act like we don't have any auto tax. I just paid $175 for my car registration tax. Before they "repealed the auto tax", that bill was $400. So yes, we still have an extremely high auto tax, but it is lower than it would have been under Davis. Your last sentence really boggles my mind and makes me want to cry as someone who now lives in CA.
And Texas has one of the highest net property tax rates while California has the one of the lowest, so what is your point? http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentTypeID=3&contentID=76984&subContentID=105281 (see page 3 in particular)
5K could probably get me for 2-3 years in property tax and thats less than what my friend paid in income taxes. Do you really want me to look up how much more Cali took in in property tax on homeowners and then compare THAT to Texas?
I work here and pay state income taxes too. I also pay property taxes, much lower than they are in TX. I also work in schools and am therefore an employee of the state, and have to deal with the budget. I know that if the auto tax was $4 more per car, that is a huge chunk of revenue that the state would have to pay people instead of giving them IOUs. Your friend is welcome to disagree.
I was talking about a minimal addition to the auto tax. I mentioned $4 a car. Think of how many autos are on the road. That is a huge piece of money, and would help the state actually make it's payroll. The idea that underpaid educators are having their benefits cut because of the budget shortages isn't right. It isn't right that they are looking to increase class size for students and damage their education. The schools have already made drastic cuts, and will be making more. Teachers may well be giving up a week's worth of pay as well. Who would like to have their pay cut by a week despite doing exceptional and extremely important, even crucial work? It's not like anyone wants to pay more taxes be they auto, sales, or income. However what people want to do doesn't match the dire circumstances of the situation. There is a budget shortage, and the money has to come from somewhere. The cuts are already hurting and in some cases even insulting.
I saw the deficit is 40B. I doubt there are 10B cars. I also doubt you pay less tax in Cali than you would here. But knowing you live in Cali explains alot.
You certainly could, though I'm not sure why it's relevant given that they have more people. Californians pay 10.5% in state and local taxes combined - compared to a national average of 9.7%. That's a whopping 0.8% more than the nation in general - for a state that's above average in income. That fits right in line with the progressive tax system we have nationally. Comparatively, that bastion of socialism known as Idaho pays 10.1%, despite a lower-than-average resident income.
I know that I pay less in property tax than I would TX. The budget deficit was at 40B. It's gone up because every day they can't agree and pass a budget it just keeps getting larger. They are way over due now. As far as income tax, sales tax, etc. I'm sure I pay more in taxes in Cali than in TX. That isn't in doubt. Again the auto tax at $4 wouldn't make up the difference in itself. As I noted, huge cuts in spending and budgets are already happening. The tax would help close the gap.
