Tuesday, November 25, 2003

California Politics: Schwarzenegger Starts Budget Cuts

True to his proposal last week to rescind cost-of-living increases to welfare mothers - and in line with his finance director Donna Arduin's fondness for cutting health and welfare programs in other states she's worked - Gov. Schwarzenegger is finally starting to get specific about cuts. Oh, that stuff in the campaign about not cutting education? Edited out in the latest version.

Gov.'s Cuts to Hit Poor, Universities Los Angeles Times 11/25/03

<< Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected today to propose $3.8 billion in budget cuts over the next 19 months, including reductions in services to the poor and disabled, as well as in higher education programs.


<< The cuts, intended to help close a budget shortfall of at least $17 billion through mid-2005, would end art therapy for the developmentally disabled, scale back food stamp eligibility, reduce fees to doctors who treat Medi-Cal patients and eliminate recruitment programs at public universities. A draft was obtained by The Times. >>

After Gov. S rolled back the vehicle license fees to please his friends at the car dealers association and froze environmental and safety regulations to please business lobbyists, Republicans are very earnest in being willing to accept sacrifices for food stamp recipients and Medi-Cal patients (Medi-Cal is the state version of Medicaid, medical insurance for the indigent).

<< "It's almost like a necessary pain that we have to go through," said Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), who will become Assembly Republican leader in January. "We have had a cancer growing on our budget and to cure this we are having to go through the chemo. It is painful, but we do have to shrink this tumor." ...

<< Assemblyman Ken Maddox (R-Garden Grove) said the negative reaction to the cuts comes as no surprise: "I can't think of one group that is not going to squeal when the cuts are made," he said. >>

Gosh, it's inspiring to see how brave and determined these Republicans are to grit their teeth and accept that some of these old people are just going to have to go to nursing homes instead of getting in-home assistance.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do they always start by targeting the least fortunate among us?

Anonymous said...

In the pay-to-play system of government, if welfare mothers and the families of disabled people gave $50 thousand per family to Schwarzenegger's campaigns and celebrations like the owner's family of Galpin Ford (in earlier posts), they would get more consideration. This is only the first down-payment on the sacrifices Gov. S will bravely call upon the old and the poor and the sick to make. - Bruce

Anonymous said...

yes yes it's horrible that our Governor cut deficit spending programs such as ART THERAPY.. We should definately return to the tax and spend liberal policies that have almost bankrupted CA, filled our roads with potholes, put us 49th in education in spite of spend spend spend.

Anonymous said...

Oh if only to return to those days. Illegals could have legal drivers licenses and back room deals would keep unions and Indian Casinos happy, and complete redistribution of wealth would make us a great proto marxist socialist state.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, and do you know we actually pay for teachers to supervise kids in READING BOOKS and *playing games*? Why shouldn't parents just pay for all that themselves? And all this socialistic road-building, that drives me crazy, too. Drivers should hire somebody to pave their own roads if they want to go somewhere! And don't get me started on this Marxist filling of potholes in the streets... - Bruce

Anonymous said...

Here is a newsflash for you.. DRIVERS DO PAY in the form of a GAS TAX. To bad it gets used to grease the pockets of corrupt democrats like Davis and his special interest groups. Anyway the recall speaks for itself about how the majority of Californians feel about the whole mess.

Anonymous said...

Teachers? You do mean social engineers right? In my opinion they only indocrinate and not educate.. and they get paid way to much to do it. Government schools are for the birds.

Anonymous said...

LOL I just realized you live here in the SF Bay area otherwise known as the socialist communist america hating bubble. Thank God the rest of the state came out in force to defend our not so Golden State from the likes of folks like you!

Anonymous said...

OH yes one last thing. Parent's do pay for teachers it's in the form of PROPERTY TAX. Do you not know basic civics or are you a tax taker, grab the wealth and share it type?

Anonymous said...

Let's see: Public-school "socialism" bad. Road-building "socialism" good. Aid-to-the-elderly "socialism" bad. That about it? You're probably going to like Gov. S's programs, then. I don't think we'll be seeing much of that sissy "compassionate conservatism" from him.

Anonymous said...

well! wasn't THIS fun? demureheart is going to have endless tons of fun with your journal, bruce, this may be an ongoing conversation/debate. yegads.

Anonymous said...

Obviously someone who believes everything they hear on Faux News...By the way, there are three forms of the word -- they are homonyms. TO -- I am going TO the store. TOO -- I am going too. TWO -- The number of demureheart's active brain cells.

Anonymous said...

only passing through...i too have had my run in with demureheart...beware she created an entire journal just to bash my beliefs. she said i must vote democratically because i called her names. but half the republicans i've listened to call alot of names themselves. (rush limbaugh) dem just tries to sound intelligent but is oblivious to the real world.

Anonymous said...

Apparently demureheart found your views more provocative than mine. This is the only set of comments she/(he?) left on my posts so far. Just as well - fdtate seems to be correct about the level of identifiable activity. (I've also seen some of the demureheart comments on other AOL Journals.) - Bruce