If you were a governor and you couldn't meet your state's budget ...

[ColbertWatcher]

... what would you cut?

It seems California's embarrassment has no problem cutting services to the poor.

Since no one on DU is as fucked up as any GOPer is, what would you cut to make your budget?

Pick anything you want, I'll make a poll later. And if someone comes up with a really good idea, maybe we can use The Power of The Internets™ to get some buzz going about it.

(ON EDIT) Please do not restrict this to California. This is for any state.

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Incarceration of non-violent drug offenders. eom

[BlooInBloo]

5. Within reason, of course. Like personal-ish amounts, for example.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. This sounds like a good idea. n/t

[Idealism]

15. You are my hero

:hug:

[silverweb]

17. For starters.

Then legalize and tax the sale of marijuana. Treat it just like alcohol. Budget problem solved.

[2Design]

2. that is what all gop does at every level - florida is just as bad n/t

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. The highway patrol would be a good place to start.

[cabluedem]

34. I agree. Too many sooper troopers out scoring tickets not safety. nt

[Oregone]

4. Prison budget...

They wouldn't need it after I released the non-violent offenders, did away with three strikes, and decriminalized pot completely.

[ColbertWatcher]

37. I agree about the 3 strikes crap. n/t

[davidinalameda]

6. my first cut

would be the per diem pay-outs to the legislators

second would be the free cars they get

[ColbertWatcher]

38. Hmm. Not to seem like a Devil's Advocate, but ...

... wouldn't that open them up to corrupting influences?

Like some bastard with a lot of money?

[davidinalameda]

54. you can't live on $116K a year?

I sure can

the current per diem rate is $173.00 tax free

I can live on that as well; I could live on that without the $116K

[dysfunctional press]

7. i'd cut my ties with state government and team up tom arnold to make "true lies 2"...

as long as you're asking.

[ColbertWatcher]

11. Duly noted. n/t

[tabbycat31]

9. legalize pot

and place the same kind of taxes on it that cigarettes have. This would provide a revenue stream, release non-violent offenders from prisons, and free up law enforcement budgets for more serious crimes.

[glowing]

10. I'm in FL and we are in a terrible boat.

I've reccommended many times to my brilliant reps in FL that we should compete with business; especially with the home insurance problem we are having. No private insurer wants to risk insuring FL residential or business property. Many are on Citizen's and Citizen's does not have enough money to cover any hurricane that may pop up. Since private insurer's won't do the job that govt must do, I say we compete across the board. Offer car insurance, life insurance, and home insurance, and to compete nation-wide. Insurance companies profit's are in the billions. Their CEO's are living the life. If we compete across the board, we would create jobs and create revenue. I also think that we should be profit-sharing in the water business. We have many different companies water companies that fill up their bottles with our spring water, and then sell it back to all of us. I do believe that we should be sharing in the profit since they are taking our vital resources from this state. I would also try to come up with some kind of creative "Florida Bucks" type of system.. where FL residents and tourists could buy FL bucks with cash, create a discount system with only local Mom and Pop businesses, that way the sales tax and the main amt of cash stays within FL and does not flow out of the state and into Wally World's pocket. If local business owners have the money, they are going to have better profit margins, be able to hire more people, and will more than likely return value to the community like they always do... But if all of our poor people are paying most of their money to cheap discount national stores, then the money is flowing out of FL (and we all know how they pay).. and in turn for changing out US $ for FL Bucks, a 10% discount would be thrown in.. $100.00 would get you $110.00 FL bucks...

[ColbertWatcher]

12. What do you think is behind Florida's budget shortfall? n/t

[Idealism]

16. That OCX deal that Jebbie brokered didn't help us much

We are still paying for that gem...

[ColbertWatcher]

39. Would you mind explaining what OCX is? n/t

[glowing]

26. I always said, look to Florida to see what George wanted to do on a national

level.. there is a reason we have such a high foreclosure record down here. Its a regular banana republic.. We've got very poor and very rich. The in betweens are gone, leaving, or becoming the poor.

[ColbertWatcher]

40. "what George wanted to do on a national level" That's frightening.

So, how could it be undone?

[2Design]

28. lots and lots of old people who do not want to pay for anything

no education because they have no children here
no roads because they don't drive
most of the old people are republicans living in mobile homes and they want everyone to cut spending but they are clueless as to where and how their republican reps in government are wasting their money on themselves while giving nothing back

[ColbertWatcher]

42. I think you may be exaggerating a bit.

About the senior citizens, not the representatives who rarely give anything back.

[2Design]

47. try living among them n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

51. Touché. n/t

[OmahaBlueDog]

21. FLorida needs to wake up to the fact that it's a grown up state with grown up problems

This isn't 1950, and they can't just keep figuring that soaking the tourists on sales tax will pay for everything. I live in a state with income tax, and our local sales tax is higher than Florida. Florida either needs to bite the bullet and go to a state sales tax between 9-12%, or they need state income tax, it's that simple.

[glowing]

25. I agree.. and for now it should be attatched to those who are making

more than $200,000.00/ yr. Many people are on min wage or on part-time hrs.. attatching a state income tax would put many more on the street. We also shouldn't have allowe Bush to cut the excise tax. If your rich and buying a yacht or a Ferrari, do you think they really care about the extra tax? Not hardly. It was just a give-a-way to his rich buddies. It also hurts us a lot that we compete with 50 states for larger businesses to come in and operate. Jeb, brain-dead, tride to bring in a lot of big business. For example, he gave Chase 23 or 25million to bring in 25,000 jobs for a call center. The call center only hired at its top amt, 5,000 people and after 5yrs Chase shut down completely and sent the call center to India. Lose-lose for FLorida. Another big loss was Pepsi. The shut down most of the operation with Tropicana in my area. That was a big job hit for Tampa Bay.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

13. I think Tennessee's governor cut health care.

[Horse with no Name]

14. Instead of giving the legislature and the Governor a paycheck

I'd give them IOU's.
THEY were the ones that signed up "to serve"...so let them serve.

[OmahaBlueDog]

18. Conventional wisdom is that you can't empty the prisons or fire the cops

...and you can't close the state services for the criminally insane.

I think I'd start with the economic development departments, those involved in any kind of planning, airport and transit authorities where such cuts had no immediate impact on safety, hunting and fishing wardens.

You can also attack from the other angle. Immediately raise tolls, gas taxes, sales taxes, sin taxes (booze & cigs), DMV fees, DL fees, and hotel taxes, for example. Begin absolutely draconian speeding enforcement, parking enforcement, drunk driving enforcement -- anything that brings in revenue.

A governor -- especially one who is independently wealthy to begin with, could at least make the symbolic gesture of skipping salary payments, and could suspend or go out of pocket for Exec Mansion functions until the crisis is past.

Any state programs to subsidise stadiums, ballparks, or pro sports teams should be immediately suspended.

State park and rec employees would be the next areas I'd look at cutting.

[Tsiyu]

24. I wouldn't want to live in your state, sorry

You seem to have a narrow-minded state there. I would hate living there if you were in charge.

If you enacted your solutions, you would probably see a lot of your citizens revolt.

You can close prisons if you treat drug addiction like other addictions and stopped incarcerating people for use and possession. It's an absolute waste of lives, money and futures. Our sentencing is medieval, not humane or socially constructive.

This would save a huge amount of money, some of which could be used for treatment programs so that parents can continue to work and support their familes. The additional cost benefit of these two factors is fewer state attorneys, DCS workers and foster parents to pay for.


Planning, airport and transit authorities need to be at the top of their game. This is no time for huge cuts there, although every department in every state should be combed for pork.

Your sin tax idea is some hair-brained belief that the poor indulging in these sins have any extra dollars to spend. Um. Maybe nobody told you this, but - and I hate to break it to you, really, you sound very comfortable - but the poor are tapped out. Cooked. Done.

Soaking already overworked or unemployed people by levying any extra taxes at this moment in time would be a tipping point. People facing foreclosure of their homes and wondering how they will feed their kids are not going to take it very well when you tie up what little money they have in fees or fines and when you make them take days off of work to sort out your harrassment.

I do agree about the stadiums, sports teams but believe public recreation and natural areas are vital to the health of any state, both relating to tourism revenue and quality of life for residents.

I would immediately raise taxes on the highest earners and tax corporations more heavily. It is time to stop pandering to corporations by negating any state tax benefit simply to have some trickle-down revenue in your state. Growth - rampant and unchecked - is what got us into this mess. Some wanted to make the fastest buck they could with no regard for the consequences. Is this the only way some people know how to do business? Slash and burn and move along?

If I was running a state, I'd want the most socially responsible corporations to operate there. So if a company was snubbing paying any taxes, they could relocate elsewhere. Meanwhile, smart companies, whose leaders want to live in a quality place, will build their headquarters in my state.

Allowing farmers to grow hemp would be a huge boon to agriculture.

Rather than imagine cuts, how does the state promote tax revenue through sales and tourism?

Promote and help your state's small businesses.

That's all for now :)

[ColbertWatcher]

43. I agree with you about corporations.

They seem to believe their own PR that they're the only ones who can do whatever the hell it is that they do.

With all this talk about bailouts and nationalizing banks, etc., but what I don't get is why is there no talk about eminent domain? If a corporation threatens to pack up all that they've benefited from a community, that community should declare eminent domain, keep the building, plant, equipment and name of the company and run the bastards out on a rail.

All of them, from the officers to the board members to the stock holders. If they can't handle a downturn in their industry, they aren't fit to have a job.

[Tsiyu]

46. Georgia allowed itself to be absolutely raped

by corporations and developers.

Strip Shopping Center Hell is now Closed-And-Boarded-Up Strip Shopping Center Hell. People have to live in 2000+ square foot homes (with aceptable mailbox, SUV and shrubbery) to live in some hoods, but their kids go to school in trailers; they've run out of water (so they're trying to steal some of Tennessee's), and my mom says the foreclosures in her neck of the woods mean almost more abandoned homes than occupied ones.

Yay for corporations! Just visit Atlanta and you'll see what unchecked "growth" really means.

[ColbertWatcher]

48. Georgia! All I know about corporations in Georgia is ...

... this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23059948/

and this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29138430/

[Tsiyu]

49. No doubt the peanut deal?

(with dialup I can only click so many links or we bog down, and msnbc is a real bogger)

If so, that tells you all you need to know.

Trickle Down Salmonella! :rofl:

[ColbertWatcher]

52. I'm sorry. Yes, it is both the Imperial Sugar explosion and the ...

... trickle down salmonella!

(Good one, very funny)

[OmahaBlueDog]

53. Hmmm

Sin taxes rain only on the indulgent. The rich man drinking Grey Goose will pay more than the poor non - drinker. Or are you implying that only the poor drink and smoke?

Citizens revolt? Good luck trying to legalize cannibas. I'd support it, assuming it were taxed like Hell, but there's no way you'd win that fight outside of maybe 6 states that leap to mind (CA, VT, OR, HI, maybe NY & AK on a good day).

I'm not aggainst raising taxes on the highest earners, but keep in mind that not every state has income tax, and the OP was not necessarily limited to California. You could institute luxury tax, but in an age where we can't agree on what junk food is, how will we arrive at a conclusion on luxuries.

I'm not sure raising corporate taxes in an era of layoffs is such a brilliant idea either. I hate to break it to you, really, but the corporations come in a variety of sizes, and a whole bunch of them are tapped out. Cooked. Done.

[ColbertWatcher]

41. I like the suggestion to cut subsidising professional sports. n/t

[RB TexLa]

19. Louisiana would be easy, consolidate universities.

We've paid for 4 year institutions in everyone's backyard for way too long.

[MADem]

20. What? No new taxes or tolls?

Deval Patrick (who ran the local version of the CHANGE campaign here in MA) is planning on fucking over the citizens of MA with the most onerous gas tax in the country, as well as put tolls on an already congested commuter corridor:

By considering a proposal to raise the state’s gasoline tax by 27 cents a gallon, Gov. Deval Patrick is on the verge of going all-in on a gamble that could transform the public’s view of government — or threaten his re-election chances next year....But the governor also argues the state needs a jolt of tax revenues to address a staggering $5.1 billion debt at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, a $2.2 billion debt at the Pike and a backlog of road and bridge projects priced into the billions. If Patrick were to accept the heat for a massive tax increase — more than doubling the state’s 23.5-cent gas tax — he would survive the political damage only if he could show results and a pattern of improvement across state government.

Besides ethics and transportation reform, the leaders have all said they want to eliminate pension perks that permeate state government and aggravate taxpayers. That sets up the next major legislative initiative: retirement reform. Among the ideas are standardizing the state system around private-sector retirement programs and eliminating such concepts as enhanced pensions for lawmakers who get voted out of office.



http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/2009_02_14_Mass__gas_tax_may_be_first_step_in_political_tango/


With both the state and the Turnpike Authority are in tough financial shape, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is talking about adding tolls at the state's borders.

Right now, drivers riding to and from Massachusetts from New Hampshire can coast along with no major problems, but Gov. Patrick says he's interested in the idea of implementing tolls on major highways crossings into the Bay State from New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island.

This proposal is not sitting well with commuters. "I think people who are doing it everyday it would certainly affect them," said Sheryl Crawford of Lowell.

http://wbztv.com/local/mass.boarders.toll.2.917247.html



Both ideas suck, but the toll idea will piss people off mightily. It's unlikely he'd carry the Merrimack Valley if he does carry through with that harebrained idea. Oh, but there's more--he also wants raise tolls coming out of Logan in a big way, and to put a Big Brother computer chip under our inspection stickers, and TAX US based on our usage of the highways. No, I am not joking. I wish I was.

The premature unveiling of Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s long-awaited transportation plan last week caused a public uproar, and with good reason. The draft plan reportedly envisions raising the state’s 23.5-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax by 27 cents to 50.5 cents a gallon, the highest of any state in the nation. Also controversial are higher tolls and a plan to collect a “user fee” for state roads, using a computer chip embedded in auto inspection stickers.

More details should be forthcoming at the official unveiling in a few days.

The funding proposals are just one facet of what Mr. Patrick has said will be major changes in the way the state transportation agencies are organized.....

http://www.telegram.com/article/20090215/NEWS/902150351/1020

[Raine]

33. Oh yes, we are going to get taxed up the

kazoo too. They are talking about an added sale tax, gas tax, DMV tax, Veterinarian tax etc. etc. etc. :argh:

[Cleita]

22. Cut?

I think I would look for where the money in that state is first, who are benefitting and getting rich in that state, and then tax them. There really is no more cutting to do unless it's to fire the assholes that brought the budget deficit to begin with.

[ColbertWatcher]

45. Good distinction. Thank you for posting. n/t

[Occam Bandage]

23. I'd look at my corporate tax rate, and the return on 'pro-growth' tax zones and categories.

I would impose harsher cigarette, gas, and alcohol taxes. I would raise/implement progressive income taxes.

[2Design]

27. Cut flowers on the table for meetings - cut travel to any other state

unless paid for by the traveller, cut private meetings at hotels, convention centers, etc. Start to use the Internet more. Cut 80% from the top 20% personnel and make their wages equal to the lowest person employed. Cut the extras and benefits of the top 20% until the rest of the population of that state had equal benefits

[2Design]

29. california citizens voted DOWN getting money from oil companies

like canada does - they were stupid - that would have brought in a lot of income but those oil companies spent a huge amount on advertising

[2Design]

30. California could legalize gay marriage and help produce a lot of jobs

and income but again they were stupid and let some out of state religious freak organized religions churches (cults) tell them what to do and again they shot themselves in the foot.

florida and Tennessee do this all the time - vote religion and vote themselves poor

[Tsiyu]

50. Give the fundies apoplexy

and help your fellow persons out at the same time:

Legalize cannabis/hemp and tax it:

We'd have a happier, more prosperous, healthier nation.

Legalize marriage between any two consenting adults:

The florists, restaurants, jewelry and formal wear bizzes would turn the economy around fast.

You're on to something there. And thanks for noticing that my state is dumb overall when it comes to the vote. AS long as the candidate says "jesus" a few times, many will vote for him or her, as if that's a vote for Jesus himself. then they can't figure out why they have no job, no health insurance and their kid's in prison.....

[Parker CA]

31. Decrease numbers of incarcerated individuals, increase taxes for limited amounts of time, and

leeegaliiize it, yeaah, yeaaah. ;)

[Mr. Hyde]

32. I wouldn't cut anything. I'd just tax the shit out of the rich people

the same rich people that grew fat from the labor of the poor people.

[TexasObserver]

35. I'd add casino gambling and decriminalize most drug usage.

That would increase revenues and cut expenditures, too.

[Igel]

36. FIFO.

I'd try several things. Here's the first one:

I'd look at the budget from 2 years ago. Any increase to any budget line required by contract or by law, state or federal, I'd keep--I'm not talking about simple budget increases, but required programs (inspections, improvements required by law, etc.). I'd delete anything that had been deleted by law or where contracts had expired. Then I'd adjust the amounts for inflation.

I'd see where the budget landed. Then I'd make a list of new programs by date. Any budget increases after the first day of the fiscal year to anything that wasn't required by either a court or federal law I'd budget for a cut. If that didn't get the budget under control I'd start working backwards until I achieved the amount of budget cutting that I thought necessary.

I've seen legislatures and governors assume that good times were permanent and increase permanent spending to meet the maximum income level seen in good years and then squeal like stuck pigs when the inevitable slow-down hits. Of course increasing spending gets them votes. It should be made clear that the consequence of their fiscal habits is very, very steep budget cuts--often cutting programs that could have continued unchanged had they dealt with the budget deficit when first identified.

Of course, I'd also look at increasing revenues--the problem being that under a progressive tax system making it even more progressive usually has sharply diminishing returns in a recession. Moreover, it's the usual cycle: You raise taxes in bad times as an emergency measure, and they stay raised so that in good times the revenues soar ... and are committed down to the last cent, so that in bad times there's a huge deficit requiring more tax increases.... It either lets cowards hide behind fiscal emergencies (never letting a crisis fail to be used to their political advantage ... how "shock doctrine"!) or lets principle be driven by circumstance. Both suck.

[MattBaggins]

44. Cut nothing

As a NYer; I would invade Massachusetts and pillage what we needed. Unlike Bush though, I would not try to occupy it. Just take what we needed and salt the earth on the way back out.