Why California Can't Secede Yet

[rantingranger]

Our beloved Governator has proposed closing 48 state parks, gutting public schools ($4.5 billion of the $14 billion in cuts proposed), and granting early release to 35,000 inmates. Oh, and borrowing more money.

Money will remain in the budget to patrol the parks and keep visitors out.

This state needs to get its financial shit together. Parks and

Comments

[fuggler]

Terrible, terrible... I wonder how those 48 parks were picked. I've been to Tomales Bay and Portola Redwoods. I don't understand how it could cost so much to maintain both parks. I don't even remember seeing a goddamn ranger at Tomales Bay.

I guess I better plan my Big Sur trip to see Limekiln Falls before they close it. @$%$^@^&@&@%&@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#$!@$!@

[rantingranger]

When I worked at Redwood with wallyflynn, we often talked about making sure that visitors actually saw rangers at Redwood, because a number of articles and visitors told us that you could tour much of the National Park System without ever seeing a ranger. And the National Parks have it much better than California State Parks. I really mean it when I say that California State Parks "have nothing left to cut."

Absolutely get to Limekiln - while you can. Even the Wife remembers that place fondly!

[dead_terrapin]

I heard about this on the radio but missed which parks they were closing. I hate it when the priorities come down to recreation and education. It's just wrong......

[rantingranger]

I really wish somebody with a much better understanding of economics than me would explain to me how we got into this mess. As much as California innovates and produces, the state - or at least certainly the Parks and Recreation Department - always seems flat broke. I do know that the voters have never seen an ill-conceived bond measure they didn't like, but I don't know much. I suppose I'll have to delve further.

Perhaps...

[synchronaut]

...Schwarzenegger is trying to provoke a public reaction here by proposing to slash the budgets of services near-and-dear to peoples' lives and hearts. It's going to take a groundswell of public sentiment to override the GOP (and Democrat) legislative reps who won't raise taxes but won't give up pork for their district. We have to balance the budget, and we will only get there through a combination of raising taxes and clearing out pork.

I'm curious as to which inmates he wants to release. If they're non-violent drug offenders than I'm all for it.

Dude, don't quit your job unless you have the W-4 filled out for a new interp position. Things are looking mighty grim in the near future.

Re: Perhaps...

[rantingranger]

1. I once thought of an eloquent way to sell Joe Bob NASCAR Six-pack Blow Schmoe on paying for the shit you want when you have the ability to do so, but I never wrote it down, so I suppose we can reasonably blame the whole fiasco on me. As you'll recall, I'll always fondly remember the cow skull belt buckle swagger dudes who told me how much they loved the parks and just couldn't understand why we didn't provide better facilities and more rangers ... did you feel the slap of my palm on your forehead, too

[btani]

It makes me curious as to what would be going on while the people were "kept out." And why do they always want to start by cutting the public school system? If they would release all of the people who are only in jail because they are poor and can't pay their fines - that would not be so horrible - but it seems those with more serious crimes get to go free because all those little tickets that need to be paid generate more money. I want to bring up something that many are not going to like - when they started this welfare to work program it seemed like a step in the right direction - but with one step forward we took two steps back. Did you know that single parents who work minimum wage jobs get most of their day care paid by the state (they have to or they wouldn't make enough to live) Day care for two children at Kindercare is about $1600 dollars in LA (I called). This is about 3 to 4 times more than a welfare check.

[rantingranger]

More and more folks seem to think that what synchronaut describes above comes closest to what we can actually expect - this budget will generate enough of an outcry that Schwarzenegger can look like he got "forced" into raising taxes and cutting less and come out as some champion of compromise and bipartisanship and budget-balancing and blah blah blah. And while I wish we could just skip dancing around first, California has just enough Republifucks and citizens that don't understand that things we want require money to make them happen that we can't just go there right away.

Undercutting public schools would go a long way toward the archconservative dream of getting poor people further down and keeping them there - I certainly couldn't have gotten where I've gotten without the great public education I've gotten, and I didn't even grow up that poor - and while it seems like a hard sell, the Republifucks have done an admirable (in some strange way) job of framing all taxes as always bad all the time and playing to people's selfishness

[btani]

I meant Los Angeles - though I live in a state next door to Louisiana. I used to live in Cali

[btani]

I agree about loving to see people be independent and have gainful employment - however, that won't happen as long as there is such a huge gap between the living wage and minimum wage. That is not an easy one though, not for Republifucks or Democrats. But thanks for the info on the situation in Cali - I had no idea that was going on.

[roses_ramble]

I'd heard there were problems with various government and public agencies but this is just ridiculous in fact I'm dumbfounded!

To close that many state parks will cost them more in the long term, I take it that there is an entry fee to these state parks. Obvious - lower entry fees and there will be more visitors. Cuts to public schools is nothing short of irresponsibility!

Our governments, state and federal are just as guilty of such 'crimes'.

[rantingranger]

Have the Conservatives in Australia browbeaten the electorate into the same "taxes bad, always bad, bad, bad!" mentality that they have on our side of the Pacific? While California generally has things figured out socially and has taken a good trajectory environmentally, we have a miserable time paying for anything or making sound investments (such as excellent public education and parks).

On the federal level, hey, I think we could and should cut taxes - last I heard, we spend more in a month on this war in Iraq I never wanted nor supported than we do on the National Park Service in a year. I'd love to not pay for the former, and I'd gladly pay more to improve the latter!