Think You Can Eliminate The Red Ink In California's Budget? Here's Your Chance - YOU Make The Cuts

Extremely impressive infographic built by the LA Times.  Through would be an understatement for this interactive monster.

Think you can eliminate the red ink in California's budget?

The state's budget shortfall for the rest of this fiscal year and next, estimated to be $28 billion, is the size of the total general fund budget of 12 states combined: Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia.

We've provided a wide range of options — spending cuts and tax increases — that cover most of the proposals made by Democratic or Republican lawmakers. It's not easy, but it can be done.

Try your hand at filling this particular $28 billion hole...

• Balance the California Budget - You Make The Cuts

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This clip explains why California will never EVER get its budget under control...

Comments

[john]

Bernanke house testimony live feed

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Bernanke_House_Testimony?source=livevideo

[DailyBail]

thanks john...just getting ready to put it up...

[DailyBail]

GOP wants deep cuts before raising U.S. debt limit

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-congress-debt-ceiling-20110208,0,1802810.story

[tgs]

as with anything LATimes related, they force you to sacrifice "the children", the elderly, the sick and ignore the 90% of the other areas to cut. paying 51k for prisoners is insane when arizona pays 23k. closing 110 community colleges is equally stupid. still, nothing in that entire thing about cutting state employees, pension contributions, eliminating all payments to illegal aliens, and not letting their kids attend our schools.

there is so much missing in that calculator that its pointless to waste any time on it. how about the 3.8 billion spent on "enterprise zones", didn't see that in the list.

cut state govt across the board 30%, then drop corporate tax rates, remove the thousands of pages or red tape that account for 500 billion in wasted business and you will never have a "revenue" problem again in this state

[Smack MacDougal]

It's rare when I do this: What tgs said.

[Josephus]

Lets see the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) before we go into the present budget, eh? Best to have ALL the cards on the table, not just a false choice among dismal outcomes. Better yet, lets have a new covenant!

[Oedipus]

This is a greek tragedy in the making. The solutions are not among the options given.

The immutable law of nature, make more than you spend or become extinct.

At the top of that list, the Governor should order the restart of the pumps of the california aqueduct, get the farms producing income. The grim reality is that the left can not see problems of their own making until it is too late, orchards will be fireplace ashes by the time they figure out their bloated state spending depends on a healthy productive economy. I can think of better ways to deal with inmates that does not involve paying more than the average wage earner income. I would cut all state wages and spending until it is balanced and then some. The surplus would be used to cancel outstanding bonds.

http://dailybail.com/home/california-treasurer-spanks-legislature-over-junk-spending.html

[Benjamin]

Things I don't see on their list:

- "increase taxes on vacant, bank-owned properties"
- "institute a foreclosure filing-fee"
- "legalize and tax marijuana"
- "decriminalize and regulate recreational drugs"
- "cut the numbers of police, District Attorneys & Judges" (since fewer would be needed with less drug enforcement to do)
- "cut police pay" (since their jobs will be less dangerous without cartel/ gang/ drug sale related violence)

I wonder how much those actions could save?

[Benjamin]

How about:

- "reduce state interest payments on bonds by using pensions funds as collateral for a state owned bank: borrow from state bank, rather than issuing bonds"