Schwarzenegger: Waste is killing California (3)
In San Luis Obispo County, a 20-year-old drug abuser who was the sole caretaker for his seriously disabled father provided such poor care that, according to the grand jury in that county, the father frequently had bedsores, he was not properly cleaned, adult protective services had to be called in and, ultimately, he died before he was 60 years old. Incredibly, the son was being paid by the state, through the In-Home Supportive Services Program, for this substandard care.
Though this kind of abuse of taxpayer dollars is not rampant, we know it exists. So how could the Legislature in good conscience propose its latest budget fix — one that would increase taxes, cut children off our healthcare rolls, reduce funding to education and put more strain on law enforcement — without first eliminating this kind of fraud and waste?
Legislators are continuing to draft solutions to our now $26.3-billion state budget deficit. We’re close to filling the gap, but I will not sign a package that raises taxes or fails to address the entire deficit. There is a need for compromise, and I have proposed a path forward that would include ensuring that tax dollars go to citizens in need of services and not to waste, fraud or excessive compensation for those who provide those services. These reforms won’t entirely address falling revenues and rising costs, but they will help immediately, and especially in the years to come. It’s time we take action on them.
Take the CalWorks program, for example, which is designed to give low-income Californians a helping hand, temporarily, as they get back on their feet. Of the approximately 525,000 cases that currently involve cash assistance from CalWorks, only 22% are meeting the minimum program requirements. That means 78% aren’t trying to get on their feet at all. They’re not working, not looking for work, not seeking job training, not performing community service and not pursuing an education.
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Updates:
12:40 pm EDT, July 3rd, 2009 — Cash-strapped states up against budget deadlines
12:42 pm EDT, July 3rd, 2009 — Rising debt may be next crisis
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Timwest Says:
California is broke and the worst pollution I have ever seen since Rome and Milan.
If any of you have ever flown or drove into LA or San Diego area you can see the brown / grey haze several hundred miles away.
And California dares lecture Canada on Climate change, dirty oil or use of our water and rivers.
Posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 12:50 pm
beentheredonethat Says:
When Obama supporters are able to finally bring themselves to admit that they are merely ‘concerned’, that translates into ‘holy shit how could I have been so stupid’ to normal people. Of course there will be those who will never ever come to their senses.
Posted on July 3rd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
KingofthePaupers Says:
Jct: There’s nothing wrong with small denomination California State IOUs if I or anyone else can pay their taxes with them. When Argentina’s government workers were faced with cuts, their unions talked 6 state governments into paying them with small-denomination state bonds which could be used to pay for state services and taxes and which everyone accepted as useful currency. Best of all, when the local currency is pegged to the Time Standard of Money (how many dollars per unskilled hour child labor) Hours earned locally can be intertraded with other timebanks globally! In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with an IOU for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours.
U.N. Millennium Declaration UNILETS Resolution C6 to governments is for a time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture. See my banking systems engineering analysis at http://youtube.com/kingofthepaupers
Too bad California State IOUs won’t be accepted in payment for state taxes and services like state bonds were in Argentina. Too bad California State IOUs will be denominated too big to use as local currency. Too bad Argentina people were smart enough to avoid the tent-cities catastrophe and California people are too stupid to follow their example.
Posted on July 4th, 2009 at 8:23 am