Comments on: Why Kalifornia is in Trouble (Hint: Spending)

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:01:43 +0000

AWESOME POST! Keep up the great work!
COMMON CENTS
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

ps. Link Exchange?

By: Harrison

Harrison — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:11:32 +0000

I think that’s what will happen BUT I think what you say should ALWAYS happen before any spending increase or tax increase is passed. Because Democrats have held a majority in Sacramento for a very, very long time this sort of dialogue does not need to happen so it doesn’t. To be fair, whenever any party holds a majority there is this need to shut the other side out.

But while it is an excellent idea, I think the fact that this hasn’t been happened for many years is why what you propose will have to happen now.

By: Joe Markowitz

Joe Markowitz — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:07:36 +0000

I thought of a pretty good analogy to the problem of resolving the budget impasse. Maybe this will help you get my point. Let’s suppose the Legislature appointed you and me to devise a plan to close the budget gap, and locked us in a room with instructions that we were not allowed out until we presented a balanced budget. How would we do it? (First let’s stipulate that there would be a rule that if one of us resorted to force, the plan of the other one would have to be accepted in toto, so neither of us would be able to kill or maim the other.) So what would we do? I think first we would argue about every possible budget cut and every possible tax increase, and you would thereby find out the budget cuts I minded the least, and I would find out the tax increases you minded the least. Then we would get into horse trading and compromise, and we would come up with a plan that neither of us liked very much but that both of us could live with. This kind of process is what the California legislature really should use to solve the problem, because that is how you respect the democratic process and the will of the people of California.
Joe Markowitz´s last blog ..The Future of Journalism

By: Harrison

Harrison — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:03:36 +0000

I do respect the Democrats process although I do not always agree with the representative democracy we have here.

The counter argument to that is the majority of Americans were in favor of slavery so therefore if we always followed the “democratic process” (we do not have direct democracy here) then slavery might still be legal.

And when people are given the choice of having benefits given to them they rarely take the time to investigate the cost of them. That is where the representative part comes in. Lest we pile onto those poor elected officials of ours too much the people are also negligent about re-electing these turkeys.

By: Joe Markowitz

Joe Markowitz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:59:46 +0000

Not as little as possible but only enough to pay for the things that we the people through our elected representatives decide that we want. You really should respect the democratic process more.
Joe Markowitz´s last blog ..A Position to Aspire To