PROP. 76
PROP. 76: WHAT PART OF LIVING WITHIN YOUR
MEANS DOESN’T ORGANIZED LABOR
UNDERSTAND?
by
Ken Eliasberg
Before we take a look at the details of Prop. 76, commonly referred to as The Live Within Our Means Act, it might be helpful if we once again recall where we are and how we got here. That is, why did we have a Recall and throw our Governor out—a highly unusual procedure? Because we had a 38 billion dollar deficit, which he helped to produce (by giving Labor Unions whatever they wanted), and which he lied about in the course of the 2002 election, thereby facilitating his re-election (and his eventual recall when the true facts of our financial situation came to light). Put as simply as one can state our case—we were (and are) in serious financial staits. How does one put oneself on more solid financial ground? By tightening one’s belt! And, when you tighten your collective belt, people are going to feel the pinch—some more than others. I wouldn’t bring up that old saw about breaking eggs to make an omelet but for the fact that it is so completely appropriate, and, hopefully, some of the eggs that may get broken are the ones that put us in this fiscal mess to begin with, i.e. Labor Unions!
Now what does Proposition 76 do that is so objectionable? Nothing! It does, or at least endeavors to do, just what it says—try to restore us to some sort of fiscal sanity. It does no more than any one of you would do or at least try to do with your families—live within your means! Let’s see how it does that. According to the Governor’s web site, www.joinarnold.com, it will do the following:
* Proposition 76, the Live Within Our Means Act will force the
Legislature to live by the same basic rule California families live by:
Don’t spend more money than you bring in.
- Proposition 76, the Live Within Our Means Act will force
politicians to stop autopilot spending and set clear funding priorities
each year, based on what’s best for the state.
- Proposition 76, the Live Within Our Means Act will stabilize
education funding and make sure it is protected against big cuts in
bad economic times.
- The Live Within Our Means Act puts in place, for the first
time, a firewall to block the state from raiding funds dedicated for local
health and social service programs. The measure has no effect on
dedicated funding for local public safety programs.
- It will place reasonable, responsible limits on state budget growth
by limiting year-to-year budget increases to the average growth in
revenue for the past 3 fiscal years. This will prevent legislators from
creating costly new programs during economic boons that demand
ongoing spending when revenues drop.
- Proposition 76, the Live Within Our Means Act requires the
state to use extra revenues from peak years to build “rainy day funds”
to prepare for inevitable future economic downturns. When revenue
shortfalls occur, it will allow the state to spend reserves to maintain
essential state services. It also allows the governor to make mid-year
cuts when the state faces a fiscal crisis, which will help to fix budget
problems in the middle of the year before things get out of hand.
Now, of course, as in all such cases, the devil is in the details, which can be found in their entirety on the Secretary of State’s website (http:// www.ss.ca/elections/elections_j.htm). That aside, how can anyone—anyone possessed of a shred of integrity, that is—take serious issue with these objectives? They can’t! But that won’t stop the labor unions from trying.
Here is their propaganda:
“This measure [prop. 76] would devastate our public schools
and other vital services, cutting school funding by over $4 billion
every year - $600 per student, leading to more overcrowded
classrooms, teacher layoffs, and fewer textbooks and classroom
materials. Our schools lost two billion dollars when Governor
Schwarzenegger broke his promise to repay the money he took
from education, and if this initiative passes, the Governor will
never have to repay that money to our schools. It also overturns
the voter-approved Proposition 98, eliminating the minimum
funding guarantee for education. It also cuts funding for local
government—cutting police and firefighters, as well as local
health care services that protect children and the elderly. This
initiative hurts our most vulnerable populations including the
sick, the elderly and the young.”
Where to start? First, “devastate our Public Schools?” Helllooo—how do you devastate something that is already devastated? The whole point of these propositions is to make some effort to remove us from the devastation that the Public Unions have visited on us. Devastation? Pulleeease!! Frankly, after reading this chicken-little version of the sky is falling, I was surprised that the Labor Unions didn’t suggest that Prop. 76 would cause cancer. Taking a generous view of their statement, 95% of it is pure baloney. Second, while much is made of the Governor’s going back on his 5 billion-dollar promise, little or nothing is made of 2 significant factors—(1) the money isn’t there, and (2) the Education budget has been raised by 3 billion dollars (in our time of financial stress). Over 50% of the State’s budget goes to Education. Given our resources, I think that we are clearly doing the best we can. Furthermore, I think that it is more than about time that we looked at what we’re getting for our buck. That said, let’s make one thing clear—I have seen no one—with the possible exception of myself—that values education and teachers more than Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor has put a considerable amount of his own money into public education, and has, time and time again, demonstrated his great concern for education. I only wish that his adversaries—the public labor unions—valued it half as much.
The point of Prop, 76 is to put in play a real check and balance against a profligate Democratic legislature determined to buy votes by turning California into either the prototype for the welfare state or a massive public charity (and, in the process, bankrupting us).
In concluding, it is important not just to note the gravity of our situation again (and I intend to do so repeatedly throughout the discussion of these propositions to remind you—the voter—of just why we are having this special election), - i.e. a 38 billion dollar deficit in 2002 and a substantial one today—but to once again call attention to the fact that as always the critical Left offers nothing to solve our problem. This is our real problem—that the Left is morally, intellectually, and philosophically bankrupt; their standard response to every problem is just to throw money at it—YOUR MONEY! It is important to note that the real culprit here are the Labor Unions; Democratic legislators, while also complicit, are merely the hired bag men of greedy unions, who, sensing their diminishing power, will say or do anything in a last ditch effort to cling to it.
One final comment on the importance of the Live Within Our Means proposition—if the legislature continues to refuse to allow us to live within our collective means, they will, in all likelihood, make it more difficult for you to live within your individual means. How? By the way that the Left has always responded to problems—tax and spend!! If we continue to have budget shortfalls (as we most assuredly will with a profligate legislature threatened by greedy public labor unions) then the next, possibly only, step will be to raise taxes—YOUR TAXES. So think about in this way—if they don’t live within their means, they will most assuredly add a burden to your living within your means. VOTE YES ON PROP. 76 and take California a step closer to fiscal sanity.