CA budget deal goes boom

[audrey_girl]

fyi:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...SVPJ.DTL&tsp=1

[c1ue]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

Barring a miracle - i.e. one or more politicians willing to take the fall - I predict no California legislative solution to the budget impasse.

No one wants to be associated with firing a bunch of firemen/policemen/teachers, cutting societal safety nets and benefits to seniors, etc etc.

[metalman]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

Barring a miracle - i.e. one or more politicians willing to take the fall - I predict no California legislative solution to the budget impasse.

No one wants to be associated with firing a bunch of firemen/policemen/teachers, cutting societal safety nets and benefits to seniors, etc etc.

california is to the usa as argentina is to the world. think about it.

[hayekvindicated]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

california is to the usa as argentina is to the world. think about it.

Not just to the USA but the Western world. Across Europe, within a decade, governments will be forced to make stinging budget cuts to balance the books and avoid total bankruptcy - starting with the UK next year once the election is over. I've had some lively discussions with people as to which items in the current spending list will get the chop.

Next year may mark the beginning of a late 1970s type period in British politics with violent demonstrations from people who are going to face redundancies in government departments, people facing pay cuts and pensions chops etc. Its not going to be fun to watch.

[MulaMan]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

non-violent inmates = black guys that smoke pot locked up to support the prision unions under 4 strikes your out.

CA Prision guards - retarded relatives of republicans now making 200K per years with lifelong pensions.

illegal immigrant inmates = absurd that we lock up illegal immigrants rather than deporting them.

I'm impressed with Arnold for taking some of the GOP's scumbag slush fund away from them as well as from the democrats.

[WildspitzE]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

california is to the usa as argentina is to the world. think about it.

i like that, should be one of those s.a.t. questions.

[ax]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

i like that, should be one of those s.a.t. questions.

Not sure if this is a 1:1 analogy, Cali is 7th largest economy in the world on its own, isn't it? But point is well taken.

[flintlock]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

non-violent inmates = black guys that smoke pot locked up to support the prision unions under 4 strikes your out.

CA Prision guards - retarded relatives of republicans now making 200K per years with lifelong pensions.

illegal immigrant inmates = absurd that we lock up illegal immigrants rather than deporting them.

I'm impressed with Arnold for taking some of the GOP's scumbag slush fund away from them as well as from the democrats.

I agree with your point in general hyperbole-man, but come on, they only lock up black guys for pot these days?:rolleyes: $200k year prison guards? :eek:

[KGW]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

I agree with your point in general hyperbole-man, but come on, they only lock up black guys for pot these days?:rolleyes: $200k year prison guards? :eek:

Not quite, but almost:

"California's correctional officers earn a maximum base salary of $73,728. According to the newly released survey, that's 39 percent more than the average base pay for prison guards in 10 other states and the federal government. When benefits including retirement and medical insurance are included, California's guards earn 29 percent more than the median earned by guards in the other states and the federal government.
The survey understates the disproportionate pay of California prison guards because it does not include overtime. Prison guards in California take home $16,000 in overtime on average every year. In 2006, 1,423 guards collected more than $50,000 in overtime; 36 earned more than $100,000."

The CCPOA's (California Correctional Peace Officer's Association) rise to political power can be traced to 1980, when Don Novey became the group's president. Novey is the son of a prison guard. He graduated from American River College and served in Army Intelligence in the late '60s. Before becoming the head of the union, he worked as a prison guard in Folsom.

Prior to Novey's ascendancy, the union had been a pitifully weak organization, with a membership divided between the California State Employees' Association and the California Correctional Officers' Association. In all it had only about 5,600 members. But when Novey took over its leadership, the union combined Youth Authority supervisors and parole officers with prison guards, and with the acceleration of prison building, the CCPOA membership has swelled to 23,000 members.

Recognizing not only the political importance of lobbying but the power of public relations, Novey began spending about half a million dollars on PR and on honing a public image for himself: that of the self-depreciating, fedora-wearing, blue collar labor leader. But it is in the arena of political lobbying, rather than PR, that Novey has shown true genius.

The CCPOA collects nearly $8 million a year in dues, and it expends twice as much in political contributions as the California Teachers Association, although it is only one-tenth the size. The union is now second in the state only to the California Medical Association in political contributions. But in reality it is the most powerful and influential lobbying group in the state, as there are no vested interests against spending more on prisons. Don Novey has shaped the CCPOA into a potent political force. Candidates for governor have genuflected at Novey's feet in hopes of gaining the endorsement and deep pocket largess of his association, and have submitted to grilling by the union leadership to see if they were worthy. Jack Meola, the CCPOA's executive vice president, says their questioning of candidates is intense. "Our primary goal is to protect the public," he says in his smooth PR banter to the press, "to keep thugs off the street and in jail where they belong." To fail the test, Novey maintains, could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Diane Feinstein found that out in 1990 when Novey's union gave almost $1 million to enthrone law enforcement's friend, Pete Wilson, in the California State House.

And, of course, the union not only wields the political stick, it also dispenses the carrot, and not just to Pete Wilson. Novey and his union contributed $76,000 to the 1992 re-election campaign of David Elder, the chair of the state assembly's Committee on Public Employment and Security-the very same committee that rules directly on the pay and benefits of prison guards. And they received value for their political contribution dollar. Prison guards got raises six months ahead of other state government employees. Their average salary of $44,000 per year is 58 percent above the national average for prison guards. And they now boast one of the best pension plans of any state employee. In addition to excellent medical coverage, they receive 75 percent of their salary at the time of retirement, which can be 55 after 30 years' service, and they get a 2 percent yearly increase after two years of retirement.

The info in bold is from 1998. . .

[sn1p3r]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

This is another reason why I cheer the collapse, it is guaranteed to bring into light these sorts of things that in good times are ignored.

We need a constantine to bring them into the light

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2Ahc...eature=related

[Raz]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

non-violent inmates = black guys that smoke pot locked up to support the prision unions under 4 strikes your out.

CA Prision guards - retarded relatives of republicans now making 200K per years with lifelong pensions.

illegal immigrant inmates = absurd that we lock up illegal immigrants rather than deporting them.

I'm impressed with Arnold for taking some of the GOP's scumbag slush fund away from them as well as from the democrats.

Yeah, we should just exterminate all those evil Republicans.
After all, they spent the past 50 years building the massive vote-buying welfare state that is bankrupting California.

And they caused Hurricane Katrina, too!

[goadam1]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

Long the dream of Grover Nourquist:

I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

[flintlock]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

Pretty absurd isn't it?

Of course you'd have to pay me more than that to deal with those animals.

[cjppjc]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

.

And they caused Hurricane Katrina, too!

I knew it.:eek:

[rj1]

Re: CA budget deal goes boom

No one wants to be associated with firing a bunch of firemen/policemen/teachers, cutting societal safety nets and benefits to seniors, etc etc.

Then California will de facto go bankrupt.

Part of when you elect leaders is they have to make the hard decisions that hurt others, even if you don't like that. Did Californians do that? No, most people in democracies don't.