Solutions to California's fiscal crisis created by the legislature

By Mark Wilson Argee Hinkle

California's government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Over the past decade, government spending has grown faster than population growth and inflation combined.

California's government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. Over the past decade, government spending has grown faster than population growth and inflation combined. The government payroll has increased during the recession/depression. We taxpayers have tightened our belts -- the state should do the same.

Albert Einstein once said that "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

The budget mess was created by incumbent Republicans and Democrats, and so the solution won't come from them. It is critical for the voters of California to reject politics as usual. A recent Field Poll has the legislature approval rating at 16%. If California voters reelect 100% of the incumbents, as they have done in the last 3 election cycles, we can be assured that the crisis will continue unabated.

The failure of the legislature to solve the problems it created will continue to drive businesses into bankruptcy, or to other states, or offshore. And with them goes the jobs. So goes the economy.

In order to balance the budget, significant cuts will be required. Here are some of my priorities:

1. Pass Proposition 19, decriminalizing marijuana. In addition, release from jail all those who were convicted of victimless crimes. We will save billions on our prisons and eliminate the jail overcrowding problem.
2. Eliminate the State Department of Education. They have no students and their one size fits all mentality stifles innovation and creativity in the classroom.
3. Eliminate the hundreds of boards and commission, with their six figure salaries. For details, see my web site at `markhinkle.defendsliberty.com'.
4. Sell off government assets. Roughly half of California is owned by the government. Selling off valuable assets will raise billions.
5. Cancel the pending sale of any voter approved bonds, such as the high speed rail bond, thus saving more billions. California bonds are the worst rated in the nation, causing higher interest rates. We have no way to pay the bonds. That must stop.
6. Pension reform. No one in the private sector gets to retire as early as age 50 with 90% of their base pay for the last year worked, and with lifetime medical coverage paid for by the taxpayers.
7. Eliminate the 177 job licensing regulations (the nations' worst) that prohibit people from working without getting government permission. These regulations create unemployment and drive jobs out of state.
8. End the abuse in the CHP where 70% of the highway patrol employees go out with often dubious disability pensions and where the average retirement age is 53. And where up to 50% of their pensions are federal and state income tax free, for life!
9. Welfare reform: California has 12% of the nation's population, but 36% of the country's TANF ("Temporary" Assistance for Needy Families) welfare recipients + more than the next 7 states combined. Unlike other states, this "temporary" assistance becomes much more permanent in CA.

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, while expecting different results. So, don't be insane. Vote for Libertarian Mark Hinkle on August 17th.