Monday, July 20, 2009

Daily California Watch 8


Quiet. too quiet. Finally it seems the idiots in Sacramento are coming to the realization that none of the knobs on their instrument panel are capable of changing the reality outside. Doubtless careful followers were expecting a breakthrough last night as the weekend staff marathon produced a workable budget for the gang of 5 to endorse and then stuff down the State's gullet.

What happened? Short answer; the numbers don't add up. Just like February except no do over in 3 months.

No news except I continue to see a weird stalemate. Two pilots fighting over control to chose the crash site. No links because there's nothing that qualifies as news or content. Believe me, I tried.

14 comments:

Property Flopper said...

First!!!

Hey - It's going to be a fun crash - both sides need to realize that they're going to have to give in. NOBODY wins, we'll need more taxes AND major cuts to make it work.

Peripheral Visionary said...

Like I said, Rob, as soon as Sacramento figured out that the IOUs were "working", the pressure to fix the state's budget problems would disappear. I don't think we'll see a resolution until California's cash account is empty and they have nothing to pay the bondholders (who are not going to take IOUs under any circumstances short of a Federal guarantee.)

The new "solution" being kicked around is to loosen up the laws on marijuana production. Because worthless fiat currency and drug trafficking have been so successful in bringing prosperity back to Afghanistan . . .

averagerainfall said...

Put Casey Serin in the Sacramento Zoo, with a plaque describing his exploits. Then charge visitors $1 each to hurl rotten fruit at him.

Expand the program to include other mortgage criminals like Tangelo™, Crisp, etc. Upgrade your rotten fruit to horse manure for an extra $1.

That'll balance the budget in a few weeks.

sm_landlord said...

Maybe they can stretch the pain out until October, when the IOUs come due. Here is a picture for Daily Cali Watch #99.

Bob said...

Is it legal for CA public employees to strike?

Mr. Outspoken said...

A strike... That's rich... If you tell workers to take 3 days off, they'll walk away entirely from their overpaid jobs and benefits... Um... Okay.

Anonymous said...

California should give the rest of the country free weed for life as an apology for being, er, Calis.

Property Flopper said...

Mr. Outspoken - facing a fourth day, they're looking at roughly a 19% paycut. How many people in any industry could take that big of a paycut without drastic lifestyle changes.

The strike is to try to presure the legislature to get things resolved (both the budget and their expired contract). I'm not a big fan of unions and REALLY not a fan of the SEIU, but I can see why they're upset at this point.

What will be really amusing is when the state runs for a long while on a 20% reduction in time - many will ask why we need all those employees - cut 20% permanently.

Mr. Outspoken said...

I'll see your 19% and raise you 20%. Some divisions of my company are on a 3-day workweek all July. During the early part of the year companywide was on the same schedule most weeks. A 4-day workweek is still no guarantee and that has been the case since December.

Sun said...

Mr. Outspoken
wow, how's retention going?? What industry are you in?

Are they telling you "Big NEWZ is Coming!!!". I don't know, I heard that somewhere once.

Tyrone said...

Two pilots fighting over control to chose the crash site.

Brilliant!! LOL

1.44MB said...

blah blah blah.... The rest of the deficit will be made up by a combination of borrowing, shifting money from other government accounts......

Oh yeah this is all going to work out just fine.

Property Flopper said...

Outspoken - why are you still there? When a company is in that bad of a situation, it's best to find something better.

Rats aren't the smartest animals, but they are smart enough to get off the sinking ship.

Hilly said...

Why jump ship?

Depending on the industry, just wait for some of that luscious Federal cheese.