Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on July 21, 2009

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's 'Governator'

The “Governator” had claimed back then that without his precious tax increase, all they could do to stop California’s spiraling economic crisis was to eliminate police officers and firefighters and close down state parks to balance California’s rising deficit budget. Like there weren’t OTHER options, Mr. Governator? Just threaten to compromise the safety of the citizens?

Well, cooler heads and actual solutions are now prevailing. Other options to stop the economic hemorrhaging were announced by California officials. A “bigger bandage,” to slow the uncontrolled bleeding by trimming and slashing budget fat, will work… for now. But the financial drain will continue as long as California continues to pay billions of dollars to illegal alien welfare entitlement programs. Secure the US borders, stop handing over taxpayers’ money to illegal immigrants who don’t pay into the system, and a huge financial rat hole will be plugged.

There are approximately 3 million illegal immigrants in the state of California, most of whom are raking in free state aid. Free to them, not free to California taxpayers.

But more bad news was announced for the California pension fund:

Los Angeles Times
CalPERS expected to report losing nearly one-quarter of investment portfolio | The estimated $56.8-billion drop at the U.S.’ largest pension fund, the second annual loss in a row, would have a huge effect on what state and local governments must shell out to support retirees
July 21, 2009

Sacramento — California’s huge government pension fund is expected to report today a whopping annual loss of an estimated $56.8 billion, almost a quarter of its investment portfolio.

The loss at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for the fiscal year ended June 30 is the second in a row for the country’s largest fund. A year ago, CalPERS reported an $8.5-billion loss, as the severe recession began to take hold.

From San Francisco Chronicle:

San Francisco Chronicle | State leaders have tentative plan to fix budget
By Matthew Yi, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders reached a tentative budget compromise Monday to plug a $26.3 billion deficit by making hefty cuts in education, health and welfare services, and taking billions of dollars from county governments.

The plan also includes allowing an offshore oil drilling project near Santa Barbara, keeping most state parks open and eliminating the Integrated Waste Management Board, which is led by political appointees, many of them former lawmakers, who earn six-figure salaries. Prison spending would be cut, but inmates would not be released early.

Cal Grants would be spared, which means college students who have been promised the awards this year would receive them, and HIV/AIDS programs would lose some, but not all, state funding.

[...]

The Legislature is scheduled to vote on the plan Thursday. Approval would allow the state to begin recovering from this latest fiscal disaster, in which it issued IOUs while its credit rating plummeted toward junk-bond status.

“We accomplished a lot in this budget agreement,” said Schwarzenegger, adding that negotiations at times were “like a suspense movie.”

The tentative deal contains about $15 billion in cuts, roughly $4 billion borrowed from local governments and the rest from various accounting gimmicks that include early collection of taxes, increasing withholdings and shifting $1 billion worth of state workers’ pay from the last day of this fiscal year to the next.

[Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County)] said that by not eliminating many popular health and welfare programs, as proposed by the governor, “we will be able to patch the holes when the economy does improve.”

Assembly Republican leader Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo said he believes the compromise will help the state return to fiscal stability.

“None of these were easy choices,” he said.

From Hot Air:

It looks as though the legislature and the governor finally got the message, although some of the gimmicks amount to kicking the can down the road. The state will borrow billions from the counties, money that they will have to repay with interest at some point. The cuts to education are also going to be reversed; the agreement sets up a kind of restitution that will bust the budget in 2012.

Related reading:
Hot Air: CA Republicans threaten to scuttle budget deal and California fixes its budget – for now
Instapundit: OUCH: California Pension Fund Loss: $56.8 billion….
Right Pundits: California Budget Deal Frees Inmates: Californians Angry Over Budget Cuts
Ztower: The President’s Model – California – Losing Manufacturing Jobs And Increasing Government Jobs
John Nolte, Big Hollywood: Hollywood to America: Trickle-Down Economics Works Only For Us
The Hollywood Republican: People’s Republic of California Steals Money From Taxpayers’ Paychecks – Your State Is Next
Michelle Malkin: Obamacare for illegal aliens and California pension fund loss: $56.8 billion and The Taxinator loves his open-borders welfare state and The paper of labor and What the Sacramento Bee really thinks of voters and California to tax-and-spenders: No, no, no, no, and hell no and California: The poster child for dysfunction and Live from the Cali tax revolt and What George Will missed: The decrepit state of the California GOP
Steven Crowder, Big Hollywood: Throwing Down With the Governator
I Hate The Media: California pays 5,115 retired employees $100,000+ per year. How much will you earn when you retire? and California bankrupt because it spent too much, not because it taxed too little
Frugal Café Blog Zone: No Santa Claus for Arnie: Californians Weary of Increased Taxes, ‘Governator’ Unhappy with Voters and “I Left My Wallet… in San Francisco”: Huge Gov’t Salaries in “City of Pelosi” Adds to California’s Disastrous Debt
Wellsy’s World: California rejects tax and budget measures by wide margin
LA Times: Gov. proposes selling L.A. Coliseum, other properties to raise cash and California elected officials’ pay will be cut 18%
James Hudnall, Big Hollywood: So Goes California, So Goes the Nation
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: Hey, Arnold, we are not your ATM! and 10,000 workers in Mexifornia to be laid off.
Sacramento Bee: Highest-paid University of California employees
Teh Resistance Blog: Public Employee Unions Are a Gun Pointed at the Taxpayer’s Head

Categories: Economy, Entertainment, Celebrities, Government, Illegal Immigration, Social and Political Climate, US Borders
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, bankrupt, budget, California, deficit spending, economic crisis, financial crisis, government waste, illegal aliens, Obama money, pension fund, political, politics, recession, taxation, taxes, taxpayers, welfare