California budget balancer

[DrScholl]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/budget/

An application that allows you to balance California budget. It's not an easy task.

[Redalgo]

Well, it certainly was not easy and it will be interesting to see what others tried.

I established a budget surplus of $520.3 million using the application by:

- Cutting K-12 school funding to minimum constitutionally permissible - a per pupil cut of 3.7%.
- Cut by 10% the funding for California's drug and alcohol programs, saving $9.3 million.
- Releasing 30,000 (17.6%) of the state's 170,000 prisoners, providing savings of $1.53 billion.
- A new $0.50 gas tax to generate $7.5 billion more in state revenue.
- Maintain temporary tax hikes set to expire to generate $9.4 billion more in state revenue.
- A new $0.25 tax on drinks sold per drink to generate $3.569 billion more in state revenue.
- Raise vehicle licensing fees to pre-Schwarzenegger levels to generate $4.3 billion in revenue.
- Raise income tax 0.7% and 1.7% for those making >$300k and >$600k for $1.8B in revenue.
- Install automated speeding cameras on 500 red light cameras to generate $412 million.

If California has no debts to pay I support using the surplus to ease back my K-12 school cuts.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Wow, you just can't do it without raising taxes (unless you "suspend" the Constitution with grade school spending). The most hard core Republican will only be able to reduce it to $11 billion. They could get another $2 billion by closing the prison system. Of course the Republicans won't budge on their anti-tax extremism.

[frihetsivrare]

I cut it the deficit to $12,270,500,000.  To me California's budget is too far in the red to balance in one year without causing too much pain for people.  I am trying to think like a state assembly member.

K-12 Education: Cut by 10%
Cut welfare by 22%
Cut in-home services by 23%
Cut child care by 25%
Cut drug and alcohol program funding by 25%
Cut UC funding by 37%
Cut Cal State funding by 38%
Cut community college funding by 31%
Cut prison funding by 43%
Eliminate the COPS Program
Cut state payroll by 10%
Cut state park funding by 24%
Cut legislature's budget by 57%

$2.1 billion in new gas taxes
$172 million in new alcohol taxes
$416 million in new cigarette taxes
$4.3 billion in vehicle licensing fees

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

http://lat.ms/fIy0TW

[Beet]

I love these things, they're so easy.

http://lat.ms/gJ8P8Y

[Torie]

Is there an option for gutting public employee defined benefit plans, firing a bunch or prison guards, and letting the druggies out of prison, dumping the Davis Bacon Act, and introducing school vouchers en mass, as a precursor to castrating the teachers' union iron and toxic grip on the CA public school system? Just asking?

In the public policy realm, I know my "enemies" well, just who is screwing whom, and how to deal with them. Trust me.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I love these things, they're so easy.

http://lat.ms/gJ8P8Y

I absolutely hate that plan just because of the alcohol/cigarette tax dissonance.

[dead0man]

Almost $14billion surplus....that really WAS easy.
link

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Almost $14billion surplus....that really WAS easy.
link

What a supposed libertarian doesn't release ANY prisoners? I don't know the exact numbers of what people in jail in California are in for, but there are obviously some that aren't dangerous and don't belong there.

[tpfkaw]

Very easy.

[dead0man]

Almost $14billion surplus....that really WAS easy.
link

What a supposed libertarian doesn't release ANY prisoners? I don't know the exact numbers of what people in jail in California are in for, but there are obviously some that aren't dangerous and don't belong there.

Of course I'd release non-violent drug offenders if I had that power....that's not what the thing said though.

That's the biggest problem you had with my budget?

[Sbane]

http://lat.ms/hBxaym

I was left with a $904 Million surplus.

[Insula Dei]

http://lat.ms/fDdDVV

I went all out on the taxes and revenues, While this probably isn't a very realistic (or even desirable for that matter) plan, I do think that additional taxes are always better than cutting vital services to the sick and the elderly or cutting people's connection to an affordable education.

[dead0man]

Yeah, screw those poor drinkers, smokers and drivers!

[Insula Dei]

Yeah, screw those poor drinkers, smokers and drivers!

Well, no, they'd be screwed if they wouldn't have acces to affordable healthcare (which, let's face it, smokers are more likely to need) or education. Also, taxing these things, all of which have undesirable effects, is likely to function as an additional encouragment for people to stop smoking, drink responsibly, or drive less and use alternative modes of transportation more.

[Associate Justice PiT]

http://lat.ms/eNtphI

     I could have gone more overboard, but I banked against deep cuts to higher education.

[courts]

Yeah, screw those poor drinkers, smokers and drivers!

Well, no, they'd be screwed if they wouldn't have acces to affordable healthcare (which, let's face it, smokers are more likely to need) or education. Also, taxing these things, all of which have undesirable effects, is likely to function as an additional encouragment for people to stop smoking, drink responsibly, or drive less and use alternative modes of transportation more.

I don't object to sales tax hikes but that's always struck me as sort of a naive argument considering that if people actually did quit there would be no revenue to collect.

[dead0man]

Yeah, screw those poor drinkers, smokers and drivers!

Well, no, they'd be screwed if they wouldn't have acces to affordable healthcare (which, let's face it, smokers are more likely to need) or education. Also, taxing these things, all of which have undesirable effects, is likely to function as an additional encouragment for people to stop smoking, drink responsibly, or drive less and use alternative modes of transportation more.

Ahhh, the old "taxing people to get them to act the way you think is best" thingy.  The Christian Fundies in the US approve.

[krazen1211]

Just check off all the spending cuts. 30% on education.

Balanced.

[Insula Dei]

Yeah, screw those poor drinkers, smokers and drivers!

Well, no, they'd be screwed if they wouldn't have acces to affordable healthcare (which, let's face it, smokers are more likely to need) or education. Also, taxing these things, all of which have undesirable effects, is likely to function as an additional encouragment for people to stop smoking, drink responsibly, or drive less and use alternative modes of transportation more.

Ahhh, the old "taxing people to get them to act the way you think is best" thingy.  The Christian Fundies in the US approve.

Well, no, the old 'taxing people because the alternative is subjecting them to sexual intercourse from behind' thing. Frankly, I don't care if you smoke, but smoking is a major source of cancer for smokers as well as non-smokers, so it doesn't seem harsh to have people pay along for the healthcare they might one day have to be able to afford or for the healthcare of people that don't smoke but have develloped cancer because of passive smoking. Well, not harsher than just going after their  healthcare itself instead.

[opebo]

I just solved it all with taxes, so very easy.  Though I would much preferred to raise the taxes on the rich more and those on the drivers less..

[dead0man]

Well, no, the old 'taxing people because the alternative is subjecting them to sexual intercourse from behind' thing. Frankly, I don't care if you smoke, but smoking is a major source of cancer for smokers as well as non-smokers, so it doesn't seem harsh to have people pay along for the healthcare they might one day have to be able to afford or for the healthcare of people that don't smoke but have develloped cancer because of passive smoking. Well, not harsher than just going after their  healthcare itself instead.

$2 per pack?  And that's after the already in place 90 cents per pack tax CA already has and the $1.01 tax the Feds tack on.  My maths aint the greatest, but that's almost $4 per pack just in taxes....on something that can be sold at a large profit at $1 per pack?  It's mostly the poor workers that smoke ya know.  And you're doing this so the middle and upper classes can go to school cheaper?  Ugggg.

[opebo]

$2 per pack?  And that's after the already in place 90 cents per pack tax CA already has and the $1.01 tax the Feds tack on.  My maths aint the greatest, but that's almost $4 per pack just in taxes....on something that can be sold at a large profit at $1 per pack?  It's mostly the poor workers that smoke ya know.  And you're doing this so the middle and upper classes can go to school cheaper?  Ugggg.

I only taxed the gas (and the alcohol very slightly).  But like I said I would've preferred if they'd offered a better option of increasing the rich tax.

[Sbane]

Here's a version where the K-12 budget is cut by 10%(not unreasonable imho).

http://lat.ms/i712Vs