An $11 billion budget surplus

by CalWatchdog Staff | February 8, 2010 9:21 pm

Why can’t California be like Texas, with an $11 billion state budget surplus[1]? Despite — or because of — having no income tax. Instead, California has a $20 billion budget deficit[2]. Our governor, supposedly an “action hero,” whines to Washington to get a bailout; Texas’ governor, despite similar problems of paying for social services for immigrants, doesn’t.

The states have a lot in common: a lot of high tech industries (bigger in Calif.), oil industries (bigger in Tex.); a large immigrant population, especially from Mexico; large populations.

What’s the difference? In Texas, they welcome businesses. In California, businesses are treated like pariahs. AB32[3], the greenhouse gases/global warming bill that Gov. Schwarzenegger made the keystone of his legacy 4 years ago, is ripping up the state’s businesses — even as a record snow blankets the Northeast of the USA, especially Washington, D.C.[4], the center of the global-warming cargo cult[5].

Endnotes:

$11 billion state budget surplus: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Texas-Budget-Surplus-Makes-Legislators-Look-Good.html
20 billion budget deficit: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/23/local/la-me-budget23-2009dec23
AB32: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2010/01/08/new-gut-ab32-to-save-jobs/
especially Washington, D.C.: http://readme.readmedia.com/DC-Guard-Supports-Emergency-Response-During-Historic-Blizzard/1136026
cargo cult: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2010/02/08/an-11-billion-state-budget-surplus/