Breaking news! Tonight, four top legislative officials will meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to finishing closing the $26.3 billion budget deficit. Lawmakers hope to bring the budget to a vote next week.
Woah, I just had a crazy case of déjà vu right there. Hopefully, they actually will pass the budget and I will be forced to eat my words. Mmmm, that sentence looks awfully tasty.
At this point, if you don’t know what the problem is with the California state budget, or why it’s a crisis, please refer to previous blog posts. Frankly, the whole thing, especially the way we treat education, just makes me mad, so this week I’ve decided to, instead, focus on some of the more bizarre and occasionally hilarious solutions that have been offered.
1. Back in May 2009, Gov. Schwarzenegger suggested that the state sell the Orange County fairgrounds. Not a bad idea. If the county would buy it and continue to use the grounds for the fair, I say go for it. Random, but not a bad idea.
2. Legalize pot and tax it! With the potential to bring in $1.4 billion in revenue to the state, marijuana would be taxed similar to alcohol. Potential problems: a) are we going to tax medical marijuana too? I don’t think taxing medication is a good path to start down. b) people suing the state and turning it into a federal issue where we’re at the mercy of the Supreme Court. I definitely wouldn’t count on that $1.4 billion then. In the meantime though, I’m betting that California would pretty much be the happiest place on earth.
3. The closure of 220 state parks. I won’t list them all here, but believe me, some of these are really great parks. I’m curious to know how exactly one goes about closing a state park? Will it just not be attended by a park ranger? But we can still go there right?
4. Drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara. See my previous blog for more discussion on this and the oil spill of 1969. This one is still part of the budget debate.
5. A gigantic used car sale! The state plans to sell off 15% of its approximately 40,000 used cars in an auction. If you’re in the market, the sale will be held on August 28th and August 29th in Sacramento. Officials estimate this will generate $24.1 million in revenue for the state.
Of course, I’d like to offer a suggestion of my own, if you’ll humor me…
It recently came to my attention that the beautiful town I live in, Campbell, has had a balanced budget for the last 20 years. For the last few weeks I’ve been wondering why, if Campbell can do it, why can’t California, just on a larger scale?
Yesterday, the city of Campbell held its second annual Big Bands & BBQ event (a completely watered down version of the more-popular Oktoberfest), and as my sister and I went to pay two tickets ($2) for a bottle of water she mentioned that even if it’s a little pricey, she’s happy to support Campbell.
Then it hit me. California needs to have a crazy, state-wide, gigantic Oktoberfest! If street fair activities plus overpriced booze equals lots of money in Campbell, I’m guessing it would work pretty much everywhere else in the state too. Or, if you prefer, the state could throw a gigantic rave and charge $5 for water. Either way, budget problem solved!
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You. Are. A Genius!! LOL I mean with the pot legalization, at least the pot heads would also be buying more snacks and raising tax revenue even more. And with a used car sale...surely some of them would be Priuses (Prii?). So that's cool.
ReplyDeleteBut a gigantic Oktoberfest (hopefully with BBQ)!? That's brilliant! Though, if they have a rave they can also sell over-priced glow sticks. Either way...call Ahhnold!
Very great ideas. And while we're talking ideas we could also hold a giant bake sale or sell t-shirts. After all, isn't that what schools do for money?
ReplyDeleteSeriously! I think we should rip off the I <3 NY design. After all, I know lots of people who <3 CA! And I do make a mean peanut butter fudge that usually does well at bake sales. Why aren't WE running the state!?
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