The Gov'nor has announced one of the stupidest things I've ever heard -- a raid on water agencies' property tax revenues to cover the State's deficit:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to use the money to help close California's $24.3 billion budget gap. Under Prop. 1A, passed in 2004, the state can borrow 8 percent from all agencies and must repay the funds, with interest, within three years.This is a classic case of the badly-managed central office getting subsidized by the profitable branch office.
But the state's legislative analyst has suggested taking more than 25 percent from water and wastewater districts because they can raise rates to recoup the money.
If I was god, I'd fire Arnie and replace him with a water manager who would know ONE thing -- how to balance a budget!
Bottom Line: Those who balance their budgets by stealing from others are not leaders -- they are thieves!
3 comments:
Monsieur,
The politically correct word is no longer 'thieves' but 'kleptocrats.' ;-)
I don't like the idea myself, but to play devil's advocate, would not the higher rates help reduce water consumption during this drought year? Or would there be other unintended consequences.
Excellent blog by the way! I have it bookmarked alongside Delong's, Cowen's and Mankiw's blogs if that says anything
@Eric -- I am a Carlin fan (see his bit on shell shocked vs. Post-traumatic-stress-disorder) and I prefer the simple word...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2525803/George-Carlin-On-Language
@Joshz -- glad to have you. Prices *may* go up as an unintended consequence. I'd prefer that they raise prices to cut consumption -- NOT to replace stolen money. It's the same difference as repairing a window broken by a stray baseball vs. repairing one broken by the gov't to "stimulate" the economy...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window
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