Craig T. Nelson: I won’t pay taxes until my government starts listening to me
posted at 8:36 pm on May 28, 2009 by Allahpundit
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He’s mad as hell, he’s not going to take it anymore, and he wants the Howard Beale of cable news to turn the sentiment into a movement. I’m sympathetic — no fiscal conservative who’s seen those blood-curdling deficit charts could be otherwise — but I’ve watched this twice and can’t quite pinpoint what his problem is. Is it cuts to education spending? Lack of balanced budgets? Federal bailouts? And how exactly is government being unaccountable to him? The point of my earlier post about the dopey conservative who regrets voting for Obama is that anyone could have and should have seen that he’d be a tax-and-spend liberal. A majority elected him anyway and now he’s spending in earnest, with the taxing shortly to come. They wanted Change and he’s giving them a snoutful. That’s democracy.
Alternatively, he might simply be saying he doesn’t want to pay for programs he doesn’t believe in, but, er, join the club buddy. Is there a man or woman in America who’s satisfied with every item in the budget? What’s his deal here?
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If he hires Wesley Snipes’ lawyer, he might not have to pay his taxes.
YYZ on May 28, 2009 at 8:40 PM
It’s a loser of tactic…he’ll just wind up in Club Fed for a nice chunk of his remaining years…unless he can convince the rest of the country to go along. But he’ll have to wait until the big tax increases hit before that happens.
AUINSC on May 28, 2009 at 8:41 PM
This is the ONLY WAY that our government is going to HEAR us! Take away their checkbook. Stop paying taxes.
Sounds like a plan.
HornetSting on May 28, 2009 at 8:41 PM
Is Nelson some sort of pundit now or what? Is he looking to resurrect a career?
What next, asking Sybil Danning what she thinks?
Bishop on May 28, 2009 at 8:42 PM
I think he’s still upset about the poltergeists.
Chickyraptor on May 28, 2009 at 8:42 PM
Nelson 2012! ( if he`s out of the slammer then)
ThePrez on May 28, 2009 at 8:43 PM
How does one not pay their taxes? They take FICO and medicare and SS out of mine automatically.
SouthernGent on May 28, 2009 at 8:43 PM
I understand his frustration, lack of tolerance at this point, ultimatums.
There aren’t any options today for citizens; we’ve become servants to a government that is not interested in our opinions or worth beyond what money we can provide totheir efforts.
I believe in service in general, giving, all that ass a citizen, but, those times of pearly-goodness are past; we have a government today that is not responsive to citizens, it’s apparent daily that we’re not of any value other than what money we can send in every quarter (or year).
Lourdes on May 28, 2009 at 8:45 PM
You can increase your dependents so that they take out less, then you owe, then you tell the government to get bent. I guess that’s how you do it…..but what do I know, I’m just a recovering right wing extremist.
HornetSting on May 28, 2009 at 8:45 PM
Billions is now trillions…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHRxfn-DTV4
We’re spending money we don’t have
Or so it would appear
The deficit is that amount we overspend each year
Though congressmen and senators
Make vows to cut its size
Despite their honest efforts
The debt just seems to rise
A balanced budget would be great
To spend within our means
To stop the monster in its tracks
Before we bust our seams
It feeds on just the interest
Its appetite is whet
It never, ever stops to rest
Tyrannosaurus Debt
mankai on May 28, 2009 at 8:46 PM
I believe in service in general, giving, all that
AS
assa citizen,jeez…
Lourdes on May 28, 2009 at 8:46 PM
A choice between two statist political parties is no choice at all, especially in California.
FloatingRock on May 28, 2009 at 8:46 PM
SouthernGent on May 28, 2009 at 8:43 PM
I would suspect he’s considered “self-employed” and is responsible for paying his taxes on a quarterly basis or something like that. He also mentioned being an “investor,” and would probably be declaring capital gains, etc. when filing.
But yeah, this sounds kind of like a rhetorical position to me. I’ll be surprised if he does it for longer than 6 months, and even more surprised if he does it without having a lawyer nearby to tell him exactly where the bright red line between vocal expression and incarceration is.
cs89 on May 28, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Mandela? :]
bluelightbrigade on May 28, 2009 at 8:49 PM
He’s going Galt.
There will be more and more of this. I’m halfway there myself, and I’m part of the 95% who are getting a tax CUT!
PHenry on May 28, 2009 at 8:50 PM
Great! You go first. (LOL! Couldn’t resist).
BTW, people have stopped paying as we all know. Receipts are way down. That hasn’t slowed them down a bit. Unfortunately their plan may be to completely destroy the economy for a generation.
TheBigOldDog on May 28, 2009 at 8:50 PM
Ooh ooh……O’Reilly is trying to talk his way out of being a complete assbag. How about that, O’Reilly. This is the STILL the Land of the FREE! And, no you are not a gasbag, you are a bloviating gasbag.
Eat it, O’Reilly. Get bent.
HornetSting on May 28, 2009 at 8:50 PM
O’Reilly just pulled a totally lame copout on last night’s smear job. Man, is he clueless.
JammieWearingFool on May 28, 2009 at 8:51 PM
As a non-taxpayer, he’d be a shoo-in for a post in the Obama administration.
The Ugly American on May 28, 2009 at 8:51 PM
well much of our money is being used to create a political machine to make elections unfair, with that said if he stops paying taxes Obama may recruit him fir the cabinet.
rob verdi on May 28, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Yeah, my husband’s bi-weekly pellet is paid by the government, so, I know, fat chance. BUT, someone asked HOW to do it and I know HOW to tell the government to get bent and not pay taxes.
HornetSting on May 28, 2009 at 8:52 PM
From what I picked up when I watched it earlier was mainly the bailouts. In fact, it was the “idea” of a “bailout” that seemed to upset him.
Weight of Glory on May 28, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Eh, O’Reilly basically said he should have identified the comment as not being posted by HotAir staff, but whatevs! we don’t identify them with DKos either.
The difference being on DKos the staff are just as bloody crazy hateful as the commenters…
Emily M. on May 28, 2009 at 8:53 PM
OT:
Yep…
d1carter on May 28, 2009 at 8:54 PM
It’s not like Obama waits to have cash in hand before he goes shopping. Pay it now, or pay it later; we’ll pay.
Ronnie on May 28, 2009 at 8:54 PM
Actually, they should go after education – The public school system is a breeding ground for the Statist’s viewpoint. Kids are taught bias from day one, and they do not know how to think by the time they get out of school. In the next, and final step, they become Sheepeople – That is California in a nutshell.
Yup, I am a teacher in the California state school system.
InTheBellyoftheBeast on May 28, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Mm-hmm. And he’s been teasing the Governor Arnold attack on Limbaugh for the ninth time, despite the fact they played the cut at the top of the show. “Ted Baxter” payback time as Bill-oh would say “Whoa!”
Marcus on May 28, 2009 at 8:56 PM
Go live in Ireland.
Blake on May 28, 2009 at 8:56 PM
Exactly. It sounds great, and principled, but our forebears who allowed government the power to tax income by taking it before we ever see it made it well nigh impossible to refuse to pay taxes.
DrMagnolias on May 28, 2009 at 8:56 PM
I’m with him. I wish millions of Americans had the..spirit..to do the same.
We are destroying ourselves. The permitting…on the LOCAL level is absurd. Regulating ourselves to death.
I cannot add on to the back deck unless I pay the county thousands of dollars first.
Guess what? I’m adding a deck and I’m not telling anybody about it.
They’ve gotta find it first. And they’ll be lucky to get past my dogs to see it.
I won’t mention the glock…
The Government is OUT OF CONTROL and NOBODY is overseeing ANY of it. Not honestly, anyway.
bridgetown on May 28, 2009 at 8:56 PM
If we all stopped paying. it would work.
TheSitRep on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Surely you’re being facetious, AP. His deal is that the government – both California’s state government and the federal government – has gone off the deep end insane with the spending, which must logically be followed by off the deep end insane taxation. It really has crossed into the territory of the impossible now. It’s no longer just hyperbolic rhetoric to say that the government is going to tax and spend us into oblivion. I completely understand his desire not to subsidize that insanity.
A couple of years ago, I ended up with a tax shortfall of several thousand dollars in April (self-employed). I worked doubly hard for several more months to catch up on the shortfall while keeping up with my quarterly payments for the following year. I worked 16 hr+ days, 7 days a week for extended periods of time to pay my tax bill and still have money left for my family. All that blood, sweat, and tears, for what? The federal government spent it in a fraction of a fraction of a second. That money that I stressed and cried over and gave up time with my kids for probably bought new drapes for GM’s corporate offices or something.
aero on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 PM
So, in summary, as a self-professed fiscally responsible person, he’d like to say that he’s considering not paying taxes, because California is cutting funding on the programs that make up the vast majority of its budget rather than the things that he’d like them to cut (which he can’t bother to name because he doesn’t know what they are… except for something involving sea otters).
Oh, and, “This desk is shiny!”
calbear on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 PM
I love Coach’s concept here. I wish him luck and hope he can start a real movement doing this. There are light winds of revolution blowing and I like it.
King of the Britons on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 PM
InTheBellyoftheBeast on May 28, 2009 at 8:55 PM
I have always said….America would look much different if the Education the children received was worth a ……
bridgetown on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 PM
Way to go….. Revolution. No Value Added Tax – no tax on wealth. Let’s simply tax the people that don’t pay any taxes but get earned income credits.
suzyk on May 28, 2009 at 8:57 PM
First they came for Craig T. Nelson, but I said nothing because I wasn’t a fan of Coach.
Mark1971 on May 28, 2009 at 8:58 PM
hey, if he goes to jail, then instead of paying the government, they will pay him.
With taxpayer money.
Which kind of defeats the purpose of the protest, because then he will be wasting our money.
therightscoop on May 28, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Not sure if you put both segments here Beck (as I’m not watching because I already did earlier), but it seemed clear to me that he’s fed up with all of the ridiculous spending without accountability.
The sad thing is that Nelson is right, but not enough people would dare join a movement like this… but it wouldn’t take many… even 10-25% of the population coming out and refusing to pay taxes until there is some accountability, etc. would force the government to wake up.
At any rate, the more interesting segment was Beck’s latest expose on ACORN followed by conversation with O’Reilly. O’Reilly’s interview with ACORN’s CEO was much less entertaining, as she essentially didn’t answer anything.
RightWinged on May 28, 2009 at 9:00 PM
I’m glad that someone in Hollywood isn’t buying Obama economic nonsense. But if he tries to not pay his taxes, he ought to get ready to have the IRS knocking on his door and putting liens against his assets.
SC.Charlie on May 28, 2009 at 9:01 PM
I will pay the taxes that I cannot avoid paying, but I will shelter every penny I can. Meanwhile, I will go after every government penny I can get. Also (and I know this sounds terrible), I am not giving to charities. If my money is going to be TAKEN from me and redistributed, then I will no longer donate out of my own free will.
Star20 on May 28, 2009 at 9:02 PM
To further underscore O’Reilly’s cluelessness, he said blogs should edit their comments. What a boob.
JammieWearingFool on May 28, 2009 at 9:03 PM
“That’s why I carry the
AmericanChina Express card.”B A R A C K H O B A M A
Member since 2009
Ronnie on May 28, 2009 at 9:04 PM
So, in summary, because a person cannot line item his specific objections to his despotic and loathesome government, he is to be dismissed?
Clearly the man is sick of paying confiscatory taxes to a corrupt, nanny-government which has zero fiscal discipline.
King of the Britons on May 28, 2009 at 9:05 PM
He should have him back on once a week.
jaboba on May 28, 2009 at 9:05 PM
It wouldn’t matter if half the country stopped paying taxes. It’s not as if the government’s spending is limited in some way by tax revenue.
jazz_piano on May 28, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Mr. Incredible!
thebrokenrattle on May 28, 2009 at 9:09 PM
Coach has huevos. Good for him. I think many people are thinking what he is.
elduende on May 28, 2009 at 9:09 PM
Guaranteeed
thomasaur on May 28, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Funny thing: He highlighted what he wanted his taxes to go for, comprehensively enough that he and Beck described the majority of the budget of the state! So how can he not mention a single specific, instead only a vague approximation of a specific that probably takes about 0.001% of the budget?
We may like his attitude, but the man’s not very well-informed nor can he put out a cohesive thought on the matter. He makes Joe the Plumber look like Daniel Webster in comparison. This is not who we should be pointing to as the face of tax revolt.
calbear on May 28, 2009 at 9:11 PM
The self-employed, contractors, and others pay quarterly of their own free will (under threat, but free will nonetheless). I know of people who did not pay in for several years before the IRS caught on and made their lives hell. And of course there are those working for cash or using stolen Social Security numbers.
But you’re right that the vast majority of workers are anesthetized by having their money removed before it ever goes into their bank accounts. Most people don’t realize that they really pay 15% for Social Security and Medicare tax because they’re told that their employer “matches” their contributions. That’s nonsense. It’s part of the cost of employing you, and it’s money employers could use to pay employees if it weren’t being taken by the government. It’s your money – you just never see it, so you’re not out throwing tea in Boston Harbor.
aero on May 28, 2009 at 9:12 PM
They can’t take what you do not produce for them. The trick to not paying taxes is not to earn. Show them what communism does to the incentive to work.
keep the change on May 28, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Tax revenues were already way down by April 15th. People started hiding their income or cutting their purchases way down once Barry O was elected.
Hence the sudden talk of a VAT or “National Sales Tax” that will force even more economic activity into hiding (underground, person-to-person cash-only transactions) or cut off altogether in this country. Expect a large number of corporations moving outside the US once that happens.
Neo on May 28, 2009 at 9:13 PM
I share his frustration…………
…….. but I think he could have used the air time to argue for the repeal of the IRS in lieu of a 10% (or so) Flat Tax, that takes 2/3rds of the American People in a vote to raise, not just Congress.
If that would happen, the lobbyist money would dry up overnight, and Nancy Pelosi might have to get a job at a wax museum.
Seven Percent Solution on May 28, 2009 at 9:14 PM
always loved Coach
BPD on May 28, 2009 at 9:21 PM
I take it that Mr. Nelson is a “Friend of Abe”?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on May 28, 2009 at 9:22 PM
How soon do you think Craig is going to receive a call from the IRS asking for a closer look at his tax returns over the last ten years?
AaronGuzman on May 28, 2009 at 9:23 PM
Hahahahahahhahaha.
LibTired (KO) on May 28, 2009 at 9:24 PM
EXEMPT!
Joe Caps on May 28, 2009 at 9:25 PM
I have not read the California Constitution so I cannot speak to what, by law, the government of California is supposed to or not supposed to do to raise and spend money. And, while I believe there should be NO public education and it all should be put to the free market, most states’ Constitutions do authorize them to run an education system. Police, Firefighters, prisons, veteran’s benefits, etc. probably authorized by the CA Constitution – Police and Prisons necessary to secure life, liberty, and property.
Coach may not be the most articulate nor the best choice to be the face of the tax revolt, but right now, he is the only one I have seen advocate this. I thought he came across okay – he doesn’t want to be forced to save sea otters – Neither do I.
King of the Britons on May 28, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Allahp,
Do you like paying for GM workers to get their life pension after 30 years of service (18 to 48 for example)? re you getting a lifetime pension pal? Do you like the government taking out printing presses and printing up billions of dollars backed by nothing but air? Meanwhile you are told to pay a 10% penalty if you dare take a little of your own money out a little earlier than 60. Do you like paying for public education that probably didn’t send one finalist to the National Spelling Bee today? AWhy don’t you wake up. If you’re running a conservative blog feel free to think like a conservative.
pc on May 28, 2009 at 9:27 PM
I can say whatever I please on the subject because I am one of those suckers that paid up for taking out a chunk of my retirement early. My kids got nothing but the Uncle, some distant Yankee Uncle with little to nothing in common with me or my values, got it all. It sucks, plain and simple. It sucks. It sucks. It sucks.
pc on May 28, 2009 at 9:29 PM
I don’t care what he’s protesting, I’m just gonna start making my “Free Craig T. Nelson” signs.
JM Hanes on May 28, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Someone sent me an idea that instead of paying the Feds directly, the states should have an escrow account into which we pay our taxes, and with hold it from the Feds until they get their act together, i.e., fiscally responsible. This will put the chains back on them.
atheling on May 28, 2009 at 9:30 PM
How does one not pay their taxes? They take FICO and medicare and SS out of mine automatically.
SouthernGent on May 28, 2009 at 8:43 PM
Gee that sure is a nice finish you have on the bottom of that table.
heshtesh on May 28, 2009 at 9:34 PM
I’m hopeful more entertainers will “come out of the anti-obama-government closet” so to speak. Not that I think entertainers are the be all and end all, but people like Nelson can put a heavy-duty spotlight on irresponsible reps and call people out to answer for their actions.
ErinF on May 28, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Great card. There’s no spending limit – at least until China wants its money back.
Daggett on May 28, 2009 at 9:52 PM
Turbo-Tax Timmy figured it out.
BPD on May 28, 2009 at 10:04 PM
Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton were tax-and-spend liberals. Barackito Obamalini is a fascist.
MB4 on May 28, 2009 at 10:06 PM
What taxes; he ain’t workin’ anymore!!
PaCadle on May 28, 2009 at 10:11 PM
But they do put out a lot of very informed students on global warming, cell phones, condoming cucumbers, twitting and how western civilization and technology were created by latina women.
MB4 on May 28, 2009 at 10:12 PM
People will start moving into the black market to do business if things get too expensive.
Asher on May 28, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Uh,who’s he?
promachus on May 28, 2009 at 10:19 PM
I watched that segment. Nelson was talking about not paying his California state taxes. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse but it puts things in perspective.
LFRGary on May 28, 2009 at 10:25 PM
They want your money, and then they print fantasy-based bucks to fill in the gap between the reality of what they can squeeze out of us and the giveaway programs they want to promote in order to bribe voters for the next election.
Nelson is just a pointman in a generalized revolt against fiat money and insane overspending by our wishlisting “public servants”.
The disgust with our political delusionists is growing with every new multibillion dollar boondoggle (carbon taxes, health care “reform”, planned economy, etc.) they try to ram down our throats.
I wish Nelson luck in resisting “voluntarily” paying for Obama’s crackpipedream fiscal and social idiocies.
profitsbeard on May 28, 2009 at 10:25 PM
Polar Opposites Dept.
On that tv show, his wife was played by Leftist Missus Mike Farrell.
Del Dolemonte on May 28, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Speakup on May 28, 2009 at 10:30 PM
As a Californian, I know exactly who is responsible – Californians, who: voted for the spending, voted for the spenders and refused until now to say no to anything. Now, it’s too late and it’s gonna hurt, but we deserve it royally. I don’t depend much on government, but a lot of Californians do, for: their job, their retirement, their sit on my ass check, their kid’s bad education, their lame transportation, etc.
.
The Governator came in a few years ago and gave us a chance to reform and prevent this – we voted against all the reforms and voted for even more spending, as well as reelecting every single incumbent. He then gave up and joined the spenders. We have no choice now, but to cut. If we did have a choice, we would spend more.
.
We have Californicated ourselves good and now we’re waking up the next morning with a nasty, fugly mistake, and we’re both wearing a wedding ring.
bagoh20 on May 28, 2009 at 10:34 PM
Quite frankly there’s a lot of people who are in for a little surprise when the proverbial **** hits the fan. Most people don’t pay too much attention to policy questions, even if they think they do. You won’t get very much cogent info from watching The View, reading Newsweek, or sadly, tuning into Fox News, for that matter. All you get is mostly simplistic tripe, at best. Even sadder, most people’s exposure to the business of government comes from TV dramas, and Hollywood movies.
Here’s a little message for those who are addicted to Hollywood crap-Wait until Cap’n Trade sails into town me boys. You won’t know what hit you until it’s too late, buccos.
Dreadnought on May 28, 2009 at 10:35 PM
Or he might be saying that he doesn’t want to finance the obviously obvious destruction of these United States of America, which is what dopey is doing….and you can’t tell me he’s so stupid he doesn’t know it.
I don’t want to finance that either, but I have a legal way out….I use their own rules against them.
uh, I’m also not gonna say anymore about THAT.
Spiritk9 on May 28, 2009 at 10:51 PM
I think what Craig is trying to say is that he’s going Galt. Maybe he hasn’t been introduced to the book.
- The Cat
MirCat on May 28, 2009 at 10:56 PM
Hello AP,
As others have noted here, Nelson’s comments are best understood to begin as disgust with the state government, sort of rambling afterword into a general anti-statist view.
Here in CA we’re just coming out of an election cycle where the legislature tried to sneak in another tax increase through the proposition process. The campaign FOR the tax increases warned, ‘if you don’t vote for 1A, 1B etc., we’ll be firing thousands of teachers! Firefighters! Cops!’
They lost the election, and of course now the legislature is threatening to do just that. Rather than cut the bloated bureaucracy, renegotiate contracts with public employee unions, or tackle entitlements in general.
By the way, the California constitution mandates that at least 50% of state revenues go to education. Yet the state ranks consistently low in test scores. It would seem somewhere there must be some overhead.
Ralph64 on May 28, 2009 at 11:10 PM
If every taxpaying American thought the same way, we may have avoided this debacle.
The case of every other American who has paid taxes, whether one simple fact is: you are right. In fact, not only are you right in your case, you are right in every case, whether or not they have paid their taxes on time or not.
The problem with this line of thought is this: not enough people think the same way.
Chaz706 on May 28, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Coach was great until they went pro.
Of course the only one who still has a career is Spongebob’s sidekick.
Anyone remember Call to Glory?
reaganaut on May 28, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Yep, that’s the line every here on the other coast, in MA.
The brain-dead voters here voted against lowering income taxes! I’m sure a great deal of those votes came from non-income earners, you know – Obama voters.
Now, in the midst of the recession, they are raising the state sales tax. Brilliant.
We pay for thousands of worthless hack jobs, no-show jobs, hacks earning pensions and being paid for useless jobs (all well documented), but they scare people voters with the teachers/police/fire threats.
The Winter Hill gang never came close to the criminals in the state house.
reaganaut on May 28, 2009 at 11:21 PM
That was a mess of a post… the line here every year
but they scare
peoplevotersreaganaut on May 28, 2009 at 11:24 PM
This is crazy. And I really loved the show “Coach.”
What are the odds that either will follow through on an “I’m not paying taxes” pledge?
What are the odds that either have read “Common Sense” all the way through?
sandman on May 28, 2009 at 11:26 PM
The fact is his only specific was something he only knew about because of Beck opining that instead of reducing sea otter protection budget by 50%, the state should do so by 100%. But looking for savings in sea otters is about as effective as Obama cutting the debt by asking his cabinet to cut spending by $100 million. In fact, Nelson, like Obama, is proposing expanding the very programs that are already huge, the only ones from which substantial savings can come. Yes, prisons are necessary, but I bet guards could live with a smaller income and not all the prisoners currently incarcerated under California’s strict sentencing rules need to remain locked up. Schools are necessary, but there are some instances in which larger class sizes wouldn’t be a tragedy. These places are where the real money lies. Instead we’ve got someone complaining about the budget being cut in particular programs while wanting to cut the budget in some vague, magical way. And complaining when the representatives he voted for aren’t doing so! That’s not what the tea parties were about, and we shouldn’t give the left an opportunity to say otherwise by applauding Nelson.
calbear on May 28, 2009 at 11:53 PM
Allahpundit, you dolt, the problem is income tax.
Remember it was enacted to pay for WW2 and that is over in case you haven’t noticed.
If there were no income tax like we suffer today not one of those stinking politicians would be employed and the people would figure out a fair way to pay for necessary services.
jarhead0311 on May 29, 2009 at 12:15 AM
You’re not the only one, if that’s any consolation. I stopped purchasing things and stopped giving to charity some months ago, when I figured out which way the wind was blowing.
Alana on May 29, 2009 at 12:34 AM
Hes my starter list.
MagLev from LA to SF–scrap it. 9 billion in bonds to get the land and do cost studies. Contemplated it will take 75 billion to fully fund it…without overruns.
Stem Cell research—let the private sector fund it, California doesnt need to. 5 billion dollar bond used to pay for it.
California Domestic product slumps? Start writing in budget cuts to employee funds–so if the state gets less by overtaxing the departments must cut, whether by employee reduction or wage cuts.
True oversight, assign 10 current legislative staffers on the budget committee (note I said current staffers, no increase on employees) to do nothing but find programs that are wasting money or arent showing results. Then publish the findings and cut them, bet it becomes a tremendously popular government program.
Eliminate unions from state budgets. All state employee contracts are year to year, if they dont like it, they can go somewhere that they have to actually work for a living. Allowing tax payer funded jobs to unionize is the absolute height of folly.
Shoulder check the state and Fed EPA to show that wildlife protection must occur in a given habitat if and only if relocation isnt viable if it is, a given group of animals should be moved to allow for a business to not fear multi year litigation which costs the state AND the business.
Illegals. Dont just enforce border protection, stregnthen it in fact. Build an actual fence, finish the fence and start deporting all illegals guilty of any crime short of a capital offense. Fence costs you say? Make the current illegals doing time do the grunt work of digging and allow contractors to do the work that takes building skills. Defund bilingual teaching. Assimilation works to strengthen American identity and enforcing bilingualism is a major drain on the school system and reinforces an entitlement mentality.
Set a mandatory rainy day fund per county to be used only in the event of a deficit, that money will be used only to fund emergency services. All other spending to be cut until the budget corrects. Do the same on the state level.
How about we start with just those.
Opportunity Costs on May 29, 2009 at 12:36 AM
Yep, he was Col Raynor Sarnac, USAF pilot.
firepilot on May 29, 2009 at 2:09 AM
Unions seem to have sway. How about a citizens union.
Citizen Jim on May 29, 2009 at 2:25 AM
Good point. I liked BJ Hunnicut, but, man, that Farrell is as left as they git out there in the hills of Hollywood.
Captain Scarlet on May 29, 2009 at 2:47 AM
Truly awesome. I salute this man!
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants – Thomas Jefferson
Let’s roll.
long_cat on May 29, 2009 at 2:51 AM
I love Coach. Always did. I wonder if there is any chance that he will get into politics? The truth is the people who need to be involved so often do not want to get involved.
Terrye on May 29, 2009 at 6:26 AM
Now THAT’S a blast from the past!
J.J. Sefton on May 29, 2009 at 7:25 AM
Gosh, Allah, I thought he was pretty direct about what he didn’t want to pay for, the bailouts. Threats about cutting education and essential services is a tried and true tactic by politicians to get the masses to agree to higher taxes. Hey, (fill in state capital), we’re on to you. Even within those essential services there is room to tighten the belt. No wonder our politicians appear so ineffective they are use to doing what they darn well please. An educated populace and instant communications has thrown many for a loop. More, please.
Cindy Munford on May 29, 2009 at 7:53 AM
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