Posted by
Michael Harkins on Thursday, May 21, 2009 4:38:51 AM
By a margin of two to one California voters said no to more taxes on Tuesday. This message should be heard loud and clear.
Despite the Golden State's financial woes, the people of California do not want to bail Governor Schwarzenegger and the State Legislature out of the mess they created.
Enough! It is time that Government cut back. That plea has been said many times before. It is never taken seriously because the bureaucratic monster never cuts back, it is always growing. And in sunny California, while many families have struggled with layoffs, shrinking home values and rising energy prices within the last year, local government has increased in size.
Last year, total state government increased by about five thousand jobs. At $60,000 per year, California has the highest average salary in the nation for state workers. That figure does not include individual benefits. Of course, we do not know how much of those positions were part time, or where the new hires started on the pay scale. The point, which needs to be told until the politicians grasp it, no matter how blatantly obvious it is, while the average Californian was asked to cut back, state government did not.
We are tired of being asked to sacrifice in the name of the state. We must ask and demand that government cut back, like we have done.