Guest Commentary
by George Plescia
The budget deadline is today.
And yet this morning’s Sacramento Bee headline says it all, “California lawmakers race to pass a budget with little time to read it.” So much for transparency. Nobody would want to read exactly how the state proposes to spend $91 billion dollars before they vote on it. All this so they can get paid.
Which brings us to the deficit: $17 billion – and counting. Every day that the Legislature delays real pension reform, it costs the state $3.4 million a day, according to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research pension study. That is because the state is saddled by $500 billion in unfunded public employee retiree’s health and pension benefits. You can’t dig the state out of the deficit ditch without real pension reform.
San Diego and San Jose voters understood this and passed real pension reform in both cities by astonishing margins – 66% and 70% respectively. They understand, as the Democrat legislators who control everything in Sacramento do not, that this day of reckoning must happen to avoid disaster.
My Democrat opponent, Assemblyman Marty Block, was here in San Diego on election night. The voter’s mandate on pension reform in San Diego is crystal clear. And the facts state-wide are indisputable: There is no way to address the budget deficit without pension reform. Marty Block has delayed pension reform for two years, adding $2.5 billion to California’s debt.
Even though no one actually knows what is in the $91 billion budget they will be voting on today, we can be certain that there will be no pension reform in it and that Marty Block will nonetheless vote yes for this sham budget.
Marty Block needs to lead and demand real pension reform before passing this budget.
Or maybe Marty thinks San Diego’s voters got it wrong last week.
Comments 5
He’s not called Marty BLOCK for nothing.
Any reform? Marty will block it.
Don’t get me wrong. As a caring Democrat, Marty Block CARES about the people of San Diego, he CARES about the children, he CARES about the future of our state.
It’s just that he cares MORE about the dictates from his DE FACTO bosses — the labor unions.
It’s all a matter of priorities. Marty is faithful to his labor masters. And they value his loyalty.
I doubt the unions and Marty Block have signed a WRITTEN employment contract, but this ironclad agreement is there for all to see.
Apparently we are the fools since we elect politicians that don’t read the bill before voting on it -“Even though no one actually knows what is in the $91 billion budget they will be voting on today”. It’s apparent that many politicians are not leaders. They rather do what their party leadership tells them to do than do what would be right and wait until they could read the bill and make a real call on the bill.
But again, the blame rests on us for electing them.
Actually Roger, I have to disagree a bit with your common assertion. The blame does NOT rest on “us.” It rests on the folks who voted for such dolts and sycophants. Those of us who voted for their opponents are hereby absolved of any culpability.
Thanks to Tom Shepard for pointing this article from U-T San Diego aboutthe new state budget that after all the caterwauling about cuts is, surprise, surprise, actually larger than the previous one.
Throughout the drawn-out budget debate, the message from the Democrats who control the statehouse has been that they are reluctantly making deep cuts in core public services.
The $91.4 billion general fund passed with relative ease on Friday is not shrinking, though. That figure is 5.6 percent larger than the previous year’s budget. . .
Actually, as an RB resident, this is the first time that I can remember that I am being represented by a Dem Senator (and there are a lot of years, my last Senator was Mark Wyland), this district was literally cut out to make Rep vote = NIL, it is all along the coast then cuts through Carmel Valley/Highway 56 to Rancho Bernardo – because we all know that CV and RB have the same concerns of the coastal residents. So Richard, I agree, I’m not the bonehead who voted Block in, but I will be the lady knocking on doors working very hard to get dear George Plescia elected!!! I like George and will be happy to help him.