Economy

California Is Screwed

This is staggering:

The cuts Mr. Schwarzenegger has proposed to make up the difference, if enacted by the Legislature, would turn California into a place that in some ways would be unrecognizable in modern America: poor children would have no health insurance, prisoners would be released by the thousands and state parks would be closed.

And...

Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is threatening to eliminate the Healthy Family Program, the state’s health insurance program that covers over 900,000 children and is financed with state and federal money, as well as the state’s main welfare program, known as Cal-Works, which provides temporary financial assistance to poor families and a caregiver for the severely disabled.

The $1 billion in cuts to programs for the poor would be met with $680 million in new cuts to education and a 5 percent salary reduction for state employees, many of whom are already enduring furloughs.

AND...

With the cuts to Medicaid, the state would probably increase its number of uninsured people by nearly 2 million, the California Budget Project says.

At least the Republicans can't accuse Arnold of being an "economic girly man."

See how Republicanism works? Create economic policies that disproportionately favor the super wealthy until it nearly bankrupts the economy. Then pay the bill by further screwing poor people and children.

Adding... When will the Right to Life people descend on California to make sure all of those 4th-through-48th trimester children survive?