Blue State Recipes of 'Higher Taxes, Less Fiscal Responsibility' Pay Dividends as Cali, New York and Illinois Near Collapse

Detect a theme in the following local news stories?

California tax revenue slides again

California’s cash balance is “stable today, but could be short-lived,” after dipping $54.6 million — or 0.5 percent — in June, compared to the governor’s May revision... Larger-than-anticipated declines in corporate taxes and sales-tax revenue offset the $333 million, or 6.1 percent, increase in person income tax revenue, State Controller John Chiang said in a news release Friday. Corporate taxes declined $156 million, while sales-tax revenue fell $153 million, or down 7.5 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively.

“The governor and Legislature’s lack of urgency in adopting an honest budget could pave the way to a completely avoidable cash crisis later this year,” Chiang said... The state’s $9.9 billion budget deficit cash deficit is being covered by internal borrowing.

Illinois wrestles with $13 billion deficit

[Gov.] Quinn’s announce[d] late last week that he was cutting state spending by $1 billion as he wrestles with one of the worst state budget deficits in the country. State legislators wrapped up their session earlier this year, leaving Quinn with a $13 billion deficit to resolve... [A recent Rasmussen Reports survey found that, among Illinois residents,]:

-- 71 percent say the country is in a recession, and 46 percent say the economy is getting worse.
-- 55 percent want to repeal President Obama’s health care plan.
-- 51 percent disagree with the Justice Department’s decision to challenge Arizona’s new immigration law.
-- 27 percent view Gov. Quinn “very unfavorably.” (Is that all?)

New York Budget Late, Stuck in Neutral

The state's budget is now 101 days late, New York's leaders have ceased negotiating with each other and fresh revenue problems could be on the horizon in two months...

The state could face new cash problems in September and Gov. David Paterson may withhold $2 billion in school aid in order to cover costs, his office said...

...A controversial plan to allow the state and local governments to essentially borrow from the pension fund also remains an issue, as does creating a contingency fund in case up to $1 billion in federal Medicaid money isn't sent to the state...

The theme, my friends, is these states -- despite uniform Democrat control for decade upon decade -- can't even come up with budgets.

Yet their answer to every situation is more government: more taxes, more borrowing, more fiscal irresponsibility, more kicking the can down the road.

IF YOU DON'T VOTE IN 2010 -- and vote out every Democrat you possibly can -- we'll soon see similar catastrophes at the federal level. It's either 2010 for fiscal responsibility or -- it's over.