Subject: Senator Hancock's Budget Update
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:00:34 -0700
From: Senator.Hancock@senate.ca.gov
Dear Friend,
Last week, as California's budget collapsed, the state Controller began issuing IOUs. This week, California's largest banks say they will soon stop accepting them. We have been brought to this place by the reckless and unnecessary choices made by Governor Schwarzenegger.
In June, Democrats passed a $23 billion budget reduction package - the Governor vetoed it. The package had more than $11 billion in heartbreaking cuts which no Democrat wanted to make. However, we refused to shred the safety net for millions of human beings, as the Governor demanded. We recognized the crisis and made more than a good-faith attempt to address hard economic times and meet the Governor halfway.
After the veto, Democrats attempted a second compromise. We proposed a $23 billion package, this time without taxes – just as he demanded. It included cuts to almost every health and welfare program but still protected the safety net for millions of Californians, although at a very minimal level. We were able to do this without new revenue by re-allocating $1 billion of redevelopment funds and using $1 billion of reserve funds. A rainy day fund of $3 billion remained. Once again, the Governor refused to meet us half-way.
Then, as June came to a close, the Governor rejected the Legislature's attempt at a short-term solution that would have taken us through the summer and avoided the need to resort to IOUs. With that irresponsible act the Governor dug the state into an even deeper hole, adding at least $3 billion to the deficit. That means that more money will need to be cut from schools, cities, parks and health care.
Now the Governor is demanding long-term policy changes that have been repeatedly turned down by voters through the initiative process and that he cannot get approved through legislation. The Governor is insisting on his way or the highway, and refusing to compromise.
As a result millions of Californians will suffer – and I'm learning that it takes a lot of human suffering to reach even $1 billion in cuts. It didn't have to come to this. California has reasonable and legitimate options to raise revenues: An oil extraction tax (California is the only oil producing state without one) and a tobacco tax, for example, are two such options.
Additionally, we have the largest cash reserve the state has had in 20 years. If reserves are meant to be used on a "rainy day", now is certainly the time to use them. But, the Governor says no.
Rather than move toward compromise, the Governor's position seems to have hardened in recent days, veering away from working together to find a reasonable solution. As a result, we will pay millions more in interest payments and families and small business people throughout the state will face hardship and an uncertain future.
If you would like to see more detailed information about the inaccuracy of the Governor's statements regarding the state's safety net programs, I recommend an analysis prepared by the California State Association of Counties. The document can be viewed at: https://www.csac.counties.org/images/users/1/Myths%20and%20Facts-%20Final.pdf
Additionally, Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, has provided a comprehensive analysis of what's wrong with the Governor's so-called "reform" proposals. It can be viewed at: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a07/Pressroom/Press/20090708AD07PR01.aspx
I hope that you will continue to make your views known to the Governor on this crucial matter. As always, I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
Sincerely,
Senator Hancock.
***
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/world/asia/12iran.html?_r=1&ref=world
Senior Cleric Says Leaders Of Iran Are Unfit to Rule
By ROBERT F. WORTH
NY Times: July 12, 2009
BEIRUT, Lebanon - One of Iran's most senior clerics issued an unusual decree
on Saturday calling the country's rulers "usurpers and transgressors" for
their treatment of opposition protesters in recent weeks, in the strongest
condemnation by a religious figure since the contested presidential election
a month ago.
The decree by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a dissident who has
often criticized Iran's ruling clerics, did not mention by name Iran's
supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but was clearly aimed at the
clerical leadership.
Posted on the Web site of Mohsen Kadivar, a dissident cleric and former
student of Ayatollah Montazeri, the ruling said the recent arrests and
shootings of protesters were proof that Iran's leaders are unqualified to
rule the community of Muslims.
"In my estimate this is the strongest criticism ever of the supreme leader,"
said Rasool Nafisi, a United States-based academic and Iran expert.
"Although it doesn't mention Ayatollah Khamenei by name, it is clear he is
referring to him."
It is unlikely that the decree, or fatwa, will have any immediate effect in
Iran, where opposition figures have already made their positions clear. Some
prominent clerics, including Ayatollah Montazeri, have joined political
figures in criticizing the government crackdown on street protests in recent
weeks, and have said that they believed the election was rigged.
But mostly they have done so in cautious terms. None have made sweeping
attacks on the government's credentials like the one issued Saturday.
"It will have a much stronger effect if other senior clerics, who have also
felt the danger, join Montazeri and issue these kinds of statements," said
one political analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of
retribution. "But it will not become mainstream as long as only an
individual cleric uses such strong terms."
Although Ayatollah Montazeri has long been known as a critic of the
government, his opinions have weight because of his seniority in Iran's
religious establishment, and because he was a key proponent of wilayat
faqih, or rule by clerics - the theoretical underpinning of Iran's
theocracy.
Ayatollah Montazeri, 87, was a leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran
and was once designated the successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. But he
fell out with Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 over the execution of a large group
of prisoners and other policies he deemed unjust.
The ruling came as news agencies reported that Iran's foreign minister
announced that the government was preparing a new package of "political,
security and international" issues to put to the West. The minister,
Manouchehr Mottaki, said at a news conference that "the package can be a
good basis for talks with the West," Reuters reported.
Mr. Mottaki's statement was Iran's first response to comments on Wednesday
by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France at the Group of 8 summit meeting in
Italy, where he said the major powers would give Iran until September to
accept negotiations over its nuclear program or face tougher sanctions.
President Obama echoed that warning on Friday.
Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Toronto.
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