Michelle Malkin » California holds a gun to our heads

California holds a gun to our heads

By Michelle Malkin • October 3, 2008 10:38 AM

Oh, for crying out loud.

Timed to put pressure on the House to swallow Crap Sandwich 2.0, Arnold Schwarzenegger puts the feds on notice that California “might need an emergency loan of as much as $7 billion from the federal government within weeks.”

LAT:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, alarmed by the ongoing national financial crisis, warned Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson on Thursday that the state might need an emergency loan of as much as $7 billion from the federal government within weeks.

The warning comes as California is close to running out of cash to fund day-to-day government operations and is unable to access routine short-term loans that it typically relies on to remain solvent.

The state of California is the biggest of several governments nationwide that are being locked out of the bond market by the global credit crunch. If the state is unable to access the cash, administration officials say, payments to schools and other government entities could quickly be suspended and state employees could be laid off.

Plans by several state and local governments to borrow in recent days have been upended by the credit freeze. New Mexico was forced to put off a $500-million bond sale, Massachusetts had to pull the plug halfway into a $400-million offering, and Maine is considering canceling road projects that were to be funded with bonds.

California finance experts say they know of no time in recent history when the state has sought an emergency loan of this magnitude from the federal government. The only other such rescue was in 1975, they said, when the federal government lent New York City money to avoid bankruptcy.

Someone tell me why we should bail out basket-case California for spending itself into the ground and refusing to change its constitutionally-self-imposed limits on discretionary spending?!

Oh, wait, I know the answer: It’s because everyone else and their mother is getting massive, billion-dollar aid. Why not California?

Why not every other state, city, and locality running budget deficits?

We’re Screwed ‘08.

Posted in: Subprime crisis

Printer Friendly

comments (117)

trackbacks (4)

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Trackbacks

Trackback URL

Comments

« Older Comments

#101

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm, Misscheryl said:

#100 – throw in a Roe vs Wade reversal and I’m there!
#102

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm, Prickly Pear said:

On October 3rd, 2008 at 12:44 pm, jbh45 said:
right-on #89, we are keeping our powder dry in socal. If BO wins, LA will burn in celebration. If BO loses LA will burn in protest. Either way, absolute chaos!

And the state/federal government will ride in w/ billions of dollars of aid to rebuild the areas that were destroyed by the “poor and opressed” people looking for free shoes and stereos.Let the rioters sleep in the bed they make.
#103

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm, jbh45 said:

Rambler #98: paying taxes is the patriotic thing to do, don’t you know!
#104

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:40 pm, NotaSlickFan said:

MM said:

Oh, wait, I know the answer: It’s because everyone else and their mother is getting massive, billion-dollar aid. Why not California?

Actually it’s because this state is and has been forever it seems,
run by the Democrats. Gov. Arnie is a RINO. The Dims in this state go for every type of “revenue enhancement” (taxes, both hidden and blatant) and have no clue as to how to budget the money. Crooks one and all.
#105

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm, eforhan said:

Clearly the answer is to raise taxes and give everyone free health care.
#106

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm, rocketman said:

Governor Arnold S. used to be a financial conservative–look what marrying into the Kennedy family did for his thoughts!

I knew he had left the reservation when he didn’t veto the stem cell research bill and thought it was O.K. to stick the California taxpayers with millions of dollars extra on their taxes. If there had been any payoff in this research private drug companies would risk their money–they didn’t–no profit here.

As far as California killing / driving off business with high taxes and overzealous / unneeded environmental regulations–the AMMRAM air-to-air missile used to be built by Hughes in California. The plant was moved to Arizona and the cost of the missile dropped by about 30 percent–as I remember. Thousands of jobs left California and moved to Arizona.

California retirees are selling their houses (if they can) and moving out of the state to more friendly / lower tax states. California keeps shooting itself in the foot unnecessarily–sanctuary cities for illegal aliens, socialist policies, etc. They have killed the world’s sixth largest economy and expect us to bail them out.

I hope they do not move to Texas–they have already corrupted Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and New Mexico with their socialist ideas.

John Bibb
#107

On October 3rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm, alamedaman said:

bail me out Nanny Pelosi!
#108

On October 3rd, 2008 at 2:26 pm, tuffy said:

May I have a loan in order to flee California? TIA!
#109

On October 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 pm, The Ugly American said:

Pat Brown must be rolling over in his grave.

Talk about your crap sandwiches.

Sacramento has been stuffing them down our throats for years now.
#112

On October 3rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm, Misscheryl said:

Who’s next – why it’ll be Michigan – another state run by democrats. They’ll want their trillon
#113

On October 3rd, 2008 at 4:37 pm, Socky said:

Of course when the Fed prints up more $$$ to pay me and everyone else, a loaf of bread alone will run about $2.3 billion.

I have a strong feeling we’re headed for Mugabe-land in this country.
#114

On October 3rd, 2008 at 4:50 pm, RetFireman said:

We pushed for and elected Ahhnold as a way to rid ourselves of the human waste that was Gray Davis and the horrid mess and billions of dollars of debt and budgetary shortfalls.

He ran on and was supposed to make things work here. All we got was the biggest F’n RINO this state could have produced, with him leaving this state repeatedly as bad or worse than what Davis did.

We should have known when the California Republican Party could not produce a single candidate to defeat Davis with his horrendous record in the General Election, that there really are no true Republicans or Conservatives left of Political Running Ability. This is just further prof of that.

California is a wasteland of Democrat and Liberal waste and uselessness.

The Legislature has been a vast majority of Dems for YEARS, yet they repeatedly blame everything on the Republicans. Considering that there seems to be no difference between the two so far as elected law makers go, there can be no doubt that as California goes, so goes The Union…Democrat run and controlled wise.
#115

On October 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pm, 24Klady said:

Wasn’t there some kind of billion dollar research they were going to do (on CA tax payer’s dime) on either stem cell or AIDS research…? Since no results have been published, let him raid that funding. I am so sick of people with their hands out expecting D.C. to cure all their past sins. We cannot, and never have been able to have all the toys/goodies/and wish lists fulfilled that we dream up. I had to move on because I could see that Sac, and most major cities in CA, were no longer sympathetic to the ones that pay the bills. There is a life to be made in other places if you so choose. I had a close friend that once remarked, “California is a place that people use on their way somewhere else.” Made me hopping mad at the time. But, Awwnold needs to be impeached, along with 2/3 of the state legislature. It’s called – fiduciary responsibility.
#116

On October 3rd, 2008 at 7:16 pm, robhic said:

Guess they shouldn’t have encouraged all those illegals to “put your feet up and stay awhile…” While thumbing their nose at the rest of America and allowing the invaders to bankrupt their system, maybe it’s a case of too bad, so sad.

Tough luck California. Tell your guests to leave.
#117

On October 4th, 2008 at 12:06 am, Micheleeroo said:

A loan will NOT solve the problem, if California doesn’t stop its reckless spending ways. Seriously. It would be like giving a drunk a drink. NO! You don’t have an income problem, California, you have a spending problem!
#119

On October 4th, 2008 at 2:54 pm, sandyb said:

right_on said:
Living in Northern California, I have noticed an interesting trend. Sales of Home Security Systems is up, as are sales of handguns. Retailers are selling out their orders for handgun ammunition, almost as quickly as they come in. Has anyone of my fellow Californians noticed this trend? (And yes, I am stocking up.)

Law enforcement locally, will not have the funds to put more officers on the street next year, and the ratio of police to citizen is falling below what is considered ideal. As such, the police have asked for more “public awareness” to help the police fight crime.

Does Kully-Fohn-Ya automatically jail a homeowner for shooting in self-defense if it’s a home invasion? That would sound about right for those moonbats. Sounds like it’s about to become the Wild, Wild West again, with frontier justice. And THAT will certainly beat the braindead pols making laws out there.

Isn’t it amusing that when the $$ dries up, at least some city councils (isn’t it Santa Barbara?) reconsider drilling?
#120

On October 4th, 2008 at 3:01 pm, sandyb said:

Look at the massive debt in CA and then look at Alaska. Last I heard, Sarah Palin banked $300 million in surplus funds and sidewalks were on the way to becoming heated! Now tell me who’s unqualified and ill-informed.