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California's gain....
By: Joshua S. Treviño
5.1.2007 12:51:00 PM
The San Francisco Chronicle reports this morning that the California state government is relieved to have taken in some extra money in the 2006 tax-collection cycle. "[A] surge in personal tax payments processed by the state in the last week pushed April collections to almost $12 billion -- far ahead of the $10.5 billion that had been predicted for the month," reports the Chron, which adds, "Corporate tax collections through April also exceeded estimates and gave the state $564 million more than expected for the year." Take those numbers, and contrast them with this, again from the same piece: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to announce his revised budget plan May 14. It is expected to call for more than $140 billion in spending on such services as schools, public health, prisons and state highways." The San Francisco Chronicle reports this morning that the California state government is relieved to have taken in some extra money in the 2006 tax-collection cycle. "[A] surge in personal tax payments processed by the state in the last week pushed April collections to almost $12 billion -- far ahead of the $10.5 billion that had been predicted for the month," reports the Chron, which adds, "Corporate tax collections through April also exceeded estimates and gave the state $564 million more than expected for the year." Take those numbers, and contrast them with this, again from the same piece: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to announce his revised budget plan May 14. It is expected to call for more than $140 billion in spending on such services as schools, public health, prisons and state highways." In my speechwriting days, a common refrain for my principal was, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money." The state of California is taking in real money, with the personal income-tax collection figure above alone exceeding the full national budgets of many countries. The question for the state, here, is why, despite this, it still faces chronic shortfalls. The question for the journalists of the San Francisco Chronicle is why it chooses to report the money as a gain for the government rather than a loss for the people. The latter would be more accurate -- and a precursor to more responsible rhetoric and policy in the public square.
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