California’s Deficit -- Then and Now

Re “Burton Calls Budget Plan ‘Unworthy,’ ” Jan. 13: Although no one -- including, likely, our new governor himself -- can be totally happy about the drastic measures required in the proposed budget, I am surprised that state Senate Leader John Burton (D-San Francisco) has the audacity to call it “unworthy.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger inherited an astronomical budget deficit mostly brought on by reckless spending and poor budgeting under Burton’s watch during Gov. Gray Davis’ administration, and the only solution Burton can offer is to raise more taxes?

To many of us, Burton is looking more and more like the child who has carelessly crashed his old bike and then places the blame on the repairman for not being able to restore the bike to mint condition. If Burton possessed even a semblance of self-respect, the least he could do would have been to shut up and wait for the repairman to finish his job.

John T. Chiu

Newport Beach

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Re “Schwarzenegger Just Acts Like He Cares for the Poor,” Commentary, Jan. 13: Sure, it’s just fine that Robert Scheer and Burton complain about Schwarzenegger’s cuts to the programs for the poor and disabled, but they don’t mention the good news: Not one Hummer driver will suffer.

Marion Lewish

San Diego

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Scheer sounds just like the man he is complaining about -- he acts like he cares for the poor. The author should have nothing to complain about; after all, $669 is a lot of free money that involves no sweat. You can get it from the government just by being poor in America.

If Scheer doesn’t think it’s enough and truly feels sorry for them, perhaps he should work two jobs to support one poor family in the U.S.

Cynthia Vincent

Yorba Linda

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Schwarzenegger claims that we all must pitch in to solve the California budget crisis.

Well, my wife and I are doing fine financially, we own our home and have no school-age kids, and we’d be more than happy to do our fair share to help out. And yet, like so many thousands of other Californians, we haven’t been asked by our governor to contribute anything. I would have no problem paying a fair property tax, based on the remarkably appreciated value of my home, or possibly contributing the hundreds of dollars I don’t waste on gasoline every year because my Toyota Prius gets almost 50 miles per gallon.

The point is: Schwarzenegger’s budget is a sham. It’s unfair and will do nothing to address the systematic and long-term deficiencies in the state budget.

Craig Boreth

Santa Monica

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With the governor’s submittal of a budget that takes nearly all its cues from budgets of a decade ago, it’s clear that the Schwarzenegger administration is really just the Wilson administration redux, but with more charisma, more smoke and mirrors, more promises that may or may not be kept, more “stick it to poor people and college students” while the rich skate by. Is this a great state or what?

Michael S. Brown

Santa Barbara

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Our state has already faced numerous hospital closures. Yet the governor’s budget cuts $1.8 billion from health care. This could have been completely avoided if the state hadn’t given up more than $4 billion in motor vehicle fees.

It seems to me that in California we trade human lives for the sake of saving a couple bucks on our cars. Other states aren’t laughing anymore.

James Bennett Saxon

Marina del Rey