Tag: State Spending

How Does Your State GDP Match-Up?

In these days of massive tax cuts for governments…..how does your state match-up with other countries……

Amazing how many states have the GDP of third world countries, huh?

Is America still Number One? Depends on which metrics you use. By at least one measure, China’s economy already is the world’s biggest (1). Other criteria still put the U.S. ahead, at least for a few more years.

This map presents another way to gauge the size of the American economy, and one less prone to the ‘declinism’ of the eternal comparison to China.

Source: US States Renamed as Countries with Similar GDPs | Big Think

Ain’t graphics grand?

Republican Misrule | The American Conservative

Every time I hear a politician tell me how great my state will be if only conservatives ran everything……well my state has been run by cowardly conservs for a long time…..then I tell people to go to a stat site on economics and social issues and look at Mississippi…..we are always on the top of a worse list and the bottom of a best list….that is what conserv rule will do to your state….

While surfing the other day I found a piece in the American Conservative (that;s right…I read conservative stuff also)….it goes along with what I am saying about one party rule at the state level……

Read it and LEARN!

 

Republican Misrule | The American Conservative.

Are You Poor And Need Help?

From the VOMITORIUM

Yes the GOP is standing by Ryan’s budget….but not too close….they all see the handwriting on the wall…..mess with Medicare and lose your re-election bid….and we know that it is all about being re-elected and nothing about what is best for the people of this country….anyway…..Medicare will most likely be safe from the massive overhaul and eventual privatization that the Repubs had wanted…and that will be great news……but…..there is always a but…..what about Medicaid?  You know that program in the states that assists the poor in receiving medical care?  Will it be safe from the hatchet job that the Repubs were planning for Medicare?

It seems that Ryan’s budget will still have this program in the cross hairs and if he and his cronies are successful what will it mean to the poor in the states?

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities delves into the details of Ryan’s plan to slash Medicaid by more than a third over the next decade, and in half over the next two decades:

          • Seniors:   An overwhelming majority of Medicare beneficiaries who live in nursing homes rely on Medicaid for their nursing home coverage.  Because the Ryan plan would require such deep cuts in federal Medicaid funding, it would inevitably result in less coverage for nursing home residents and shift more of the cost of nursing home care to elderly beneficiaries and their families.  A sharp reduction in the quality of nursing home care would be virtually inevitable, due to the large reduction that would occur in the resources made available to pay for such care.
          • People with disabilities:   These individuals constitute 15 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries but account for 42 percent of all Medicaid expenditures, mostly because of their extensive health and long-term care needs.  Capping federal Medicaid funding would place significant financial pressure on states to scale back eligibility and coverage for this high-cost population, many of whom would be unable to obtain coverage elsewhere because of their medical conditions.
          • Children:  Currently, state Medicaid programs must provide children with health care services and treatments they need for their healthy development through the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) aspect of Medicaid, which provides regular preventive care for children and all follow-up diagnostic and treatment services that children are found to need.  A block grant would likely permit states to drop EPSDT coverage, meaning that children, particularly those with special health care needs, would not be able to access some care that medical professionals find they need (because Medicaid would no longer cover certain health services and treatments for children, and their parents wouldn’t be able to afford to pay for that care on their own).

See…..they may be pushing back from the horrible idea of the voucher system for Medicare…they are still trying to kill the medical coverage for the poor….for they know that if it boils down to the states solely…the program will disappear….governors have been trying to kill it for decades and now they are within sight of success….

I Was Wro….Wro…Wro…..Mistaken

A Correction to a blog post:

My post was on 21 Feb 2011 and entitled ” Civil Disobedience Comes Home”….

I try to be fair….yes, I have an opinion and I let it be known (surprise)…….but I will admit it when I am wro….wro….MISTAKEN!

The situation in Wisconsin lead me to report on an article I had seen that the Governor created the budget deficit that he now uses to try and kill all union activity in the state…..well, I know how hard it is to believe but I was mistaken and the good people at Politifact have brought it to my attention…..I will correct my error……..

There is, indeed, a projected deficit that required attention, and Walker and GOP lawmakers did not create it.

More on that second point in a bit.

The confusion, it appears, stems from a section in Lang’s memo that — read on its own — does project a $121 million surplus in the state’s general fund as of June 30, 2011.

But the remainder of the routine memo — consider it the fine print — outlines $258 million in unpaid bills or expected shortfalls in programs such as Medicaid services for the needy ($174 million alone), the public defender’s office and corrections. Additionally, the state owes Minnesota $58.7 million under a discontinued tax reciprocity deal.

The result, by our math and Lang’s, is the $137 million shortfall.

It would be closer to the $340 million figure if the figure included the $200 million owed to the state’s patient compensation fund, a debt courts have declared resulted from an illegal raid on the fund under former Gov. Jim Doyle.

So, I apologize for my mis-reporting on the deficit for the state of Wisconsin……but (there is always a but)…..I stand by my assertions about the motives of Gov. Walker…..that he is only pursuing the tact set forth by the GOP in the 40’s….attack on the unions with the intent of breaking them and making them ineffectual….both economically and politically…..

But do not take my word for it….go to

http://bit.ly/b6LX4i

Why does the Right seldom use Politifact and its fact checking?  Could it be that they know their spin is mostly LIES?  Just a thought!

I regret that I did NOT pay enough attention to all the facts….hopefully I have learned my lesson and it will not happen again….but after all I am only human (a point that some will debate)……

Why Bureaucracy?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Political Theory/Political Administration

This is a continuation of a discussion that one of my most avid readers, Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll to get to his site)……we have discussed the evils of the heavy bureaucracy that is prevalent in democracies…..but I want to talk about the bureaucracy on the local or state level this time…..

I will talk about my state…Mississippi……(thanx for all the sympathy cards)……..the state has 82 counties….and in some cases the county seats are less than 25 miles apart….the counties were created around land ownership, in most cases or were created in the days of the horse and buggy as the only mode of transportation….those days are gone and so are the days of the necessity for so many different jurisdictions…..

The capital city of Jackson and its suburbs are located in 3 counties…..the Coast, which is about 26 miles long, has three repeated county seats…..Hattiesburg, locate between Coast and the Capital, and its suburbs cover 2 counties, maybe three……my point is, if the state is truly wanting to saving money it is time for some realistic consolidation…..eliminate all the duplication….K.I.S.S. and consolidation is the simplest solution…..

All that is a worthless waste of resources just to keep the “good ol boy” system in place….states are struggling to save money and balance their budgets and still offer the services that the people need….but instead of looking at reality they attempt all sorts of revenue generating schemes that in the long run harm the people that they say they are trying to help…..

Elected officials need to cease all this bantering and pseudo-fixes to the administration of government and look for real solutions….no matter if they are popular or not……eventually a real statesman will appear and do what is necessary….until then…..budgets will be crap and the people will suffer while the politicians keep lying and cheating the people out of their future…….sorry to be a downer……but we need to face reality and stop sticking our heads in the sane and exposing our butts to the politicians….they WILL take advantage……

Another good plan for the people’s money…..where I live the local courthouse decided to build a new parking garage….they tore up an existing parking lot and when the garage was built they gain about 3 new parking spaces…..but it was imperative that it be built…….the old parking lot was perfectly good but they had to have a garage and the couple extra parking spots cost about $1 million each…..not bad if you are a contractor, huh?  God I love this stuff!

Side Note:

One appointment in a memo announcing White House staffing changes sounds like something from a future Harvard Kennedy School case study of what went wrong: Emmett Beliveau was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Chief of Staff.  God, I love this stuff…it just keeps getting better and better……

Civil Disobedience Comes Home!

From the VOMITORIUM

In the last month all of the Middle East has exploded into protests…..by now we all have heard the reasons….no jobs, little food, little pay, total breakdown of society for the people and a well spring for the authoritarian a/holes that hold the power….somewhere I though it would be good if Americans would get off their lazy butts and start demanding that the pigs in Washington would start acting as a true rep of the people….so far I have been sadly disappointed….we Americans stand by and allow the crap to happen…..

But wait!  Wisconsin has revved up and the public employees are protesting the bill by their new governor that would target unions, especially public service unions…trying  to eliminate collective bargaining, screwing with their pensions and their health care….basically it is an attack on unions….a typical GOP strategy…that and trying to eliminate any organization that deals with the poor……

All the pundits whether Right or Left have been calling this action by the governor as a way to attack the state budget and that the protesters are just cowards for NOT caring about the state deficit……25,000 protests have descended on the state capital of Madison to voice their disapproval of these targeted actions….

Let us look a little closer at the situation……as of January whjen the governor took office there was an expectation of a budget surplus of about $120 million…..but shortly after the swearing in….the Repub governor and his cronies in the GOP lead legislature passed a sweeping bill that spent $140 million on the special interests that paid him for his campaign…..news pundits say that the people need to do the math….I agree……a $125 million surplus minus the $140 million bill mean that there will be a deficit…….a deficit that the governor the legislature brought onto the people of Wisconsin and now the public employees are asked to make up the shortfall……I WOULD BE PISSED TOO!

Oh by the way….there are exemptions from the cuts those would be the police union, firefighters union and the state troops union…….in case you are interested…these 3 unions were the ones that supported Walker in his campaign…..coincidence?  Like Hell!

A few more tidbits……

The Fiscal Bureau memo — which readers can access here — makes it clear that Walker did not inherit a budget that required a repair bill.

The facts are not debatable.

Because of the painful choices made by the previous Legislature, Wisconsin is in better shape fiscally than most states.

Wisconsin has lower unemployment than most states.

Wisconsin has better prospects for maintaining great schools, great public services and a great quality of life than most states, even in turbulent economic times.

Unfortunately, Walker has a political agenda that relies on the fantasy that Wisconsin is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Walker is not interested in balanced budgets, efficient government or meaningful job creation.

Walker is interested in gaming the system to benefit his political allies and campaign contributors.

Any deficit that may occur in Wisconsin had NOTHING to do with the public employees and their benefits….but rather a well timed plan to destroy anything union…….the middle class workers MUST pay for the benefits that the governor has given to his handlers and their interests…..

Repubs are PIGS!  Attack anything that represents the workers….now please tell me whose has the best interests of the middle class at heart….why does the middle class keep voting for the very people that are out to destroy them?

Here is another thought….if they succeed in Wisconsin…NO public employee will be safe anywhere in this country…..

Barbour Does It Again

As my regulars know, I live in the cultural wasteland known as Mississippi and from time to time I do a post about my state usually it is something stupid or arrogant or just plain crazy…..and our out going governor, Haley Barbour, is a constant source of posts….and once again…he does NOT disappoint!

Our dear governor has his eyes on the prize in 2012….he would like to run for the nomination of the GOP to run against Obama….he is a brilliant political strategist and a lobbyist and a governor…all the props he needs to qualify for the nomination….the problem is he has to walk back a couple of non-intended (his term) racist remarks…like…..

The governor apologized last month for saying in a magazine interview that the civil rights era was not “that bad,”

And this was Not his first digression….but since he really wants the nomination he has pushed for the Civil Rights museum in the state’s capital of Jackson……

Barbour urged the state’s legislature during an annual address to build the $50 million museum in a state that became notorious during the 1950s and 1960s for violent enforcement of racial segregation and opposition to civil and voting rights.”I urge you to move this museum forward as an appropriate way to do justice to the Civil Rights Movement and to stand as a monument of remembrance and reconciliation,” Barbour said in the speech late on Tuesday.

“The civil rights struggle is an important part of our history, and millions of people are interested in learning more about it. People from around the world would flock to see the museum and learn about the movement,” he said.

What a lovely sentiment!  The problem is this proposal has failed in the state legislature for the last 5+ years…..every year this comes up and every year the governor has been silent on the establishment of the museum….but now that he needs to sure up his position…it is a great idea…..

In a state that is cutting services like a drunken sailor……he thinks it is a great idea to spend $50 million that the state does not have…….but he has said that he wants private donations to build it……..we will see…..it probably will NOT be built….but at least he now has that on his resume that he was in favor of its construction……actually, he probably cares little more than his own political ambitions……

What Happened To The Shovel Ready Projects?

I recall at the beginning of the process, the stim plan would create jobs because of the state’s shovel ready projects that need funding….remember?…..almost all governor’s said there were many, many shovel ready projects in their state that could use funding and that the stim plan would get those projects up and working……..and especially putting Americans back to work……that was then….this is now…..

As reported on ABC:

Ten months into President Barack Obama’s first economic stimulus plan, a surge in spending on roads and bridges has had no effect on local unemployment and only barely helped the beleaguered construction industry, an Associated Press analysis has found.

Spend a lot or spend nothing at all, it didn’t matter, the AP analysis showed: Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation, raising questions about Obama’s argument that more road money would address an “urgent need to accelerate job growth.”

Even within the construction industry, which stood to benefit most from transportation money, the AP’s analysis found there was nearly no connection between stimulus money and the number of construction workers hired or fired since Congress passed the recovery program. The effect was so small, one economist compared it to trying to move the Empire State Building by pushing against it.

So basically, there is NO change in the status quo of the projects and the promised employment has NOT changed in the least.  So if infrastructure projects would be a boom to the economy, why is it not helping?

Basically, because the bulk of the stim money is being spent saving the gamblers on Wall Street….which I have said many times is NOT creating what the economy needs…..DEMAND!

Why Do States Go Bankrupt?

All states are having monetary problems these days…especially California and then the rest of the country……but why are they in such sad shape?

Revenue!  There is your answer.

The recession has taken a devastating toll on tax revenues and state finances. States had a cumulative $121 billion budget gap in crafting this year’s budgets — and the gap would be even bigger without federal stimulus money, said Todd Haggerty, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

States, these days, have little income.  Why?  They have given away everything to corporations on the promise of economic growth.  These promises are empty, at best.  In my state the governor has given massive tax breaks to corporations to get them to come to the state….employment has not gotten better….living standards have not gotten better…..little has improved…the only thing that these corporations have done is make the resume of politicians look a little better…the worker in the state is still the lowest paid, less benefits and so on…..

The solution to this problem is take back the revenue that the politicians are throwing away.  It is that simple.  The only answer most governors and reps have is to put more burden on the working class, the middle class….while letting others get a free ride.  Also the programs benefit the free riders and the people who are actually paying the bills get screwed.

The best argument that the politicians have is that it is economic growth in the long run that is the target, but it has been a VERY long run and still little is gotten better.

Unfortunately, the voters in these states buy into the BS.  And of course, it is the fault of those people who are helped by the system and never the worthless lame ass politicians they elect…..this is “rational ignorance”.

Take The Money & Shut Up!

Do you remember all those Repub govs who did not want any of the stim money?  Some took it and others did so reluctantly, but there was always one who said he did not want any thing from Washington and that is the Gov of South Carolina, Mark Sanford.

South Carolina—-the third highest unemployment at 11.5%, had to cut $1 billion from its budget and has a sharply plunging tax revenue because of the recession.  A state that has a high percentage of poor people, low educational results and in other words a traditional Southern state.

South Carolina’s Supreme Court ordered Gov. Mark Sanford on Thursday to take $700 million in federal stimulus money aimed primarily at struggling schools.

The decision brings a likely end to months of wrangling between the nation’s most vocal anti-bailout governor and legislators who accused him of playing politics with people’s lives.

Now dickhead take the money and shut the hell up!