Shrinking the state budget easier said than done

[sonias]

AAS 5/2/10
Shrinking the state budget easier said than done
Initiatives since 2003 have struggled to produce savings.

(snip)
It will take political will and some discipline, many Republican leaders say, but it will not take new taxes.

But fulfilling that promise could be a formidable task, if the state's recent budget experience is any indication. The most touted budget-shrinking initiatives have rarely lived up to the political hype of providing better state services for less. And the promised savings have often proved elusive.

Consider, for example, the 2005 legislation that mandated the consolidation of 27 agency data centers that house mainframes and servers. The data center consolidation was sold as a money-saver - $178 million over seven years - that would also improve operations and security.

The project, which is being run by IBM Corp. under an $863 million contract, has been mired by delays, equipment failures and service complaints. The contract is being amended, and IBM is said to have asked for as much as another $500 million to complete the task.

The title of the article should really be the Lies Republicans like Perry tell Texans when they say "no new taxes".

And Republicans continue to tout their failed privatization efforts as good public policy even when they admit that privatization efforts have had huge problems and have not saved money.

[sonias]

1. The Shell Game

Texas Tribune 5/3/10
The Shell Game

(snip)
No taxes. No cuts. Just some accounting and collection tricks.

In 2011, facing a monstrously large budget shortfall, lawmakers will likely turn to the same shell game to cover the first $2 billion or more. But such trickery represents a risky bet: If they economy doesn’t rebound, bringing tax collections up with it, the next Legislature will be doubly broke.

"It's a gamble," says Dale Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. "It works great if revenues recover and you grow out of the problem."

(snip)

This session: Time to borrow. State budgeteers expect the gap between revenue and current spending to be somewhere in the $11 billion to $20 billion range, a classic money trap that leads to conversations about taxes, spending cuts, expanded (and taxable) gambling, using the Rainy Day Fund and new federal stimulus programs.

And cheating, too. The budget writers could erase $2 billion or more of tough political decisions over cuts or taxes with accounting tricks. Some say it’s a victimless crime. "Obviously it's easier — it's invisible to the public," Heflin says.

Cheating is the new Texas Republican value. It is better to cheat and hide the truth than to be honest with the public.

Same as it ever was.... :eyes:

[sonias]

2. Something for Nothing

Texas Observer Editorial 5/1/10
Something for Nothing

(snip)
Conservatives have been pushing voodoo economics for 30 years. They promised that if we reduced taxes, it would free up cash that would go into the economy and float all boats. They argued that less taxation would somehow generate more tax revenue, and therefore better state services. But that hasn’t happened, and it never will.

Just look at the numbers. Along with our low taxes, Texas ranks near the bottom in education and health care. Despite all of the Fortune 500 companies based here, we are facing a massive budget shortfall. In a political sleight of hand, Gov. Rick Perry and conservative legislators took $14 billion of federal stimulus funds to balance the 2010-2011 budget, all the while denouncing Washington for supplying it. But next year they will face an $11-$20 billion shortfall, without the federal government to save them. If they stick to their “no new taxes” ideology, vital government services will go away. If you want to see what happens to a place that has little government and no taxes, visit Somalia.

When conservative leaders and their tea party brethren promise good governance with few taxes, they are making a promise they can’t keep. Most Texans know better than to hire a guy living out of his truck to put a discount roof on their house. The reason they know better is because someone else has already made that mistake. We can learn by looking at California, which Perry wants to emulate by passing constitutional amendments that would make it harder to raise taxes or state spending. Do we really want the wholesale budget chaos we’ve seen in California?

Amen to that
:applause::applause::applause:

[onestepforward]

3. It didn't work in California so let's try it here!

The degree of blind stubbornness is amazing. Even when proven wrong, the wingnuts still stick to their guns, no matter what. It makes them look incredibly foolish.