Inland Empire Progressive

As Ezra Klien points out, the Ryan Budget (which Rep. Gary Miller voted for) is a radical document that balances the budget in 10 years on the backs of middle and working class folks. Mr. Miller's states that he doesn't want to raise taxes on middle income and low income folks. No, he wants to cut the programs that they are currently relying on to help make ends meet, while asking the higher income folks for little sacrifice. Mr. Miller's also states that other budgets raise taxes on middle and low income folks. This is a lie. The Progressive Caucus Budget, the most liberal of all the budgets creates 5 tax brackets on high income folks, while holding middle and low income folks harmless. Mr. Miller is so elite and out of touch that he thinks folks in the North End of Rancho Cucamonga are low income. Hey, Mr. Miller try living in San Bernardino on minimum wage and see what real  poverty feels like. 

  Why Northrop Grumman has a Missle Engineering Center in San Bernardino is anybody's guess.  Before Norton Air Force Base was decommissioned in 1994, Northrup Grumman worked on and tested missle design programs. It still operates hangars there. Northrup Grumman says  : "The Missile Engineering Center serves as a vital proving ground for missile technology development and provides support to several key government missile programs. The center's flagship programs include the ICBM Minuteman III modernization program where Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor responsible for maintaining, sustaining and modernizing the nation's fleet of Minuteman III missiles; and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor program – a critical boost/ascent or midcourse-phase missile defense program where Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor developing and testing this capability." I have never seen a missle launch from the former Air Force b...

With both houses in the state legislature at a 2/3rd majority, my hope is that state Dems can get their priorities straight to govern California effectively and over the long term. State polling giving the legisature all time low approval ratings, this hold on power is tenuous at best. If the Dems can't effectively govern, then I wouldn't be surprised that this mandate will be short lived. Most of the prioritzation comes in balancing the state budget. Californian's deserve a state budget that is both stable and prioritized effectively. A balanced approach would be to cut underperforming policies while increasing revenue for most income brackets. Hopefully, Prop. 13 reforms will be included in the policy discussion. Another issue is our school system which performs inadequately for the needs of low income and minority students. Education equality is the next civil rights movement of our time. Our poor performing schools will not be able to...

This Proposition has many things that I like to see in a good Progressive governmental structure: Two-Year Budget cycle. CHECK Permits Governor to cut budget unilaterally during fiscal emergencies if Legislature can't get its shit together. CHECK Requires performance reviews of all state programs. CHECK Requires performance goals in state and local budgets. CHECK Requires publication of bills 3 days prior to legislative vote. CHECK However, Prop. 31 is a poison pill. This measure will create policy uncertainty during these already uncertain times. I do like the shift to a more local control approach provides but the costs to the state budget are just to large to justify at this time. In addition, we are not sure that all the local governmental agencies can coordinate services in a way that benefits thier residents. I can foresee funding battles across all levels of local government further eroding the sacred trust between citizens and their government. Furthermore, hams...

Source: San Bernardino Unified School District Annual Financial Report This was a very hard decision for me to make. But as I dug through the documents, it became more apprent to me that $230M dollars and the interest service payments required was just too step a price a pay for San Bernardino residents. A $140M+ bond measure was approved by in 2004 and the voters are still servicing that debt. The 2004 bond was used to build schools and remove asbestos. That is the very same thing that Measure N would do in addition to providing additional security measures and equipment upgrades. This is why it was hard for me to vote no on Measure N. SBUSD kids need help: Our Math Skill Proficiency is at 60% 37%, our API is dropping, and more cuts are coming if Prop. 30 doesn't pass. This is trifecta of trouble! However,  I point to the chart above which is pulled from SBUSD financial statements. The total debt owed is $403,803,838 dollars! If...

I despise ballot box budgeting, however since I will be personally affected (Cal State Student) if this prop fails I am compelled to vote for it. I was 49% in favor of not voting for it. The primary reason is becasue they cut funding for the Ralph M. Brown Act. I am afraid local governments will use the cut as an excuse to reduce transparency even though we live in the digital age and costs for posting agendas, budgets, etc. online are minimal. However, this gives them some political cover. The bulk of the reductions will be from schools, which would make sense on its face education make up the majority of the General Fund budget. But Prop. 30 still feels like a hostage negotiation that if doesn't pass we will cut funding to children and young adults. If Prop. 30 does pass, Democrats in the legislature need to seriously gather the intestinal fortitude necessary to bring about a stablized and ...

Above is a tabular break down of revenues and expenditures of the San Bernardino Unified School District. On his last day as chief financial officer, Mohammad Islam laid this budget out before the school board. He said that their was a $23M budget deficit for FY (Fiscal Year) 12-13 and that it was structural. As I understand it, this is separate from the short falls if Prop. 30 fails. In addition the board addressed this on September of this year . I happened to catch this meeting accidently while going through the public access channels (ATT cable allows you to view various cities’ govt. channels). I was concerned enough to email the secretary for the school board for this document because on T.V. the screen the numbers are barely legible. The two line items that stand out for me are on the expenditures side of the ledger. About $24M is spent on school supplies for the district. I wonder what is the breakdown per school. It just seems high. Another is Services, Other Operating Exp...

I’m a budget geek, but the learning process was become one was trial by fire. To make things a little easier to understand the byzantine process of budgeting, why not make learning fun by playing a game! I suggest the two websites of: The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget : crfb.org   This site has a budget simulator that games out the decisions you make to reduce the deficit to 60% by 2020. It is not easy, but very informative about how our tax dollars are spent on the federal level. Next 10: http://www.budgetchallenge.org/pages/home This site games out the budget decisions you make on the state level. It even has so budget games for certain cities. Both of these sites will elevate your knowledge on our budget on the federal, state, and local level. I will be posting my results on both budget games in subsequent posts.

Just looking at government budgets in San Bernardino here are the numbers: Department Budget San Bernardino Unified $437 Million Cal State San Bernardino $169 Million City of San Bernardino $120 Million San Bernardino Community College District $110 Million Omnitrans $89 Million San Bernardino Municipal Water District $40 Million Total $965 Million People costs (Operating and Maintenance) account for about 60-80% of the budget, which is around $579-772 Million dollars. This is not even including our share of the $4 Billion dollars of County budget! It is a staggering amount of money, but why is our city of San Bernardino still impoverished? We should have the most economic growth in the region just on government spending alone. While I will discuss these points in future posts, I want to point out that it is not crime, or business atmosphere, or housing that are explicit in our problems. They are symptoms of a larger failure: Our school system. The ranking ...

After reading over the budget stabilization plan, I think we should pursue these 3 policies: Generate a serious small business marketing plan in conjunction with the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce. The Primary Focus should be on targeting San Bernardino’s largest employers: CSUSB, San Manuel, Community Hospital. Secondary Focus on: SBVC, Omnitrans, Saint Bernadine’s, SBUSD. We need an All Hands on Deck approach that is comprehensive to include every business and encompasses every Ward. Maximize Land Use. Productive use of land parcels with specific focus on Tax Exempt Properties, Personal (Unsec) properties, Vacant Properties. These land use categories represent over 10,000 pieces of land that are under productive. Further Consolidation. Combine design engineering, public works, refuse, and building inspection departments to create the Infrastructure Services Department.

Councilmember John Valdivia concerns that the SbX Project is a government funded boondoggle are unfounded. Even a website (now defunct) was established. He sites property owners that are affected by construction that will take place and wasted tax payer money to the tune of $200 million. $8 million of  taxpayer money was San Bernardino city Capital Funds to develop those properties to handle the 60 ft. buses that will soon be rolling down the E St. Corridor.  The federal government provided about $150+ million in matching funds for acquisition of buses and Omnitrans upgrades to handle 60 ft. buses. To me, the benefits of this project outweigh the costs. If you look at a zoning map of the properties that are along the corridor, most are zoned commercial. Even on the Loma Linda side this is the case. I would argue for an extension beyond the VA hospital to circle the commercial zones on Redlands Blvd. Development, construction, and materials are cheap. Now is the perfect tim...

San Bernardino needs  a super majority (60%+) police force that actually live in the city. The current police force, like 70% or more live outside the city. The number 70% is arbitrary because I can only estimate how many live outside our city and the City Attorney Jim Penman won’t tell me. It could be more or it could be less. But you can see when a police force is made up of a bunch of outsiders because they only care about the money. The police make up 42% of the budget, which is the biggest portion of the budget. Second is the Fire Department with 24%.  The majority of our tax dollars go to folks who live outside our city. With a budget deficit of $4 Million dollars, we need to ask all of our city employees to sacrifice so that our city can balance its budget. It is harder to do this when many of San Bernardino city employees live outside the city. In addition, our allocations to police are growing (because they have the majority of the city council now) while San Ber...

Everyone and their momma has a budget out these days. The President, Progressives, Republicans, and Conservatives have a budget for FY13. But what about the so called defenders of fiscal responsibility the Blue Dog Coalition? These folks proclaim to be the common sense/conservative/mainstream voice of the American people. As both candidates, Gloria Negrete Mcleod and Joe Baca,  for the 35th Congressional District are Blue Dogs. I ask where are their budgets? The residents of the 35th Congressional District and the American people deserve to know where these folks stand when it comes to policy. The next series of elections are not going to be like the elections of the past. We demand policy positions and expect results. It might good to say things, but you have to put your money where your mouth is.

When I heard that the San Bernardino Fire Dept. wanted to become an elected position, I was very angry. So angry in fact that I went to the website of the SBFD and emailed whomever was at the other end. The SBFD budget makes up around 24% of General Fund revenues and only 8% live in the city. While not as much as the Police Dept., it’s still pretty substantial. Our reputation in San Bernardino is not the greatest in the county or in the nation for that matter. Maintaining local control of our city finances is of utmost concern to me to ensure that everyone at City Hall has a stake in ensuring that our city thrives. Some employee in City Hall make more than $100,000 a year. That is more than the median income of the city. When outsiders are the ones that are in those income positions, not only do City of Bell type incidents occur, the incentives to improve the conditions of the city are not there.   Here is my blurb: Subject: Elected Fire Chief Email Comments: I am con...

Eric Cantor July Slides Back during the debt debacle, Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor presented his caucus with the slide above outlining the ongoing negotiations between the President and the Speaker of the House.  The slides above show that despite the best efforts of the Dems to come to a compromise, Republican fanatical adherence the anti-tax mantra prevented them from governing and making any kind of deal. The chart below out shows the consequences of the conservative fanatical adherence to cutting spending instead of deal making. Now the negoation leverage lies with the Dems with the Dual trigger of expiring Bush Tax cuts and military spending cuts.

06/27/11 The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its revised estimates for federal government spending and revenues. The top graph represents what would happen if Congress followed the laws it already passed by allowing the Bush Tax Cuts to expire, the AMT to reset, and discontinue "doc fix" to Medicare. The chart shows that taxes will evenutally line up with Total Primary Spending and the deficit would be erased. The bottom graph outlines the alternative fiscal scenario in which the Bush Tax Cuts are extended, modifications to the AMT occur, and "doc fix" is not allow to reset payment to doctors. Federal government revenues would be about 18% GDP while spending would be at around 25% and rising. I know that the Bush Tax cuts cost 3 Trillion Dollars for those making under $250K and 4 Trillion with those above making $250K included. The AMT and "doc fix" are spending I am still researching costs estimates on and will repost wh...

The governor has decided not only to take on unions in this budget battle, but also cut the whole public transportation budget in a bait and switch scheme to provide "relief" at the pump for POV driver's, while pocketing the rest to cover the shortfall in the general fund. Now not only are unionized transportation workers taking a hit because of it, but those who depend on public transportation to get to and from work will suffer because of it. Thank you Arnold and your conservative allies in the legislature for the low tax, small government rule. You just contributed about 3 to 4 percentage points to unemployment in the Inland Empire (2nd to Detroit). Yet we send the same jabronies to Sacramento every time. Conservative government service with a smile. Below is the link: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14259001

Schwarzenegger's budget plan puts unions in the cross-hairs - latimes.com Posted using ShareThis