

Chiang says his office must continue education and debt payments but will defer money for tax refunds, student aid, social services and mental health programs.



A severe drop in revenue has left the state's main bank account depleted. The state had been relying on borrowing from special funds and Wall Street investors; those options are no longer available.

In past years, Wall Street accounted for as much as 12 percent of city tax revenue, the comptroller said. This year, most financial firms reported losses that the mayor has said they may carry forward, allowing them to avoid paying city tax for several years. By the comptroller’s estimate, city taxes from Wall Street-related activities could drop by $2 billion, or more than 40 percent, over two fiscal years.

I have been reading about how California is going bust and New York is having revenue probems and one thing leaps out. How much the so-called "greedy Wall Street bastards" and their investors were subsidizing these places. For example, in this tidbit linked on Drudge about Ca. needing to defer tax refunds, we find:So, next time your liberal friends start dissing those "greedy Wall Street guys"--just remind them that they are now in short supply and guess what? They were the ones paying for many of those social, mental health and other programs that you loved so much. Now it's somebody else's turn to pay. Maybe even yours.