South Korea is California’s 5th largest trading partner, a press release by the Chamber notes. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today. Its economy relies heavily on exports to prosper. The following are some of the sectors that the Korean market demands more products from: automotive, broadcasting, communication and computer technologies, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals/nutritional supplements, and environmental technology, education and training services.

To achieve $1.4 billion in General Fund savings, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed 15 percent reduction in state personnel costs achieved by modifying employee compensation and reducing our workforce budget … as follows:
   *   Employees will be required to contribute an additional five percent towards their retirement costs;
    * An across the board five percent reduction in all salaries;
    * A five percent reduction in the cost of the state workforce payroll implemented by executive order S-01-10 requiring all department directors to reduce their payrolls by five percent.

This sounds a little too incremental for me.  Certainly most State employees can take a five percent hit – they have pretty good jobs, but this isn’t getting to the root of the problem.   What about eliminating Civil Service postions all together?   Put government workers under employment contracts instead – even generous ones.  Then they could stop paying pensions as well, something none of the rest of us get. 

Most of the cutbacks came from government: 11,400 job cuts in federal government and 2,800 from state and local agencies, as municipalities scaled back their services to cope with the crippling effects of tax declines and budget cuts. Adding to the decline in government employment, every major job category lost jobs in May except for education and health care, which added 2,100. Construction companies cut 11,300 positions; manufacturing, 10,400; professional and business services, 10,900; retail, wholesale, transportation and utilities, 8,300; leisure and information, 8,100; and hospitality, 2,700.

As shocking as these numbers are, what is even more shocking is that the State Government doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it, as they are mostly concerned with their own survival. Early indications are that the Obama administration stimulus money is going mostly to save the jobs of existing State workers and bureaucrats, who are already doing relatively well. Very little of the funding seems to be going into job creation, economic development or innovative programs to help small business.

As Sacramento squabbles over the state’s $42 billion deficit, Californians are getting a bitter taste of what’s to come after the steep budget cuts that are inevitable when legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally hammer out a deal… “Before it gets better, it’s going to get a lot worse,” said Joseph Valentine, director of Contra Costa County’s Department of Employment and Human Services. The department, which administers social services such as food stamps, has cut 12%, or $25 million, of its budget. It has managers answering reception-desk phones, and Mr. Valentine expects another round of cuts… While Sacramento talks, money is drying up in places like Contra Costa County, where 40,000 families have applied for 350 available slots for Section 8 vouchers — a federal subsidy that allows low-income families to rent in the private market. “The level of desperation is just heartbreaking,” said Joseph Villareal, executive director of the Contra Costa Housing Authority.

Clearly, there is a broken record at the UC. How many more scandals, oversight hearings, and new laws do we need to have before the University will finally clean up their act? It is truly unconscionable that they continue to mislead the taxpayers and students… There is absolutely no justification for these bloated salaries. The UC administration continuously violates the public trust by catering to the University’s elite rather than serving the students, faculty, and workers they are appointed to represent. The public deserves better from the UC administration.

New York-based S&P said Tuesday it lowered the state’s $46 billion of full-faith-and-credit debt to A from A plus. The move bumps California down; it was previously tied with Louisiana. Gabriel Petek of S&P’s San Francisco office said the lowered rating “reflects our view of the state’s inability to reach an agreement on a mid-year budget revision and its rapidly eroding cash position.” California has had to delay $3.7 billion in some payments — including income tax refunds — because of the budget impasse.