*hyperlinks live at source*
California's 2011 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) shows a tax surplus of $600 billion dollars in cash and investments. The online public report on page 83 lists $460 billion of investments claimed to help fund state pensions. Pages 234-235 show these investments had $10 billion income, and cost $3 billion in expense (Wall Street investors). Page 107 shows $6 billion interest cost for the state’s $164 billion debt.
Therefore state investment income minus debt interest cost equals ~$1 billion. This means the state retains $600 billion in taxpayer assets for $1 billion in income.
If California paid its debt and returned these assets, each of California’s 12 million households would receive $35,000, and pay a $83 tax to equal the $1 billion income of the state’s previous $600 billion fund. Or if we had universal health care, Californians would annually save between $10 and $30 billion.
http://www.examiner.com/article/ca-cafr-600-billion-pension-investment-fund-nets-just-1-billion
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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