Here are the sources of California's total revenues. A California resident gets taxed all over the place - from payroll to sales to car taxes. Corporations end up paying 8% of the taxes, individuals pay the rest.
So how does California spend the people's hard earned dollars? Here is the proposed budget:
28% is Health and Human Services (CHHS). Interesting. What does one get for $38 billion dollars a year? Let's take a look at the CHHS website. Here are some initiatives:
Obesity Prevention? Excellent effort, but does it work? Let's check the results at the California Center for Public Health Advocacy:
On July 9, 2009, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) released The Economic Costs of Overweight, Obesity and Physical Inactivity Among California Adults – 2006. The study found that the cost of overweight, obesity and physical inactivity had climbed to $41 billion in 2006, nearly double the amount reported in 2000. Given California’s current fiscal crisis, both the private and public sectors would benefit from federal, state and local policies that make prevention a top priority and help ensure that all Californians live in communities that support people to make healthy eating and physical activity choices.Oops. Obviously something has gone wrong in the obesity prevention effort. So what does CHHS have to say about such horrific results. Let's click on the "Obesity" link on the CHHS Initiatives Page. And this is what one gets when going to that link (as of the time of this post).
And people wonder how California got itself to the brink of bankruptcy.