Wanna get depressed, my fellow Californians? Read today's Paul Krugman


I bet the rest of the country doesn't want to say "As California goes, so goes the nation" anymore

We had a little election here in California recently. And we soundly rejected an attempt to fix our state budget by cutting spending on a whole bunch of programs, deferring those dollars to a general fund to help California get itself out of its current nearly-bankrupt state, and vaguely promising to pay the money back later.

This was Governor Schwarzenegger's whole idea about how to break gridlock and paralysis in the legislature, and like every other big electoral push he has made, it failed.

Of course one might think that the messages being sent by the voting public were:

1. We don't want to make those spending cuts...children's education, mental health...going after the welfare of the most powerless among us sucks.
2. We don't want you to toss this to us with your confusing language and vague promises. We are not experts, and we are busy trying to figure out our own budgets. We want you, our elected officials, to do the hard work, figure it out and face the consequences. Maybe, just maybe, we are SICK of the initiative process in California, particularly spurred on by the ridiculous 2/3 majority requirement to do some basic stuff.
3. We don't trust you when you say you'll repay the money to the services you're going to cut.

Of course, that's not what Schwarzenegger decided to learn from his defeat at the polls. No, he decided the message was:

"I think the message was clear from the people: Go all out and make those cuts and live within your means."

Um, no.

Anyway, it's getting ugly around here, and Paul Krugman's latest Op-Ed, State of Paralysis, won't make you feel any better about it.

"What’s really alarming about California, however, is the political system’s inability to rise to the occasion.
Despite the economic slump, despite irresponsible policies that have doubled the state’s debt burden since Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor, California has immense human and financial resources. It should not be in fiscal crisis; it should not be on the verge of cutting essential public services and denying health coverage to almost a million children. But it is — and you have to wonder if California’s political paralysis foreshadows the future of the nation as a whole."
Say it ain't so, Paul, say it ain't so.

Posted: Mon - May 25, 2009 at 10:47 AM       EmailFeedback

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