On the Contrary

California used to the place where trends for the country were set.  Some that come to mind are a top-notch education system, great road systems, parks next to none, smoke-free workplaces, environmental standards superior to the most of the country, and an attempt to get a handle on global warming while others napped.  But lately we have been on a very bad trip that started back in the 80’s with the passage of Proposition 13 and the two-thirds majority voting requirement for any funding action.  I must also admit I am deeply embarrassed about the vote on Prop 8, banning equality for gays.  We spend less on students in school than 47 other states, our roadways are a mess as we focused on the automobile over mass transit, and now the state may soon be bankrupt.

The bankruptcy is no surprise as it has been coming for years as Californians want more and more and are willing to pay less and less.  The government is immobilized by the mandatory spending initiatives that passed, and the minorities’ death grip on any compromise with the two-thirds majority required to raise any taxes.  It has been a recipe for disaster for years and it is finally coming to pass.  Paul Krugman opined about it on Monday in the New York Times (State of Paralysis) and he correctly identified the problem but then made the logical leap of what could happen to the federal government if we let a small radical political party (the Republicans) stymie action in the Congress.  In California they will acccept no budget with tax increases.  In one bargaining session the Democrats agreed that for every cut in programs the Republicans would agree to an equal increase in taxes, tit for tat if you will.  There would be no deal because the Republicans stood intransigently mired in no new taxes.  Not much room to negotiate here so we have finally run out of smoke and mirrors and the ship of state is headed directly for the rocks.

After the last “deal” went down in flames at the polls, Arnold and his spokespersons have been repeating that they heard loud and clear from the voters and the message was all cuts, no new taxes.  Actually I don’t think that was what the message was.  The real message was that these propositions were smoke and mirrors, more borrowing and kicking the can down the road without a permanent fix and that is no longer tolerable.  If they had presented a real plan that put us on the road to financial stability again, that got rid of all the borrowing, raised taxes, but also limited many programs that were popular with the voters but needed to be trimmed to balance the budget, the voters would have swallowed hard and accepted it.  But that is not what we got.  It was not possible because we are held hostage by one-third of the state’s representatives who will not allow any revenue increases.

What may be good is that most people have no concept of the impact of the cuts that are coming or how that is going to further depress California’s economy.  It is time for a wake-up call to those that think everybody else’s programs should be cut but not theirs.  It is time to demonstrate how we are all connected and when we think that just those lazy government workers will get laid off, and then the ripple effect shuts down your small business, it is wake-up call time.  These are the people who don’t think they need to pay school taxes after their kids graduate.  Remember we are now 47th in that spending and declining.  I think the only way they are going to get on board with the real changes that need to be made in California governing is if the system finally collapses and I just think it might.

My own thought here is that as long as we expect the super majority (two-thirds majority) to make and go along with really tough decisions, it is never going to happen, especially when the opposition party has become so radicalized (that would be Krugman’s assumption extrapolated to the federal government also (filibuster)).  My experience trying to bring about change in government bureaucracies is that there is always about 40% who are invested in the status quo, never want change, and sabotage any effort for change.  So until California is allowed to totally fail and we get rid of the two-third requirement for funding issues and let a simple majority decide our fate, California will never fix its problems.  California is a shinning example of failure of populace governance as we have a State constitution with over 500 amendments.  It needs to be trashed.

One thought to those Republicans out there that are obstructing any change in Washington or California:  Why not let the Democrats try their solutions?  If you are right then they will fail, the country will be in a mess and you will be swept into office.  You will finally have your mandate.  Instead you keep trying to maintain the status quo and you are creating the deep mess we are in by obstructing any change to the path we are currently on, which by the way was your bright idea.  What’s the problem?  Are you afraid they will succeed?