The Fall Of California

Is California (financially) toast? If voter opinion is any indication, the answer is yes.

It's one thing if California's fiscal problems were something unforeseen, occurring overnight due to some calamity. But this is something everyone saw coming. But the state assembly did nothing to stop it. They have allowed state worker unions to dictate what would and would not be done, kowtowed to other special interests, and basically told the taxpayers they would be on the hook because members of the assembly were incapable of saying 'no'. They failed to revamp state spending, cut out “nice-to-have” programs, or cut confiscatory income and sales taxes. This problem is of their own making. It is not up to the rest of us in the other states to help them make ends meet by giving them our money (which they will waste). If we do this once, we'll have to keep doing it because they have shown they are incapable of making the necessary choices to bring their financial house into order.