Are you blameshifting!?!

Let’s start with a bit of trivia. Who said this quote and when: “Our elected officials in Sacramento are facing a budget crisis unseen in this state since the Great Depression, and it was entirely avoidable. Teachers are getting pink slips, cops are getting laid off and the taxpayers are facing an increase in taxes and California's future is in danger.” Answer at the end.

Is this budget crisis over yet? Hardly, but according to State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento, it will be done by June 30. In two days, this will all be over. The great budget crisis of 2009 will be finished. Completed. Fin. So we must have made a lot of progress in the last week.

Here are some of my favorite headlines from the last few days:

“Some Reasons Why California Is Ungovernable” by Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine (http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=f8123aa9-7ae8-4ce7-8993-fb2c81c23343.)

“California forced to confront roots of current fiscal mess” by Carla Marinucci and Matthew Yi (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705313414/California-forced-to-confront-roots-of-current-fiscal-mess.html?pg=3.)

“California's Fiscal Crisis: The Legacy of Proposition 13” by Kevin O’Leary (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1904938,00.html?xid=rss-topstories.)

“Washington to California: Drop dead” by Victoria McGrane (http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090628/pl_politico/24266_1.)

Yup, those all sound very upbeat. In fact, the whole situation seems to have turned into one, big “blamestorming” session (much like this commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50ovKaEI_4Y&feature=related, poor Eileen). Some of the possible culprits:

· The Federal government won’t give CA a bailout. (Because even though one out of every eight Americans live in CA, we have the eighth largest economy in the world, and 55 electoral votes, CA is apparently NOT too big to fail.)

· Proposition 13

· Lobbyists (this is my personal favorite, I would blame my bad hair days on lobbyists if I thought I could get away with it)

· Partisanship and term limits which don’t encourage legislators to work together (or just “legislators” if you prefer the short version), and;

· Diversity (I know, you think I’m kidding, but I’m not: http://www.hutchnews.com/Columns/patbfifs)

Clearly, there’s no lack of places or people to point the finger at (which finger you’re pointing is entirely up to you). Will this be resolved by the 30th? Doubtful. In the meantime, government workers are taking more and more furloughs, CA will begin to pay its bills with IOUs (does that include government workers? It’s pretty difficult to buy groceries with IOUs last time I checked), and the business-oriented Bay Area Council is pushing initiatives for a state constitutional convention, the first since 1879, to wipe the slate clean and build a new rational structure for state government. Not a bad idea.

The answer to the trivia question above: Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003 when running for Governor of California in the gubernatorial recall election that resulted in the replacement of then Governor Gray Davis.