The Public Policy
No More ‘Eureka’ for California
The Golden State has lost its way.
Shock waves from California’s May 19 special election have produced The Stuck Pig phenomenon and the Quiet as Church Mice phenomenon. The first affects all the constituencies that now realize that threatened budget cuts are about to become real. The second describes the legislators of the Democratic majority in Sacramento, struck dumb by the voters’ 2-to-1 rejection of five ballot measures intended to balance the state’s budget.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger went up and down the state before the election, warning that the sky would fall if the five measures didn’t pass. They didn’t and the sky is now falling. As many as 200 of 279 state parks may close. Social service programs will be scaled back. Several thousand state workers may be terminated and the rest subject to salary cuts and furloughs. The University of California, long used to setting high salary and perk standards for itself, may be reined in.
The reaction of affected constituencies has been to howl like stuck pigs. “It’s just insane,” said a Sierra Club officer of the state park closures. “We’re getting eviscerated,” said a county health director about the cuts in social services programs.
Meanwhile, in Sacramento, the legislative majority, so used to trumpeting its spending programs in order to please particular constituencies (especially public employee unions, collectively the state’s largest, most powerful special interest), has been stunned into silence. The voters handed them their heads by drubbing the ballot measures. This stew consisted of “temporary” tax increases, borrowing against future lottery revenue and shifting dedicated funds here and there. A sixth measure, prohibiting salary raises of elected officials in deficit years, passed by 70 percent.
The governor understood what the voters were saying. He immediately withdrew a request for a federal loan of $5 billion, saying that the order of the day was “Cuts, cuts, cuts.” Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein echoed this when she said that spending cuts were the only way to solve the $24 billion budget shortfall.
In time the howling of the stuck pigs will abate and the legislators will find their voices, but the sharp cuts will only solve the problem for the fiscal year that begins July 1, leaving in place the basic problem, which is that for years too many demands have been chasing too few dollars.
California relies heavily on income tax revenues and its rates are among the nation’s highest. There are inevitable boom and bust cycles. The boom revenues have been too tempting to the legislators, so they’ve haven’t saved to cover the busts.
The initiative process has added to the fiscal burden. Once considered a good example of democracy in action, in recent years it has been heavily overused. People with pet causes and fat wallets gather enough signatures to put on the ballot measures that are often ill-considered. They often lock in budgets for the pet causes, giving the legislature even less flexibility in allotting the state’s general fund.
The state is saddled with overly-generous contracts for state workers and, as demands for programs have been met with program expansion, the work force has expanded. The legislative majority has benefited from campaign contributions from the public employee unions. No wonder its members have been so silent. They hate to say “no” to their benefactors.
The legislature has been gerrymandered so incumbents of both parties are rendered nearly challenge-proof. There is a glimmer of hope here. In 2008, voters approved a new redistricting method, taking it away from the legislature and putting it in the hands of a non-partisan citizen commission. This will take effect after the 2010 census.
Meanwhile, the only thing that has kept the spendthrift legislative majority from ratcheting up taxes to feed its habit has been the intransigence of the minority to vote for such budgets. The state constitution requires a two-thirds vote for budget passage.
California’s structural problems could be corrected by a constitutional convention, the first since 1879. Some civic groups are calling for one. To work, however, it must have a narrow agenda and a truly disinterested membership.
In 1850 the new state adopted as its motto, “Eureka.” That’s Greek for “I have found it.” Early pioneers thought they had, indeed, found Eden. Latter-day Californians thought Eden would never end and that money would always be found to continue its pleasures. Today, however, there is no more “Eureka.”
(Mr. Hannaford was assistant to the governor and director of public affairs in the governor’s office when Ronald Reagan was governor of California.)
About the Author
Peter Hannaford was closely associated for a number of years with the late President Reagan, beginning in the California Governor’s office. His latest book is Presidential Retreats.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (44) | Leave a comment
Related Articles
More Articles by Peter Hannaford
More Articles From The Public Policy
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/06/04/no-more-eureka-for-california
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
Marc Jeric| 6.4.09 @ 6:36AM
California has fallen victim to its government employee unions, especially teacher unions. For example, of the 100 teachers only 45 "teach" (if you can call that socialist indoctrination teaching) and 55 "administer, facilitate, coordinate, and..." - I am not sure what other manners of waste the union work rules call for.
Robbins Mitchell| 6.4.09 @ 7:14AM
Maybe if Governor Musclehead hadn't spent so much time and effort wetting his girly-man panties over 'global warming' the state's fiscal outlook might not be so dire....the "Urinator" should go back to making action flicks and leave such matters to serious adults.
Melvin| 6.4.09 @ 7:20AM
Conservatives boo hooing, I think not. Because California has been a Liberal Bastion for decades. Why should Conservatives be upset in what is happening fiscally in California?
If anything Conservatives are elated of what is happening in CA because it proves the Conservative point, that a lack of fiscal responsibility and expanded government is exactly what is bringing CA to its economic knees.
You can't pin this one on the Conservatives David Mathews, this sits squarely in the Democrats control of the CA legislature for many, many years.
CA has nothing to do with bitter and angry Conservatives, your Liberal talking points won't wash in this case.
Liberal Democrats own California's fiscal failure, and they know it, because if they could have pinned it on a Republican they would have done it a long time ago.
Conservatives aren't upset, but are merely snickering, "We told you so."
Pingback| 6.4.09 @ 7:34AM
The American Spectator : No More 'Eureka' for California | new california mesotheliom links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Denver Todd| 6.4.09 @ 8:41AM
I would imagine that Prop 13 has a lot to do with the problem, not just overspending. This prop, back in the 70s, artificially pulled back property taxes for homeowners, shifting the burden to new purchasers. There are probably a lot of people in mansions paying 1k a year in taxes.
Musterion| 6.4.09 @ 9:20AM
Prop 13. did pull back taxes, but whenever a house was sold the valuation went up to market value and the taxes subsequently increased. At this point, Prop. 13 only has radical benefits for people who have held on to their house for a long time. Recall that Prop 13 was passed back in the halcyon days of the Carter administration, when we had double digit inflation. Home valuation we rising very quickly. Wages were not keeping up; in fact, you had the phenomenon whet one would get a raise and have less money. This was due to the income tax brackets not being indexed to inflation. This is a classic "Liberal" scam, as evidenced by the increasing number of people who have to pay the "Alternative Minimum Tax" If, as projected, inflation really heats up, we will all be earning more than $250,000 a year, so we will all be "rich" and subject to a much higher tax.
Pete| 6.4.09 @ 9:20AM
CA is getting what it deserves, and it is good to see it fail now so none of the idiots in DC can point to it as a model for anything good. I read an article recently that suggested CA break up into 4 states - having lived there I can't tell you how happy that would make the decent folks who live there. On a broader scale, I think it was an AMSPEC article back in the fall that suggested a nationwide solution where the states ran their own affairs completely - so that liberals could flock to CA and MA and MI and try to create their socialist utopias while the rest of us lived in free, capitalist states. That, I would love to see...think we have border problems now, imagine all the poor libs from their bankrupt utopias trying to come across state borders for healthcare and jobs...the comedy.
Tim| 6.4.09 @ 9:27AM
I remeber reading somewhere that " California is the future." If so we all need to take astep back.
E. Gahm| 6.4.09 @ 9:46AM
Thanks for the perceptive column. As one who was born and has lived in So. Ca. my entire life, which covers decades, I've experienced the good that once was and the butt ugly which the state has become. There are those commenting about what you have written that do not have a clue, since everything they spew is political. I doubt they've even visited the once golden state. Between the green weenies and the pub. employee unions (all of them) they've finally killed that which is good and now complain of the overflowing litterbox they've created. It makes me sad.
Mike| 6.4.09 @ 9:47AM
To TAS,
I've been visiting your site for a week now. I have tried to post rational thoughts and opinions, trying to keep in mind one should be respectful of others in a public forum created for discussion of current events. One of the main reasons I read the comments posted is to see what others have to say about the particular article in question. However, it appears you have allowed a flaming war to override the purpose of these forums that has me questioning whether any useful insight that might be gained worth the exposure to this hate speak. Granted one could just ignore such posts and read the relevant content, but I am only human. This seems to be an every day thing here. I will not post in TAS after this till you have corrected the current enviroment that exist here.
If you cannot responsibly moderate your site, I question your ability to be called a useful community endeavor that I assumed was aimed at bringing forth intelligent insight to a very complex world.
Sincerely, Mike
Teleprompter Messiah| 6.4.09 @ 10:25AM
California is like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard: delusional and living in a fantasy land.
That is why it is insolvent.
Disraeli was correct: people do get the government they deserve.
pjean| 6.4.09 @ 10:28AM
Citizens of this country better wake up and demand that their bankrupting states don't request that their debt be insured by the U.S. government.
Cut back, states. Find the waste and pay off debt because if you ask Washington protect your debt, THEY OWN YOU. They will call the shots for your state and you have no liberty and your state rights will simply a memory. As hard as it may be, FIGHT STATE DEPENDENCY!!
Kevin| 6.4.09 @ 10:41AM
Here is a great companion piece by one of the best bloggers out there. http://theblacksphere.blogspot.com/2008/11/liberal-states-seeing-red.html
Oldefarte| 6.4.09 @ 12:12PM
I only wish that somehow, the US government could be required/forced to balance its budget, similar to all state governments [ie California]. This would require choices to be made by citizens-voters and elected politicians running the federal government. The essential choice would be between GOVERNMENTAL BENEFITS and the TAX-COST of same. Typical liberal morons want this and that of the former, but hard working income earners/taxpayers are sick and tired of having to pay for same by the latter. Typical governmental expendatures could probably be cut in half and still have excessive waste and fraud included in the remaining half. Hopefully, California will do as their governor has warned and eliminate a sizable portion of the state's social services costs [ie welfare]!!!!!
Spicy Joker| 6.4.09 @ 12:15PM
Liberals always blame Prop 13 for the problem. Funny, the state never had a problem for 30 years after it was passed.
David Govett| 6.4.09 @ 12:26PM
No matter how bad it will get--and it will get worse, much worse--there will be no accountability. Depend on it. Politicians will keep one hand in the cookie jar and the other pointing at their opponents. Thanks to decades of inferior education, befuddled voters will blame whomever they're told to blame. The middle class will move to other, less-socialistic states, leaving California to welfare recipients. Reverse eureka.
ccc| 6.4.09 @ 12:30PM
California is one of the 10 largest economies on the planet and if AIG, GM, and bear stearns are to big to fail then CA probably is too.
The root problem is size. Megastates such as California and Texas should be diced resulting in entities that aren't too big to fail and have governments that are responsive to their constituencies.
Stan Redmond| 6.4.09 @ 12:35PM
You can't even fart in Caleefornia without permits and a lengthy review by some government office. I challenge ANYONE to find ANYTHING in california that is easy to do (aside from applying for welfare and installing windmills). You can't cut down a tree. you can't build a house near the beach. you can't drill for oil. You can't mine the abundant resources. You can't dam a river for water and power. You can't build nuclear power stations. Everything that made Caleefornia great has been outlawed and regulated. The only remnants of the "golden" days have been grandfathered in. One need look no further than California to see the disastrous effects of intrusive governments.
Bram| 6.4.09 @ 12:41PM
California, MA, and NY are great warnings to the rest of the states on why to avoid run-away left-wing government.
Brian B| 6.4.09 @ 1:37PM
I'm a logger in CA. When I started, 25 years ago, a timber harvest plan cost $1,500, was four pages long and was approved in a month.
My latest one cost $15,000, is about 75 pages long, was started last fall and will be approved this July, and that is a cheap and small one by today's standards. All of this has produced no appreciable environmental improvement in the results of logging, it's only increased the bureaucracy and the state's power over it's citizens.
In my rural county, it costs at least $30,000 just to get the permits and approval to start building a house, before a stick is nailed or concrete poured.
If CA spending per capita had stayed constant since 1990 we would have a $15 billion surplus today rather than a $25 billion deficit.
Instead our prisons will be emptied, fire and police cut and our state park system closed down. We had all those things in 1990. What we didn't have was all the social boondoggles, but the politicians will cut even those things that protect the states citizens before they will cut their precious social engineering projects.
We should declare bankruptcy to clear out the imbecilic stem cell, global warming, etc bond monstrosities that have been passed and then pass two constitutional amendments; one that limits government expenditures to some semi reasonable percentage of our income, say the 1980 or 1990 level and also a requirement that any bond intitative require a two thirds majority to pass.
That will put spending in a straightjacket once and for all and it's hard to imagine a better time for it.
ddc| 6.4.09 @ 2:51PM
What happens with a failed state? is there a precedent for a state declaring bankruptcy? I'd imagine it would be rather more complex than a corporation.
Dave Lincoln| 6.4.09 @ 4:20PM
"There are probably a lot of people in mansions paying 1k a year in taxes. "
More power to em!
BJC| 6.4.09 @ 4:59PM
Mr. Hannaford, you seem to have a much more benign view of the possibilities for a California constitutional convention than I do. I'm completely convinced that would be taken by the Sacramento establishment as simply another "bite at the apple" for constitutionally vesting more power in the now-rogue Leftist Democrat legislature, so as to re-enable their overspending by easing legal methods of raising taxes on already-overtaxed Californians. What's been floated as the agenda for a constitutional convention? Oh, only repealing the requirement of a 2/3 vote of the state legislature to raise taxes, repealing Prop. 13 limiting annual property tax increases, and restricting the citizens' initiative process to rein in excesses of California government! (And I wouldn't put it past such a convention to overturn Prop. 8, which protect natural husband-wife marriage against redefinition.)
The only feasible structural reform I've heard about is returning functions now performed through and by Sacramento to the counties and cities. That could be better accomplished through the existing citizen initiative process than by constitutional convention. Perhaps some resolution will come through the ballot box, too, in tossing incumbents out of office.
And California could begin getting its budget under control with some non-PC actions -- getting illegal alien criminal convicts no longer paid for because they're on state prison rolls, permitting drilling for offshore oil and sharing the energy developers' profits, approving desalinating water and sharing the water developers' profits, easing processes for road and canal construction projects. The lack of will to serve the common interests of Californians but instead to act through government only for Leftist political goals is the larger problem -- and that's not circumscribed only by the public union fetishism of California's political class.
Otto Nordpol| 6.4.09 @ 6:00PM
Before we all agree to slice up my native state into four pieces, do we really want this territory to have eight Senators? Admittedly, they all won't be Pelosis or Boxers, but I'd image you'd get four shrieking liberals, two Tom McClintock conservatives and two John Tester mountain state moderates. On the other hand, it should be possible to gain 10-15 electoral votes, rather than spotting the Dems an automatic 55 vote head start every four years.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque| 6.4.09 @ 6:49PM
Meanwhile, the only thing that has kept the spendthrift legislative majority from ratcheting up taxes to feed its habit has been the intransigence of the minority to vote for such budgets. The state constitution requires a two-thirds vote for budget passage.
No need to worry about that, they're working on reducing it to a simple majority. If that ever happens, hold on to your wallets. (or better yet, move out of CA)
Alan Brooks| 6.4.09 @ 9:05PM
Ahnold still wants to be president, and his wife is a Kenned..., I mean a Shriver...
carolinem| 6.4.09 @ 9:59PM
The illegal alien population bankrupted the State of California. Billions of dollars a year go to the free education, welfare, healthcare and housing of millions of illegal aliens. The Republican Party abandoned the taxpayers forced to finance these programs in the hope that Hispanics will turn Republican. Instead, the Party abandoned its people, while Hispanics flock to the spigot of freebies the Democrats promise them. No wonder the Republican Party is in disarray, and its base is abandoning it in droves.
Karl| 6.4.09 @ 11:17PM
Gosh, what about all the people receiving entitlement payments: education, school meals, disability, food stamps, housing, health care,etc., etc. It goes on and on. The state and politicians have been caving in to everybody and anybody for entitlements and it finally looks like the well is dry.
Seems a little bit like the car companies who gave the unions whatever they asked for just to keep them on the line.
I have no sympathy for California. I am so glad my boss moved out on a forced transfer many years ago. Now I don't want to go to California even for a visit. Makes me think of NYC. Ugh, I'm going to be sick.
pete the mediocre| 6.5.09 @ 12:17AM
California is a study in liberal hypocrisy. The same people who elected Feinstein, Davis, Milk, Boxer, Arnold, Jerry Brown, et al. knowing what their liberal policies would be now refuse to pay the bill.
Roy Allen| 6.5.09 @ 1:28AM
I wish someone would start a recall!
Remember Marie Antoinette?
Richard Baker| 6.5.09 @ 4:53PM
The Liberty and Freedom espoused by the Founding Fathers sounds better each day instead of the Socialist way which has bankrupted and enslaved every country foolish enough to pursue it. America already has the correct model and cheap imitations are a liberal fantasy. For those who disagree, show me one country which is better off due to Socialism/Communism.
whyyeseyec| 6.5.09 @ 6:40PM
Stan Redmond is correct. Everything in Calif is overregulated. Don`t even try to start a business here. You`ll catch a stroke trying.
Prop 13 passed in 1978 is not and has never been the problem. It`s liberalism run amok. The 5 propositions shot down on May 19th is the same response to gov`n as was Prop 13. We are telling Sacramento enough is enough.
Start by cutting lavish pensions and health care benefits. No gov`n employee should belong to a union. Gov workers should serve not deserve.......
Ron| 6.6.09 @ 10:44AM
The federal government is trying to emulate California -- and will end up in the same place.
Emily| 1.12.10 @ 8:34AM
If California is liberal, then I'm minnie mouse. Give me a break. It is a conservative nightmare of a state that is too expensive. And what would save it is democratic socialism. (Which has never existed in the world as the powers that be have never allowed it. Too much of a threat to their corrupt financial interests) Russia has never been communist either, but ruled by dictators, which is as far from communism as it gets. And by the way, unions are a good thing. Anyone against them are elitist jerks.
Trackback| 1.15.10 @ 9:33PM
california credit repair, on california credit repair, links to this page. Here’s an excerpt: