California's Budgetary Crisis and Its Solution

I'm no expert on California as such, but I do know something public policy and how state governments work, or fail to. The ease with which propositions are placed on the ballot in California are a recipe for disaster. Its a valuable tool for limited, and overarching questions (such as whether its time to revamp the state's constitution). They are no substitute for governance. It opens very complex day to day decisions to a high school popularity contest (or whoever has the biggest television budget). Do you want a nice high minimum wage and social benefits for all? Yes! Want to mandate life sentences for anyone caught stealing change out of your cars? Sure! Should we pay taxes for any of this? Hell no! Given the choice, and lack of any real accountability, people will chose a cradle to grave French socialism and a libertarian tax policy. Republicans, for the most part, will villify anyone who wants to raise a tax as a socialist or a tax and spend liberal. It's not about partisan identity, its just about making responsible grown up choices and paying for them.

While I agree that simple majority-vote democracy would enable the creation of budgets on time and reasonably free of partisan b.s., it’s not going to solve the greater fiscal crisis facing both California and the United States.

Both the national and international economic crashes are/were caused by trade and tax policies set at the national and international level, namely free trade and the tax laws which reward outsourcing.

Simply put, we shipped too many jobs and too much working capital away, and our economies are adjusting to that fact.

If we continue to force American companies to compete on an equal footing with companies located in dictatorships which pollute their environments, we will continue to lose jobs. The money which would have paid taxes here to provide services will continue to go overseas to finance dictatorships and environmental destruction.

In the long run, either we must establish trade laws which bring about fair and balanced trade, or we will continue to watch our Nation and State’s economies decline.

And we will always have to make budgets which use less money to deal with more people who are being impoverished.

Thermal

California may or may not be over spending. That is largely a result of how voters feel regarding public needs. But the problem here is NOT overspending. The majority never gets the chance to decide whether they want to pay for what they get.

If a budget is passed with majority vote, and people are unhappy with it, there is an easy solution at the polls. Vote 'em out.

Under the current situation, a small minority of California voters can hold the others hostage to get programs they do not like eliminated even though they are supported by a majority.

I am sorry to say it, but Republicans have done this here in California over and over again. Lets try democracy.