For any complex problem, there's a simple solution, and it's always wrong!.
Diaries about California fill up with savage comments that suggest that California should burn to the ground, plunge into depression, or go bankrupt because we deserve it. Our mortal sin varies, with the most common accusations centering on abuse of the initiative process, Prop 13, pampered unions, too many Mexicans, and electing a steroid-enhanced action hero to lead the golden state. Greedy Californians borrowing against over-priced homes caused the economic collapse. Oh and we gave you all Reagan, and we should be divided into multiple states to solve the problem.
Each one of these has a germ of truth, but it really is time to Move On.
Let's look at what's happening, and let's have America's progressives join California's progressives to find solutions.
Governator 5.0, the latest incarnation of a post-partisan action hero, is proposing barbaric cuts to social services in California. Not balancing the budget. Not reigning in expenses! Finally working to achieve Reagan's vision of completely eliminating welfare.
Eliminating the SCHIP program, cutting health insurance for a million children, and losing the matching federal funds.
Eliminating the CALWORKS program, our version of Welfare to Work, and losing the matching federal funds.
Eliminating ALL vocational rehabilitation and drug treatment programs in California's already shameful prison system.
And more. Much more.
All told, there are $24 billion dollars in spending cuts that savage the poor, the weak, elderly, the disabled, AIDs patients, anyone without a car, children, unmarried mothers. It's a draconian experiment in Shock Doctrine previously reserved for banana Republics and Iraq.
If you don't care about the millions of people who will suffer and die, think about the macro-economic consequences. The level of cuts proposed is enough to push California into full-fledged depression. By the time the Governator's cuts work through the economy, our nominal unemployment rate will soar from 11% to 13%, with real unemployment in Depression era levels above 20%.
California's tent cities, uprisings, National Guard deployments, and daily disasters will dominate the news, acting as a massive dose of Agent Orange on any green shoots.
So what are the progressive solutions? Read Calitics on a daily basis, or the brilliant David Dayen at Digby's place on a regular basis, and you'll see that California progressives have been fighting for smart long-term solutions that deal with structural issues and balance our budget with a fair tax system and spending cuts.
National Intervention by President Obama
I'm sorry Barack, truly, but we need your eloquence, your common sense, and your ability to command media attention to help set us on the right path.
So far, you've been ennabling Arnold, agreeing to his barbarism. Are you as star-struck as our vapid media?
If you can demand the resignation of a bankrupt car company in exchange for help, you can demand the resignation of the Worst Governor Ever. Let John Garamendi step up and give him as much time as you gave the car companies to come up with a work-out plan. We also need your organization in California to focus on fixing California problems, instead of doing stupid service projects.
Structural Change
There's strong support for a Constitutional Convention in California, not just from progressives, but from the good government stalwarts in the establishment. The progressives fighting the last Golden Age introduced the recall, initiative, and referendum, but those tools against kleptocrats have been used against us time and again by the kleptocrats. We need serious structural changes, and we need them as quickly as we can get them.
Bridge Loans To Prevent Insolvency
Remember those financial institutions we bailed out at a cost of trillions? They want to charge the state of California usurious interest rates to borrow money to smooth out revenue problems. With Arnold's resignation, a deadline for structural changes, and an agreement on tax increases and budget cuts, we think that California is more important than the banksters, or the reckless crooks at AIG. Guarantee loans, and subsidize interest rates. And hey, give the same deal to any other state, as long as the Governor's resignation is part of the application.
Inheritance Tax Rollback
Yes. Remember that gift to the billionaires that was funded by billionaires. Part of that package phased out the California Estate Tax, which was fully deductible against the federal estate tax. Estimates show that it's now costing California 1.2 billion a year. Any Kossack who wants to punish California's most vulnerable before we roll back the Bush regime's most egregious gift to the kleptocrats should move their comments to redstate.