California Collapse

Last week we talked about how many trends seem to start in California and then move inland. As we all know, California is in financial trouble (as is the entire U.S.) so we are watching what they are doing to see if it may be foreshadowing of what may be coming for the whole country.

Today, Gov. Schwarzenegger sent lawmakers another $5 billion in cuts. This is going to get ugly and may lead to unrest as people deal with the realities of not having enough money to fill all the demands. What would have been considered a luxury 50 yrs ago, is now viewed as a base requirement....and when that base is removed....the citizens are going to howl.

We've posted a few paragraphs below with some comments;

Union members began a 48-hour vigil in the park that surrounds the statehouse, saying that their members would be driven into poverty, and the elderly and disabled deprived of care if Schwarzenegger's proposals are adopted. They also filed a lawsuit in federal court that attempts to stop some of the planned cuts.

So where do these union members believe the money should come from?? Do they want to print it?....or have the Federal Gov't print it and give it to them as a bail out, so we can ALL be on the hook for California's problems? As a resident of Minnesota, I would have a real problem with that. Lord knows we are going to have to make serious cuts ourselves and have no business getting on the hook for the state of CA.

"It shocks the conscience that we have to throw sick children off of welfare to satisfy Wall Street," said Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), the budget committee chairwoman. She added: "This used to be the Golden State, and now it is a sorry state and it is not my California."

Dear Ms. Evans....satisfying Wall Street means that the math has to add up (nothing more and nothing less)....and your math hasn't added up for some years now. You have spent way beyond your means and now it's time to tighten your belts and look more like the Midwest and less like Hollywood. It's an admirable cause of yours to have sick children on welfare that your tax roles have paid for....but it's not admirable for you to charge it on the state credit card and send the bill out 20 years for the next generation to pay with interest....that is flat out immoral.

Others, including Assemblyman Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), said the state must face the situation as it is. "We are being driven by an economy that has absolutely collapsed," said Niello, the committee's vice chairman. "This is no body's vision of where we wanted to be."

Yes Mr. Niello...nobody wants to have a vision of collapse, but sadly that is the result of people spending and living way beyond any sustainable means.

Now, I ask the question again; are we going to be reading this same article in 12 months or 24 months...but instead of being about one state....it will be about our entire nation?

Read entire article here; http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget27-2009may27,0,535715.story