Kicking the Can in California: Why the Budget Crisis Will Continue

Gary North

Dec. 21, 2009

Politicians play kick the can.

When they find a problem with no politically acceptable solution, they call it "challenging," and then kick the can.

This article from The Sacramento Bee indicates how California's politicians are playing kick the can. There is no long-term solution except bankruptcy or a Federal bailout. Meanwhile:

Necessity is the mother of invention; desperation is the father.

The California constitution requires the governor to produce a balanced budget proposal by Jan. 10, and Schwarzenegger plans to do it Jan. 8.

Just how he proposes to balance it is unclear. The governor has ruled out tax increases since last May, when voters soundly rejected a proposal for $16 billion worth of tax-hike extensions. Most of the state's major programs can't be cut significantly deeper without losing billions in federal funds, thus making things worse.

This will be fun to watch . . . from outside California.