As California goes, so goes the USA

The saying is quaint these days, but there may still be truth in its impacts.

All this is prompted by the proposed 10% budget cuts for California state government. Income projections are down, and the present governor is doing his best to keep all the juggled balls in the air at the same time while he balances the budget (with a little borrowing also proposed). And the legislature is part of all this, also. And the causes and solutions are many, but one may simplify it all by saying one thing for sure. The friction between benefits, often something for nothing to so many, and the basic citizen services, as in public safety, public education, and public infrastructure, is finally out in the open for all to see and debate, and hopefully even vote on sometime. The friction can be as simple as priorities. For example, what is more important, welfare payments for the child of an out-of-wedlock mother, or the life of a citizen killed by an LA gang member going through initiation, say in Sacramento while walking his dog on Christmas Eve in his neighborhood?

What still is not discussed in the open is why state income is down? The best first guess is property value appreciation and tax income has finally settled down. But there are other guesses. Californians can vote with their feet and pocket books, and move away. Conversely, other Americans (already moving) can move somewhere else instead of California. Both actions reduce the tax base and income. As a former resident of California (6 years), or at least assigned there by the military, I have moved away and will not move back. I have better alternatives, to include quality of life, and I suspect many small business leaders think the same way in their future plans.

All this suggests the California state government cannot tax or borrow its way out of this present dilemma. If ever there was a time for real honest leadership in California, and hard decisions in California government, it is in the next year or so. As a fellow American citizen I wish them the best. Some of the alternatives are the worst. What they sort out may be a harbinger for the future of the whole Country.

Only the reader can decide if this post is “chicken little – the sky is falling”, or an irritating suggestion that hard times and decisions are coming. For those who demand squirm room, or have the luxury of having squirm room, paying attention to what our fellow citizens in California do may help one’s decision process, as well as the acceptance of the reality of what is happening, which is out in plain sight.