Magnifisyncopathological

How does it feel?

I mean, it sure must be reassuring to have all those "essential services" at the beck and call of the California legislature. Simply amazing to put so much at the mercy of politics when it's hardly any of their busniess to begin with.

With its huge economy stalled and state revenues plunging, California has descended into its worst budget crisis in a decade and is now facing an excruciating round of budget cuts and possible tax increases.

State officials are proposing deep reductions in education, health services and other programs to deal with a budget shortfall that could total $25 billion in the next 18 months.

"That's a hole so deep and so vast that even if we fired every single person on the state payroll — every park ranger, every college professor and every Highway Patrol officer — we would still be more than $6 billion short," said the Assembly speaker, Herb J. Wesson Jr., a Democrat.

Gov. Gray Davis announced a series of steps on Friday intended to save $10.2 billion to plug a deepening hole in the current budget and to serve as a prelude to even deeper cuts in next year's. Mr. Davis proposed freezing pay for state workers and warned of large-scale layoffs. As many as 200,000 people could lose their health coverage under the state Medi-Cal program. Payments to public schools and universities could fall by more than $3 billion.

And that is just the start. In January the governor must propose a budget for the fiscal year beginning in July that needs to address an expected $15 billion shortfall in revenues. Mr. Davis has not yet proposed tax increases, but given the deficit magnitude, they appear inevitable.

Of course, not everyone sees higher taxes as the solution. Unfortunately, not enough people have the basic economic skills to understand this.

James L. Brulte, the Republican leader in the State Senate, said that raising taxes would not only be insufficient to stanch the red ink but would also throttle growth when the economy is sputtering.

State output fell by 2.3 percent in 2001, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. The group estimates that the state economy will grow by a listless 0.8 percent this year. The unemployment rate is 6.6 percent (the national rate is 6.0 percent) and is expected to be worse next year. Slow economic growth and rising joblessness cause state tax revenues to plummet and increase costs for social services.

"You can raise the alcohol tax, the tobacco tax, the car tax, the income tax and sales tax and you still have a multibillion-dollar deficit," said Mr. Brulte, who represents Rancho Cucamonga and other bedroom communities east of Los Angeles.

He said the only thing keeping the state afloat was consumer spending, which continues to grow, modestly.

"Raising taxes on consumers clearly would be counterproductive," he said. "Raising taxes on business, when we actually need business to step up and start investing more so we can continue the expansion, would also be counterproductive. Anything that has the tendency to restrain either consumer spending or business investment will lead to an even larger deficit in California."

Riding free on the backs of the business class who employ the working class and the creative class who pay for the services of the poorer class. But, naaaaaa, doesn't matter if this is all connected. What matters is taking the excess money from those who need it the least and giving it to those who need it most! Damn the consequences, we've got to be compassionate and understanding and selfless!