by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By John Gallogly

California is mired in a $16 billion dollar deficit, without the political will to overcome deliberately designed structural impediments to solving the problem. For most government and nonprofit organizations, mission determines function. The United States Constitution clearly lays out the ‘mission’ of the government in the Preamble: “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,…” But the practical result of recently incorporated laws and referendum promoted by those who believe that less government is better government has had the opposite effect. In California, the two third majorities needed to both raise taxes (passed with only 55% of the vote), and to enact a budget, have created a situation in which a small, but determined minority can act in concert to thwart those general aims of the constitution and the citizenry.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]