Earlier this year, already overburdened California voters rejected three proposals that would have driven their taxes even higher.  In the aftermath, Governor Schwarzenegger declared that in order to make up the 24 billion dollar budget deficit, deep, maeningful cuts were going to have to be made immediately.  Since then, the California State Legislature has been virtually deadlocked, and on Wednesday it voted against $11 billion in budget trimming that might have salvaged the situation.  In short, the Governor’s cuts never really happened.

For June, the state is faced with a $2.8 billion budget shortfall and a possible Standard & Poor’s bond downgrade.  That’s the good news.  The bad news?  That $2.8 Billion is just the beginning.  In July, the shortfall will expand to $6.5 billion, and in September it will jump into double digits.   In May, California had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 11.5%, up five points from a year ago and climbing.

As a result of the mess California controller John Chiang has announced that “Next Wednesday we start a fiscal year with a massively unbalanced spending plan and a cash shortfall not seen since the Great Depression,” adding “Unfortunately, the state’s inability to balance its checkbook will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses.”

On July second, he will start paying the state’s bills with I.O.U.s. and there are rumblings of a government shutdown.

The lesson to be learned?  The more state employees you have, the more wasteful social programs you initiate, the more illegal immigrants your state supports, the larger your budget needs to be.  No exceptions – it’s just simple math. 

When voters get tired of having their hard earned money squandered by people who allegedly represent them, when they actually stand up for themselves and say no, the fallacy of the tax and spend mentality becomes clear.  You can’t deficit spend your way to prosperity.

Hopefully Obama is paying attention, because if he keeps heading down the path he’s on now, the rest of the nation is going to look an awful lot like the golden state.

-Robert Laurie