Right now the city of Los Angeles is dealing with a 530 million dollar budget deficit.  The state is so deep in debt that it’s issuing IOUs to pay its bills.  Unfortunately, today’s Michael Jackson memorial spectacular is set to heap even more financial trouble on the struggling economy.

According to MSNBC, a source within the LAPD claims that, while the total cost of Jackson’s funeral is still unknown, 2.5 million is the “best estimate” for now.   The figure covers sanitation; technical support for IT needs, and police protection.

The Staples Center memorial itself is being paid for by Staples and AEG.

You can ignore Jackson’s crazy life, the molestation charges, the massive drug abuse, and all the other things that make him unworthy of such accolades, but a simple truth still remains. At a time when the city and state are on the brink of total financial collapse, shelling out two and a half million taxpayer dollars in support of ANY celebrity’s funeral is ridiculous.

Last week, Lou Ferrigno, Jackson’s friend and personal trainer, suggested that massive debt was the real cause of the pop star’s death.  He said “He was under tremendous stress, so much I think it killed him,” adding “In the past, he had backed out of doing live shows but this time he was under the gun. The debts put a huge strain on him.”

Perhaps the debtor state of California could learn something from that.

-Robert Laurie