Girly Man

No getting around it: California's in trouble. Joel Kotkin takes a look at the forces that have brought the Golden State to its knees. As you might guess, runaway spending and out-of-control interest groups are among them. And here's a factoid that would give David Brooks and Thomas Friedman nightmares:

The educational system, closely aligned with the Democrats in the legislature, accelerated its secular decline. Once full of highly skilled workers, California has become increasingly less so. For example, California ranks second in the percentage of its 65-year-olds holding an associate degree or higher and fifth in those with a bachelor’s degree. But when you look at the 25-to-34 age group, those rankings fade to 30th and 24th.

To quote both Brooks and Friedman: "Competitiveness! Competitiveness! Competitiveness!" California used to have one of--if not the--world's finest university system. That provided the fuel for the state's explosive growth. When you can draw the best minds with your schools, and keep them with your weather and job opportunities, you've got a recipe for success.

Not anymore. I'd say "recipe for disaster," but "disaster" isn't quite strong enough. Catastrophe? Armageddon, maybe? Here's a story from Bloomberg about just how dire things have gotten:

Lawmakers were unable to agree on a plan to close the gap during a three-week special session that expired yesterday. Schwarzenegger has warned that the state will run out of cash in February and can’t borrow money from Wall Street to pay bills such as payroll until lawmakers trim the deficit. The state’s finances are reeling from declines in stock markets that have sapped tax revenue from income and capital gains.

The state's solution? Raise taxes! Jack 'em up! Send 'em through the roof!

To fix the problem, Schwarzenegger has proposed increasing the sales tax to 8.75 percent from 7.25 percent for three years, as well as raising motor-vehicle fees. His proposal also would expand sales and use taxes to include appliance, furniture and vehicle repairs; golf greens fees; amusement-park admissions; sporting-event tickets; and veterinarian services.

But Schwarzenegger wants a stimulus package, too. So, basically, he's going to deal with this crisis by...taking money out of people's pockets with a tax increase, and then throwing it back in their faces with a stimulus package? I'm no economic expert, but I did take Econ 101. And that alone is enough for me to see this is an awfully awful idea.