"With California a day away from issuing IOUs instead of paying its bills, Gov. Schwarzenegger and the legislature remain at odds over how to close a now $26.3 billion deficit. Schwarzenegger on Thursday ordered a third unpaid furlough day for 235,000 state employees. With its $1.7 trillion economy sputtering and 11.5% unemployment surging, California's difficulty in balancing its budget could affect the national recovery. But the Golden State's budget problems are hardly new. The seeds of them were planted more than 30 years ago." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"They begin with the 1978 property tax revolt and the victory of Proposition 13." - Mike Reynolds

gotta say, i always thought Prop13 would be the death of CA. but i thought it would come a lot sooner (like ten years, not 30). now that more than a generation has lived under this boondoggle i figure it'll be really hard to get rid of the concept. yep, i figure CA is toast. - MikeAmundsen

I wonder, will this be the beginning of the break-up of the state? - Victor Ganata

Feel free to sign the Repeal Prop 13 Twitition if you think it's a blight on the sate of California: http://twitition.com/l4j5t - AJ Kohn

@AJ: living in KY, so proly not gonna mean much if i sign. also, NY went belly up in '75 and they seemed to come out of it. i suspect the same will happen. just figure it'll take longer and cost a lot more. - MikeAmundsen