Notes from the Blue Bear Republic

Deja Vu, All Over Again

Steve Westly's surprising climb to a double digit lead over presumed frontrunner Phil Angelides is proof that Californians still want to believe that the budget can be balanced in good part by efficiency, audits, and other numbers games.

In short, I say, we Californians want something for nothing.

Arnold promised that when he ran to throw Gray Davis out of office. Remember the ruthless audit he was going to conduct on the state books? Oh, many an Arnold backer I talked to was convinced that somehow Gray Davis's alleged "pay for play" policy had secreted scrillions of dollars off in unnamed vaults, and once they were opened, there would be money enough for schools, roads, parks and a lower vehicle license fee. Of course, none of this was likely but it fed the idea that there was no real choice between taxes and services, and Arnold rode that belief in to Sacramento.

Now Steve Westly has taken the story over and it seems to be working.

There is no real "dysfunction" in California politics. There is simply the age-old problem of how a democracy decides to pay for what it wants. The left hand wants a warm glove but the right hand doesn't want to reach in to the pocket to get money to pay for it. This isn't new. The GOP has found this just as true on the national level, leading to record deficits by offering tax cuts with no consequent drop in spending because people generally like what the federal government does for them.

We kick this up several notches here in California because of our ridiculous requirement that two thirds of the legislature agree to a budget and higher taxes, making it impossible for the majority to govern by making a good faith offer to voters that if they want what they want, they need to pay for it, or be willing to put something aside.

Both spending and taxes remain locked in place, way out of sync, with no relief. Nor does the public seem to want one, looking at their surprising support for both Arnold, Steve Westly and their rejection of a ballot initiative which would have reduced the two thirds requirement for budgets and taxes.

There is just under seven weeks left in the gubernatorial election. Phil Angelides, the honest man in the tax-and-spending discussion, can still turn it around. Westly's bubble may have been a "step forward, let's look at you" response to his recent barrage of ads.

But it might also be Californians once again looking for the tooth fairy in terms of reconciling our public giving and our public receiving. In that, it's "deja vu, all over again." The saddest part is that it means even many Democrats are falling for it, all over again.

posted by Terry Preston @ 12:11 PM