I think that phrase comes from a song by the artist formally known as Prince. It’s also another way of looking at how dysfunctional California’s government has become. Meanwhile, nothing appears to be stopping the budget train from falling over a cliff in two months.
Nothing happened this week in negotiations between Democratic leaders in the legislature and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. I suppose that eventually they’ll come up with a way to make the Democrats’ previous User Fee Tax Hike palatable to the Governator. But will happen when a court rules—and this will head to court—that these aren’t user fees, they’re tax hikes, and a 2/3 vote is required. That’s a vote that includes Republicans. There is no doubt in my mind this is how the present scenario will play out.
Someone sent me an email stating that California will go into Chapter 9 Bankruptcy. That’s definitely not going to happen. Only municipalities (and other subdivisions of states) can go into Chapter 9. I don’t know what would happen if California actually runs out of money but that won’t.
Meanwhile, the California Teachers Association has decided that they’ll try for a 1% additional sales tax for education. They need to obtain about 800,000 signatures in the next few months to qualify the initiative (which will take a 2/3 vote to pass) for the next general election (likely in June 2010).
Given that we’re now between Christmas and New Year’s Day nothing is going to happen on the budget front for another week. I’ll keep you advised As the Budget Churns.