Which End of the Boat Sinks First? - Dueling Between Democrats and Republicans

The fiscal situation in California is dire and to call the once golden state a sinking boat is not exaggeration at all.  Look at some top stories on today's San Francisco Chronicle and you'll understand:

• Bridges needing repair: S.F. highest in state
  - Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
• CSU faces worst fiscal situation in its history
  - Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer
• Jerry Brown seeks ways around GOP on tax vote
  - Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Governor Jerry Brown proposed deep services cuts for the poor and middle class, hoping to get support from Republicans to put a temporary tax extension on a special election ballot.  But deadline came and went and he got no support.  The huge imbalance of public workers pensions and benefits are not addressed by the Democrats either.  One would hope these two ruling parties would barter some of these.  No.  If anything same can be done, we are not in California.

The Republicans and Democrats, sitting in two ends of this leaking boat, instead of working together to scoop out water and fix the leakage, are fighting tooth and nail to ensure that the other end of the boat sinks first.

This is not confined to California alone.  It is being played out from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

It is being played out from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

It is being played out from the curvaceous slopes of California!

It is being played out from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

It is being played out Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

It is being played out every hill and molehill of Mississippi.  From every mountainside, it is being played out.

A dream or a nightmare?

Domesticity
Oil on Canvas
© Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com

California - the Fool's Gold

Much anticipated and dreaded new budget for California was put forth by the new governor Jerry Brown and all the fears were realized and then some.

Governor Brown presented us a rather honest budget, which needs to eliminate a budget gap of about $25 billion out of $86 billion budget.

He proposed cuts to some social services, lowered salaries for non-union state employees and a huge cut to the three-tiered university systems in California.  University of California, the jewel of the public universities in the nation, will get 25% less from the state and that translates into about 13% of the total budget, which includes funding from state, grants and students' fees.

University of California posted the image below to demonstrate the stress the University is facing:



In the past decades, California was justifiably called the Golden State, who led the nation in innovation.  That economic engine was largely the product of excellent public educational system this state used to have.  Things changed after tax-restructuring in 1970s (Proposition 13, 1978) and the funding for education became less and less adequate.  Finally, we are to see that students' fees are to surpass the funding from the state.

This budget is a bitter pill and we must swallow.  It was Californians' own undoing.  We are kill the goose that lays the golden eggs in order not to starve to death.  In the long run, if the tax situation did not change (Republicans are still opposing to any tax increase), we will have neither eggs nor goose.

The color of State of California is that of the fool's gold.