It seems, the golden state is bankrupt…

California goes broke, halts $3.5 billion in payments

California, the eighth largest economy in the world, is broke.

"People are going to be hurt starting today," said Hallye Jordan, speaking on behalf of the state Controller. "There’s no money."

Since state legislators failed to meet an end of January deadline on an agreement to make up for California’s $40 billion budget gap, residents won’t be getting their state tax rebates, scholarships to Cal Grant college will go unpaid, vendors invoices will remain uncollected and county social services will cease.

It takes a two-thirds majority in both legislative houses for future increases in all state tax rates or amounts of revenue collected, including income tax rates. It also requires two-thirds vote majority in local elections for local governments wishing to raise special taxes.   What that means in practice, is a small minority of anti-government republicans can veto all tax increases, but not any spending bills. 

This was deliberate.  Knowing that the voters would never accept lower taxes if it meant reduced services, the ideologues decided to sell the voters on the free lunch theory of government…that taxes were high because government was inherently wasteful and corrupt, not because the public wanted it to do things above and beyond the basic services of police, courts, armed forces, like…fight fires…build roads…keep the water supply drinkable…prevent mass outbreaks of food poisoning…provide for the needy…put the unemployed back to work…and so on.  Right wing anti-Government operatives like Howard Jarvis and Grover Norquist knew exactly what they were doing.  The idea Was to bankrupt government, as a back door way of killing the New Deal.  As Grover Norquist put it, to starve government "down to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub."

Well…here we are.  In right wing Nirvana…

"Some 46 states face budget shortfalls, forcing them to slash funding for many services," reported CNN. "But California, the largest state in the union by population, faces a deficit that totals more than 35% of its general fund."

Nice work Mr. Norquist, Mr. Jarvis.  The whirlwind you ordered is in the mail.  And all those people you sold free lunch government to won’t be very happy with you when they’re watching their homes being auctioned off, and their children going hungry, so that your fat cat bankrollers could buy a few more yachts and luxury condos…