Black, Hispanic, and Asian kids now form a majority of the non-voting-age population in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. more ›

In the NYT today, California is once again front and center in a piece about cash-strapped states entering the new year with nothing but swaths of red on the books. The Governator is expected to continue shaking his tin cup at President Obama when he makes his State of the State address at 10 a.m. today, saying that when the new fiscal year begins in July, California will be unable to pay for any social services without aid from the federal government. The stimulus funds of last year are going to start running out, and it's about to get really ugly, with Medicaid patients here already being denied dental benefits and unemployment funds teetering in the balance as well. Happy New Year! more ›

The cruel, cruel Governator is expected today to use his line-item veto power to make further cuts to social programs--particularly those serving the poor--as he signs off on the State of California's latest budget. To highlight his cruelty, local news stations have concentrated on possible cuts to in-home care for people with cerebral palsy, and to insurance for poor families with cute little children like Jacob in the video above. As KCBS reports, even these cuts are not expected to improve the state's shitty credit rating (currently a BBB while most states have AAA or AA), because the budget is "filled with accounting tricks" too. more ›

You've probably heard that some California counties are fuming over the new state budget, which borrows $4 billion from county budgets and will mean major cuts in local services from health care to public works. Rich Gordon of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors says this budget will, once put in practice, "fall apart." more ›

In this clip from Russia Today, an English-language news program based in Moscow, the suave and accented anchorman speaks with an American correspondent about the fiscal crisis in California and the "meaningless pieces of paper" the state is now issuing to vendors in lieu of cash. Is it just us, or does this dude have a certain smirky, bemused attitude toward the idea that this state with the 8th largest economy in the world is bankrupt? more ›

Not sure how much this budget-by-ballot blitz just cost us, but with 17% of precincts reporting, five of the six ballot measures in today's special election appear to have failed, with 60%+ of voters saying NO to propositions 1A through E. more ›

John Myers at KQED's California Report did a report about this very unspecial Special Election we're having today, in which some TBD tiny percentage of the state's population is going to arrive at polling stations and probably vote down the Governator's budget balancing ballot measures. Whether or not any of the ballot proposals are valid, it appears people are tired enough of special elections, and tired enough of everyone losing all their money that "No, no, no, no, no," is the most natural response. Regardless, no one knows what the hell they're voting on anyway. more ›

At the risk of sounding un-democratic, we hate the whole voter-approved proposition system and we think you do too. Even the most educated voters don't tend to know enough about both sides of issues -- particularly when it comes to esoteric accounting procedures and the issuing of multi-billion-dollar bonds -- to vote intelligently, let alone voters who don't like to read, or think. Prop 8, and all similar discriminatory propositions in the state's history (Prop 6 in 1976, which figured in the Milk film, and Prop 14 in 1964, which was overwhelmingly approved and which allowed landlords to discriminate based on race) are perfect examples of how easily the system can be abused, and how dangerous a role it can play. more ›