The ultimate design flaw in the Golden State’s government

[toymachines]

The ultimate design flaw in the Golden State’s government
By Chris Crotty and Tom Murray, SDNN

During the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007 the eight-lane steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed into the river and onto the riverbanks beneath, killing thirteen people and injuring 145. The likely cause of the collapse bridge was determined to be a “catastrophic design flaw.

California’s existing method of operation is like the I35W bridge prior to that tragic day in 2007. The most recent economic pressure on our state has exposed potentially catastrophic structural flaws in the current form of state governance. It is clear to any objective observer that the state is about to fail — and fail catastrophically — in the foreseeable future. As with the I35W bridge, the result of such a failure will be remembered in terms of it’s impact on human lives. A generation of California’s young people will be deprived of decent childhood development programs, quality educations and affordable, accessible health care.

Both the social and physical infrastructure of California is deficient and continues to degrade. It is no exaggeration to say that the health, welfare and safety of our society are endangered.

“California has become ungovernable” has evolved from an observation to a cliché. A package of initiatives that allegedly would have put a two or three year patch over the state’s structural budget flaw was put on the May 19th ballot by the Governor and legislative leaders. Almost 70 percent of Californians who bothered to vote cast their ballots against the thinly veiled gimmick. Those who did not vote showed their disapproval, or more likely, disbelief, by not even participating.

The state now stares into a $24.3 billion budget hole. As the Governor and the legislature play more political games, California faces the possibility of literally going broke. This is the same California that once had the 6th highest gross domestic product in the world. It is a sad state of affairs... Read more

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-07-01/news/politics-city-county-government/the-ultimate-design-flaw-in-the-golden-states-government#ixzz0PmYXCpVP