California nightmare

— Rollie Atkinson
We have written nearly a year-long series of editorials about
the sad, sorry and sinful saga of the making of a state budget for
California, our once-golden promised land that now faces a $26
billion deficit.
These words — and dozens more like them from newspapers
throughout our state — have gone unheeded. No cold splash of common
sense has washed over the governor and the lawmakers in Sacramento.
No lightning bolts have ignited a populist revolt, or even a modest
semblance of a street corner outrage.
So now we are left with a $23 billion package of cuts to
education, health services, local government programs, eliminated
college tuition aid and a shredded social welfare safety net.
So this editorial is not about California’s state budget. This
editorial is about California’s Dream and future. A budget is just
a set of plans and policies. California’s 2009-2010 budget and its
accompanying 30-plus pieces of fiscal legislation is our road map
to our California future. It is our only compass.
And what kind of future have we drawn for ourselves? In which
direction would you say we are headed?
“Fewer teachers will teach our children. Thousands of seniors
and disabled Californians will lose the care they need to live in
their own homes. And, dreams of a state university education will
be dashed for many Californians because it is about to become much
more expensive.” That is the description of our California Dream as
described by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) late last
week, after she completed a midnight battle with Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and an uncompromising Republican minority over the
budget that other legislators called too ugly to look at and too
smelly to be around.
“The California Dream is the victim of our dysfunctional
process,” said Evans. “Californians want quality public schools, a
safety net for vulnerable residents, and their coastline protected
from expanded oil drilling.”
If that is what most Californians truly want, they are about to
wake up in full disenchantment.
Our future dream will take away $6 billion from K-12 classrooms
over the next two years, with more cuts to follow after that. Our
lofty ideals include cutting another $3 billion from the University
of California and California State University systems.
As Californians we apparently no longer believe in the pursuit
of higher learning or academic excellence as a way to a better
future. We have chosen a different and much dimmer horizon to
cross.
Our future road map is taking us in a direction away from recent
welfare reforms, cutting $528 million in CalWORKS welfare-to-work
programs and dropping another $128 million from the Healthy
Families program. Our new California Dream does not include
self-help boosts or believe in headstarts.
The governor and the Republicans are hoping (dreaming?) that a
wave of compassion will roll over our state and that non-profits,
foundations and benevolent individuals will fund and repair these
many tears in our social welfare safety net. But haven’t they
noticed how the Recession is already depleting these charities and
donors?
California’s state government, with its grid-locked and
dysfunctional set of unfunded mandates, boom or bust tax structures
and legislation-by-voter-proposition can not be mistaken for a
“dream machine.”
The Republican minority refused to support any new taxes or
revenues to rescue the state from a decade of over-spending and bad
debt. The governor put his own selfish mandates for taxation reform
above all other interests. The lack of seeking compromise by these
lawmakers has ultimately compromised our California Dream.
This new California Dream is being borne by the unfair
sacrifices of our children, the working poor and the frail and
elderly. Rich or poor, asleep or awake, Republican or Democrat,
none of us will soon wake up from this California Nightmare.