When it comes to describing the true source of California's current troubles, one of the late, great cartoonist Walt Kelly's swamp-dwelling characters may have said it best: "We have met the enemy and he is us," declared Pogo in 1971.
He could have been lamenting the irresponsible way we Californians have spent this state into a deep hole over the last 30 years.
Each depredation seemed laudable enough in its time - from passing mandatory prison sentencing laws by large margins to okaying virtually all bond issues proposed on statewide ballots.
Here's some of the bleak picture:
California - once the paragon of smooth roads - now has the second worst pavement conditions in America, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Road Information Program. Its latest report says this state spends $11 billion a year less than what's needed to maintain good roads.
State prisons are so overcrowded courts repeatedly find they violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. As many as 40,000 prisoners may have to be released in the next year.
California's public university systems have unprecedented numbers of qualified applicants for admission at the same time they're reducing student slots. They'll turn away about 150,000 qualified people this year. This amounts to all but abandoning the state's 50-year-old master plan for higher education.
California now has about $89 billion in long-term bond
