DYSFUNCTIONAL thinking concerning how to solve California's $20 billion budget deficit is not limited to the Legislature and governor's office. Contradictory positions and misinformed assumptions also dominate the views of the Golden State's electorate.
A recent Field Poll revealed that half of the state's voters want the state to eliminate the $20 billion shortfall without any tax increases. Only 29 percent said the state should use an equal mix of spending cuts and higher taxes, and a mere 13 percent preferred balancing the budget mostly or completely with tax increases.
Certainly, opposition to any tax increases is understandable, given last year's $12 billion in tax hikes. Voters also have good cause to be upset with a governor and Legislature that went on a multiyear spending spree when revenues were freely flowing into the state treasury during the housing boom.
But the reality facing Californians today is that there simply is not nearly enough revenue coming in to balance even a diminished state budget.
There have been steep spending cuts, not just reductions in budgets. While more spending cuts can and must be made, there is a limit to just how much California can cut back without undermining basic services such as education, public safety and a minimum of social services.
The Field Poll also revealed that voters are opposed to dropping the two-thirds vote requirement in the
Legislature to pass a state budget.However, when it comes to specific major budget cuts, there does not seem to be any consensus on where to cut or by how much.
A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 82 percent, including a majority of Republicans