Fix the shortfall yourself, Sacramento

Fix the shortfall yourself, Sacramento:

"California voters are a surly bunch. They don't think an overhaul of state government is needed. They don't want to make it easier for the Legislature to approve a budget. And new taxes to patch a $20 billion shortfall? You can pretty much forget about it."

This angry outlook comes from a disturbing Field Poll released this week. Disturbing because voters are dismissive and furious over the state's political and budgetary gridlock, and they're in no mood to help Sacramento solve the crisis. The results are also a failing report card for government reformers, who are going nowhere in their bid to rewrite the state's decision-making rules.
A string of prior Field polls on the state's direction and political leaders have found much the same sour mood. Voters don't like elected officialdom and don't want dysfunction handed back to them with ballot-box fixes. In this latest poll, respondents show the same fed-up defiance: Sacramento needs to solve its monumental problems on its own with the rules and requirements it already has. Stop the whining, get together and don't ask for help, respondents say.
But the poll - with its blunt choices and five-question format - takes the argument only part way. Half of the respondents want to solve the $20 billion budget shortfall either completely or largely via budget cuts, the poll finds. But do these voters realize what will have to go? With a state's general fund kitty totaling $100 billion, are these voters willing to lop $20 million off the top?
It would mean more cuts for schools and higher education, less spending on road repairs and a heavy hit to social programs in a state with a 12 percent jobless rate. A whack this big goes well beyond any reasonable savings that can be expected from popular war cries about waste, fraud and abuse.
A hard core of 31 percent want cuts and no tax increases, a fair reflection of the minority Republican makeup in the Legislature. About 19 percent wants mostly spending cuts along with limited new taxes, a grouping that produces the 50 percent total aligned against significant tax increases. But 29 percent favor a mix of cuts and new revenues with the balance favoring more taxes or holding no opinion. There may be some room for moderation - that is, cuts plus taxes - but it's ever-so faint.
More than anything, the results display a shredded civic culture. Voters, who doze off at the mention of high-minded governmental reform, want action, no matter the cost. When cuts are announced - such as teacher layoffs or state park closures - they become even more angry, as the Field Poll shows. Solutions to ease this crisis atmosphere go up in smoke.
Reform groups, who've stepped in with suggested changes, aren't getting the job done. Repair California, which wanted a voter-approved constitutional convention to rewrite

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/06/ED6O1C9OS5.DTL#ixzz0hV2XP6EH