New at Reason: Matt Welch on Newspapers Blaming California Voters

June 2, 2009

Since last month's special election, the Los Angeles Times has repeatedly criticized voters for sending mixed signals to Sacramento by restraining spending even while approving dozens of bond measures. Such "feel-good 'ballot box budgeting' initiatives" (in the words of one columnist) have contributed to the very budget deficit that citizens are now rebelling against, a paradox that few in the Golden State's political class have failed to note. But in this blame-the-voter critique, Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch argues, the L.A. Times has curiously excluded a presumably influential or at least easy-to-find California co-conspirator: The paper's own editorial board.

Read all about it here.