Golden Meltdown

Well, the gong struck 12, and California's still screwed. The state missed its legal deadline to pass a budget, for something like the 13th time out the last 15 years. The difference this time around, of course, is the incomprehensible size of the budget deficit: $38 billion. While jobs flee the state, city governments wait in limbo to hear how little money they?ll receive, and California's already-miserable credit rating continues to plummet, evidence abounds that Sacramento is not serious about its responsibilities.

As of late Monday afternoon, deadlocked legislators in Sacramento had addressed topics ranging from state-required training for dieticians to who should get credit for the state's Juneteenth celebrations—but had not come to terms on how to the finance government in the fifth-biggest economy in the world.

Juneteenth? Meanwhile, despised Gov. Gray Davis whipped out the dreaded "let me be clear" card:

Let me be clear. I will not sign a budget that slams the door shut on more than 100,000 kindergarten students. I will not sign a budget that denies opportunity to tens of thousands of deserving students who want to go to college.

A reminder: The Reason Public Policy Institute has posted a detailed balanced budget on its website.