California used to be our most glamorous state—a sunny symbol of opportunity, innovation, and the pursuit of happiness. But California became a very different kind of symbol last week when the state government, mired in a budget impasse, resorted to issuing IOUs to vendors, local governments, and citizens awaiting tax refunds. It’s almost hard to believe what a mess the state has become, considering that it’s home to more than 10 percent of the U.S. population, produces 12 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, and boasts the eighth largest economy in the world. “People always say that the United States maybe has to bail out California,” a defensive Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said this week. “We are actually in much better shape than the United States.” Of course, fiscally speaking, that’s not saying much.
But as a resident of New York, I can’t gloat. The legislature here has been paralyzed for weeks, after two defections (and one reverse defection) left the state Senate evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with both sides claiming a right to leadership. It has gotten so ridiculous that at one point Democrats and Republicans staged rival sessions; Democrats even remained seated during the GOP-led Pledge of Allegiance, standing only during their own rendition. The crises in New York and California have distinct homegrown origins, but in both cases, the public interest has been sacrificed to petty, entrenched partisanship. New York’s comptroller recently threatened to withhold the pay of legislators until they get back to work. Maybe he should borrow a page from California and issue them IOUs—payable when they start serving the citizens who, for some reason, keep re-electing these jokers.
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