Expectations?

California is reeling from the horrible news that our deficit has suddenly gone from $9 billion to $16 billion because, pay very close attention here, “revenues are lower than expected.”

Expected by whom, precisely? Anyone who was paying attention and is not a halfwit knew that the revenue projections in California’s budget were bogus, and knew that at about this point in the fiscal year the government would be heading for the fainting couch and clamoring for a tax increase. This state just cracks me up; there’s more entertainment in Sacramento than there is in Hollywood.

Two years ago California voted on one of our infamous “propositions” which dictated that if the legislature did not pass a balanced budget on time their pay would be cut off. Every dimwit in the state voted “yes” on that one, and obviously dimwits outnumber intelligentsia, because it passed easily. The result was completely predictable, in that the first budget to be passed was on time and was 100% smoke and mirrors.

It was so filled with financial trickery, such as calling tax increases “fees” and “surcharges” in order to avoid the two-thirds majority requirement, that the state Supreme Court rejected it, sent it back to the legislature and told them to do it over. So much for the “on time” thing.

The revenue projections upon which the budget had been based called for a fairly modest economic recovery and something like a 1% reduction in unemployment. Since the legislature could not find any more spending that they were willing to cut, and they could not garner a two-thirds majority to raise taxes, they just revised their assumptions for economic recovery and unemployment. The new budget was based on rosy expectations for economic recovery and several points off the unemployment rate.

Those of us whose IQ is closer to a bad bowling score than a good golf score knew what the outcome of that was going to be, and here we are.