Schwarzenegger's California: Into the Abyss

While the Summer Shields' Congressional campaign in San Francisco is spearheading the building of a juggernaut behind Lyndon LaRouche's revolutionary conception of NAWAPA as the TVA of the 21st Century, the state of California is plunging into the abyss. The regular legislative session ended Tuesday with no budget, two months after one was due, and there is little prospect for agreement. With the state set to run out of cash in about two weeks, forcing the issuance, yet again, of IOU's, and with cuts in the previous years' budgets wreaking havoc, it appears that California's son-of-a-Nazi Governor Schwarzenegger is close to achieving his goal: he has nearly destroyed the government of the state.

Over the past several years, revenues have repeatedly fallen far below estimates, as California's economy shifted from an integrated, advanced technological base in industry, infrastructure, and agriculture, to one of post-industrial speculative bubbles, such as the dot.com sector and real estate. The official unemployment rate, which greatly understates the actual level of unemployment, has remained above 12%, with some counties over 30%.

The revenue collapse has led to a succession of increasingly brutal budget cuts. Legislators have made major cuts in spending for K-12 education, colleges and universities, while cutting health care programs for the poor, sick and elderly, park programs, and other necessary state services. Schwarzenegger's mandatory furlough program, in which more than 200,000 state workers have been forced to give up three paid workdays per month, amounting to an approximate 14% annual pay cut, will be tested in the State Supreme Court next week, and he is now demanding major cuts in pensions paid to state workers. The lack of funds available to the state, which still has no budget, means that payments to schools, cities, and counties are being deferred, while clinics which depend on Medi-Cal payments to cover costs are unable to cover operating expenses, with many facing bankruptcy.

Schwarzenegger and the Republicans are not yet done, as they are demanding the elimination of California's welfare-to-work program, which affects 1.4 million people, two-thirds of them children, and also insisting on further cuts in infrastructure spending. An official with the state's Legislative Analysts Office reported that, even if the budgetary stalemate were overcome, the damage will continue for years ahead, while Santa Rosa Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (Democrat) told the San Jose Mercury News, This is a state that is crumbling around our ears. This is not just a cost-cutting exercise. This is an epic battle for what the future of our state will look like, make no mistake about it.

This Saturday, the Summer Shields' campaign will offer Californians an opportunity to climb out of the abyss, and take leadership in building NAWAPA, which would ultimately provide millions of jobs for Californians and residents of near-by states. Perhaps Evans and her colleagues in both parties should stop whining about legislative stalemates, and join the Shields' campaign in embracing a bold future, not just for California, but for the world.