The California Albatross

by Meredith Turney on Townhall.com

Within a matter of weeks, the great state of California will be out of money. For months state leaders have warned of the yawning $24 billion budget deficit; even exploiting the deficit they created in a failed attempt to scare voters into increasing their taxes in the May special election. The proposed tax increases and budget gimmickry were soundly rejected by voters, sending a clear message to Sacramento that Californians will no longer finance the bloated, inefficient government’s insatiable appetite for more tax dollars. Now the day of reckoning is upon California, and how the Golden State resolves this massive problem will impact the entire nation. … The fate of the world’s 10th largest economy is inextricably linked to America’s overall economic fate. Could America’s already fragile economy absorb California’s debt? With the federal government already trillions in debt, what’s another $24 billion? The problem is not the amount of debt, but the precedent it will set if the federal government is forced to bailout one of the country’s largest states. …More