California Rolled

California's raft of budget proposals to try to close the gap between a $21 billion shortfall and merely a $15 billion one is up for a vote today. Needless to say, the measures are looking to go down in flames.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called that deficit estimate "certain" on Thursday, warning the budget gap for the next fiscal year would swell to $21.3 billion if voters reject budget-related ballot measures in a special election on Tuesday.

Surveys suggest voters will reject the measures.

In either case, the most populous U.S. state faces sharply reduced spending, with Schwarzenegger, a Republican, seeking deep cuts in education and health and human service programs. Additionally, 5,000 state employees will receive pink slips and the state will need to borrow $6 billion with a revenue anticipation warrant.

Lawmakers responded with vows of fiscal austerity. But Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico said a more dramatic effort may be needed.

"We are in dire need of streamlining," he told Reuters. "We should have a conversation about what our priorities are as a state. ... I don't think we can go through this budget and try to offend the least amount of people."

Naturally, the winger response is "Let California rot" starting with Malkinvania:

The Taxinator is in D.C. with his hands out — and his figurative gun to the head of the rest of the country’s taxpayers. As I noted last week, California wants TARP money. They’ll argue, as every other successful bailout recipient has, that the state is Too Big Too Fail.

California did itself in. It deserves to suffer the consequences.

Tell your congressional representatives to tell the muscle man looking to pump up his puny state coffers with everyone else’s money:

Not one dime.

Let one-seventh of America fall apart! After all, it's a blue state, so it's not really America anyway. Why should folks in Utah or Tennessee or North Dakota care about them in the first place?

After all, California must be the only state facing financial problems this year...

States are facing a great fiscal crisis. At least 47 states faced or are facing shortfalls in their budgets for this and/or the next year or two. Combined budget gaps for the remainder of this fiscal year and state fiscal years 2010 and 2011 are estimated to total more than $350 billion.

...Right? It's not like any Red states are in trouble or anything...