So California has been having a bit of trouble, of late, with regard to its budget. A lot of people have written a lot of good stuff on the subject, which I won’t go into here (linky linky link), but it boils down to three things:

1) The real estate bubble burst, leaving the economy in smoldering ruins.
2) California’s government is completely and utterly dysfunctional, having strict caps on property taxation and almost no ability to raise funds, thanks to an amendment to their Constitution pushed by good old Ronnie Reagan
3) Current Governator Ahhnold Schwarzenegger would rather slash the budget to the bone, steal money from cities and muncipalities, destroy the social safety net and sell public land than raise taxes on the ultra rich, even a smidgeon, even if he could. That’s ok though, because nothing bothers the soulless monster, so long as he can go home and relax in his jacuzzi. He helped drive the state broke faster, of course, being elected on a promise to slash one of the few taxes California had to pay its bills.
4) Due to this history of abuse and a total lack of leadership from California Democrats, the state had to come up with a variety of gimmicks in addition to these severe cuts to the budget and basic social services.

Oh, right, one more detail: California has decided to stop paying its debts and instead make up its own Monopoly-style currency. I call them Californiabucks.

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