The Golden State Doesn't Look So Golden

I just read that California may close up to 220 state parks. Wow, that’s pretty hard to imagine. California has a budget shortfall of over $20 billion dollars.

There are a lot of reasons why California is in such a mess; it’s a complicated tale starting with the passage of Prop 13 in the late 70’s, but the bottom line is that state is teetering on bankruptcy and is virtually ungovernable. It’s sad to watch.

It puts North Carolina’s proposed budget cuts in perspective, I suppose, but doesn’t make it any easier to swallow the draconian measures being considered by our General Assembly: teacher layoffs, cuts in school construction funds, huge cuts in mental health services and other social services, etc .