The Democrats solution to this new budget crisis? You got it! The same old thing. More taxes. Taxes on oil. Taxes on the Internet. Taxes on business. But Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature’s Republicans are demonstrating that they "get" the political mandate handed to Sacramento’s politicians by the people of California last May 19, in turning down almost all the Props — Balance the budget by cutting costs, and not raising taxes.
As a result, the Governor in particular, has adopted several cost-cutting ideas that suck the breath out of this Reagan-Republican and which should have conservatives across the state screaming his praises at the top of their lungs. One of those ideas, to just let state government grind to a halt when it runs out of money on July 1, might be just the medicine our state’s "tax-and-spend" politicians need to get cracking on solving the real "systemic" problem in state government – uncontrolled spending.
The media’s reaction to all the new budget turmoil has unfortunately been rather predictable. Last week, the Los Angeles Times published a well-researched article by Eric Bailey, the general theme of which was that Republicans hurt poor people because they propose to cut spending to bring the budget into balance. (“GOP Lawmakers Bring the Budget Pain Home”).
This Times article, and other such reports, remind me of the stories that political reporters have written every two years for the last thirty about how slate mailers are "deceptive." The "slate mailer" stories are always not very original; they are just a rehash of the same old notions about politics that editors will easily buy into.
And I’ve also read stories almost exactly like Bailey’s recent Times piece for each of the last 40 years during annual budget battles. These regurgitated stories always focus on some unfortunate person who has met some calamity and has been receiving public assistance and will be affected by a budget cut. Since the jobs of headline writers are to sensationalize the article, the combination of the headlines and the repetitive articles unfortunately contribute to the very inaccurate, but politically correct notion, that Republicans don’t care enough for poor people. Which I, of course, don’t think is true. And politically, they also help take the heat off of the Democrats to fix things during the budget battle (which they, like the GOP, have a constitutional obligation to do).
If there are indeed systemic problems in California politics, I think stories like Bailey’s in the Times contribute to them. What I am saying is this: the media is also a part of California’s problems. They have a stake in controversy, and their perpetuation of worn-out notions that people like our Governor or Republicans in the Legislature don’t care about poor people contributes to the problem rather than helping to solve it. Because nobody benefits, including poor people, from a bankrupt California.
I sent reporter Bailey an email last week and said: “how about a story that asks questions about what programs Karen Bass proposes to cut? Surely there must be some programs she thinks could be cut in the current budget crisis. If she is against cutting anything at all, how does that help poor people? If too much spending leads inevitably to closing government, given the constitutional mandate to balance the budget, how does that help aid recipients? If you were to insist on Bass revealing a plan to balance the budget without cutting taxes, after the results of the special, what would she say? If she still says we need higher taxes during a recession, and after the Props 1 election, isn’t that out of touch with the "silent majority" and bigger news than the old saw that the GOP wants to take it out of the hide of the poor?”
I haven’t heard back from Eric, but the fact remains that if California is to see real reform in future, it is not just the politicians in Sacramento that need to try to think differently. In my view, the media needs some reforming of attitudes as well.