I think if most California voters had a good understanding of how things work in state and local government, they would vote differently. Unfortunately, the only way to get that kind of knowledge is to deal with it every day, and if you did you would realize the situation is virtually intractable, short of a constitutional convention.
I hate to admit this, as a longtime state employee with serious skin in the game, but it is true. As I type, the leaders of the CA legislature are facing jihad from every special interest in the state for agreeing or not agreeing to what will actually solve the problem.
But the underlying problem is a crisis of government, and a populace that wants more than it is willing to pay to support. Or a populace that is strictly divided as to what it is willing to support with its tax dollars. How does a government (or a legislature) broker the outcome? Is compromise even possible?
