New York Times -- May 31, 2009    Deep cuts threaten to reshape California    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not get the election results he sought. Now he seems determined to show California voters the consequences. -- In a special election on May 19, voters rejected a batch of measures on increasing taxes, borrowing funds and reapportioning state money that were designed to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap.

Peter Schiff -- LewRockwell.com -- May 30, 2009    Obama should tell California to drop dead    During the height of New York City’s financial crisis in the 1970’s, President Gerald Ford had the good sense to turn down Mayor Abe Beame’s request for a federal bailout. The refusal prompted the famous New York Post headline, "Ford to City: Drop Dead." More than 30 years later, as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a similar plea to Washington...

Andy Arnold -- The Examiner -- May 26, 2009    As California goes, so goes the nation?    ...Out of control spending and some 2.6 million "unauthorized immigrants... from Mexico and other Latin American countries," according to the methodology used in state economic report released in 2004 and updated population figures from [FAIR] , helped to wreck California's economy in recent years...

David Lambert -- The Examiner -- May 26, 2009    Got cake?    ...California has a $24.3 billion dollar deficit - up from $16 billion just one year ago. This is due in part to government fraud and waste, but even more to the lavish support we give to illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration costs our state $10.5 billion annually - a full HALF of the deficit!

Steven Greenhut -- Orange County Register -- Santa Ana, Calif. -- May 24, 2009   Governor, legislators will likely blame voters then get back to business as usual    California is facing an impasse. Expect our governor, along with many legislative leaders, to blame the voters for their shortsightedness in refusing to pass these phony budget reforms and enormous tax hikes. But after that, we're back to business as usual with a Democratic Party that wants to tax and spend, and then spend and tax...

San Francisco Chronicle -- May 24, 2009   Governor plans cuts of $5.5 billion    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance officials Tuesday are expected to unveil the governor's official proposal for cutting another $5.5 billion from the state budget in the fiscal year that begins July 1. -- The spending reductions would replace his earlier plan to borrow that amount from Wall Street to close the state's budget gap... [See Cal Meltdown Watch]

Los Angeles Times -- May 23, 2009    State policies work against good fiscal management    Sacramento -- In this economy, every state is hurting. Unemployment is in double digits, tax receipts are taking a dive and deficits are piling up. But, once again, California seems to be in a class of its own when it comes to financial dysfunction. The problems here eclipse those elsewhere...

Sacramento Bee -- May 23, 2009    California's cash is dwindling fast, experts warn lawmakers    The good news in California government's budget mess Friday was that there wasn't much new bad news. Instead, a two-house, 10-member legislative committee heard a quartet of fiscal experts repeat earlier warnings that the state is very low on cash, won't be able to borrow as much as it needs and will "almost certainly" have to postpone paying some of its bills...

Los Angeles Times -- May 23, 2009   California budget crisis could bring lasting economic harm    As bad as California's budget crisis is for the state's $1.8-trillion economy, just wait. It could get worse. -- The spectacle that played out in the national media this week of a state unable to get its fiscal act together is reinforcing the notion that the Golden State is a rotten place to do business, experts say...

Associated Press -- May 22, 2009    California could run out of cash in 2 months    California will run out of cash in two months unless lawmakers act swiftly to close a widening deficit and pass a budget, two state finance officials warned Friday. -- Failure to balance the state's books quickly will trigger a financial storm much greater than the one the state endured this past winter... [Related video]

Los Angeles Times -- May 22, 2009    Schwarzenegger plans to completely eliminate welfare for families     Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to completely eliminate the state's welfare program for families, medical insurance for low-income children and Cal Grants cash assistance to college and university students. -- The proposals to sharply scale back the assistance that California provides to its neediest residents...

US Rep. Tom McClintock -- Washington Times -- May 22, 2009     Warnings from the Left Coast    A generation ago, California exemplified its nickname, the Golden State. State spending was less than half per capita, inflation-adjusted, what it is today. Its debt-service ratio was less than a third. -- Yet Californians enjoyed one of the finest highway systems in the world and one of the finest public education systems in the country...

WorldNetDaily.com -- May 21, 2009   Rush Limbaugh: Obama 'tentacles' to bail out California    Despite the resounding rejection of higher taxes by California voters yesterday, radio giant Rush Limbaugh is predicting President Obama will extend his "tentacles" to bail out the Golden State with federal dollars. -- Limbaugh made the prognostication based on the notion that like the U.S. auto industry, California is "too big to fail."

Dan Walters -- Sacramento Bee -- May 20, 2009              "Lying Sacramento bastards can go straight to hell"    An election eve e-mail from a reader in Oxnard perfectly captured the tone of Tuesday's voting, to wit: "Schwarzenegger, Bass, Cogdill, Villines, Steinberg and the rest of those stinking, lying Sacramento bastards can go straight to hell. They're going to be whacked hard upside their heads tomorrow."

L.A. Observed -- May 20, 2009             California Meltdown: Props lose... so now what?    Gov. Schwarzenegger conceded defeat two hours after the polls closed, and said Democrats and Republicans must now work together to close a $21 billion budget deficit. The five budget propositions lost, with only 1F passing to limit officials' raises during a deficit...

Wall Street Journal -- May 18, 2009    California Reckoning: Tax and spend governance may finally hit the wall     Californians head to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of six ballot initiatives, all of which are ostensibly designed to combat the Golden State's budget crisis. If the polls are right, all but one of these measures will crash and burn -- and by wide margins. A reckoning for liberal tax and spend governance may finally be arriving...

Los Angeles Daily News -- May 18, 2009    L.A. isn't only city in a financial mess    For what it's worth, Los Angeles is not alone among cities in California facing financial problems. And, like Los Angeles, many others have either already declared or are seeking to declare a state of fiscal emergency. -- But, such a declaration has little if any legal effect. Aides to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa privately admit there is no provision...

Gregory D. Lee -- Family Security Matters -- May 18, 2009    As California goes, so goes the nation?    California Democrats, who hold a majority in the legislature, recently rejected a series of cost-cutting Republican proposals to help reduce a budget deficit that is projected to top $8 billion by summer and $42 billion by 2010....

Orange County Register -- Santa Ana, Calif. -- May 17, 2009   California tax protest draws thousands    Corona, Calif. -- Several thousand people turned out at a rally Saturday hosted by KFI's "The John and Ken Show" to protest proposed state tax increases. -- KFI show co-host Ken Chiampou said he and his co-host, John Kobylt, were giving the crowd an opportunity to voice its anger and opposition to six ballot propositions that, if passed, would raise taxes... [Photos here]

American Patrol Report Feature -- May 16, 2009     Unnecessary California school disaster -- Californians tried to stop it in 1994    Lou Dobbs: California tonight on the verge of economic chaos. Governor Schwarzenegger plans deep cuts in that state's budget. There is outrage at the governor's proposal to sell off some state landmarks including the Los Angeles -- Los Angeles Coliseum site of the 1984 Summer Olympics...

Los Angeles Times -- May 16, 2009    Schwarzenegger tries to please the people, but they are anything but    In everything Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has done, from his dazzling ascent into office to his most dismal defeats, he has relied on a simple credo: Follow the will of the people, and restore their trust in government. Now, as he asks voters to put their faith in a slate of ballot measures crafted in back rooms of the Capitol...

TotalRecall2009.com -- May 16, 2009    Californians fed up with lying RINO Schwarzenegger    Taxpayers United to Recall Governor Schwarzenegger received official notice from The Secretary of State's Office at 11:00am that our Petition to Recall Governor Schwarzenegger has been approved!!! The clock is now ticking... In order to bring the actual election to fruition, over 1 Million valid signatures will be required....

KCBS-TV -- Los Angeles -- May 15, 2009    46 arrested during LAUSD teachers' protest    Nearly 50 protesters were arrested Friday when Los Angeles Unified School District teachers came together to protest thousands of potential layoffs. -- Forty-six people were arrested outside school district headquarters. Teacher's union president A.J. Duffy was among those arrested, according to a Los Angeles police spokesman.

Associated Press -- May 15, 2009    Schwarzenegger to reveal 2 Calif. spending plans     Voters will take center stage Tuesday after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laid out two dire scenarios for California - one if they approve five budget-related measures, one even worse if they reject them. -- With just days before a statewide special election, Schwarzenegger tried to sympathize with voters...

George F. Will -- Washington Post -- May 14, 2009    Tincture of Lawlessness: Obama's overreaching economic policies     ...In February, California's Democratic-controlled Legislature, faced with a $42 billion budget deficit, trimmed $74 million (1.4 percent) from one of the state's fastest-growing programs, which provides care for low-income and incapacitated elderly people and which cost the state $5.42 billion last year...

San Jose Mercury News -- May 14, 2009    Girly Man: State worker layoffs, prisoner releases needed to close deficit    Sacramento -- Tens of thousands of nonviolent criminals would get out of prison early. Funding for public schools would drop by billions. Strapped local governments would have their coffers raided. And health care programs for the poor would be slashed....

Los Angeles Times -- May 13, 2009   Villaraigosa calls on City Council to declare a fiscal emergency    With Los Angeles facing a $529-million budget deficit, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday urged the City Council to declare a fiscal emergency that would grant him the authority to lay off and furlough thousands of city workers...

Los Angeles Times -- May 11, 2009    SEIU may be linked to ultimatum on withholding stimulus funds    Sacramento -- ...The officials say they are particularly troubled that the Service Employees International Union, which lobbied the federal government to step in, was included in a conference call in which state and federal officials reviewed the wage cut and the terms of the stimulus package.....

American Patrol Report Feature -- May 10, 2009    The People vs. The Powerful    Reflecting on Gov. Schwarzenegger's fall from grace, the L.A. Times claims that Gray Davis was recalled because of the economy and that Pete Wilson fell from grace because of his stand on Proposition 187. -- The fact is that illegal immigration was the main issue behind these California stories. Pete Wilson was reelected on the coattails of Proposition 187, the voter-passed measure to halt funding for illegal aliens...

San Francisco Business Times -- May 10, 2009    State's budget deficit grows to $20.5B    California’s budget shortfall grew last month, according to figures released Friday by Controller John Chiang. -- The state’s cash deficit grew to $20.5 billion on April 30. California started the fiscal year on July 1, 2008, with a deficit of $1.45 billion.... -- May 10, 2009

California Progress Report -- May 10, 2009    LAO reports devastating news for California’s budget    The Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) update came out Thursday morning with their May 2009 update and the news for California is bad. The bottom line is that the state is facing a cash flow problem somewhere around $17 billion by July 1. That number increases to $23 billion if the propositions fail...

Los Angeles Times -- May 10, 2009    U.S. threatens to rescind stimulus money over wage cuts The Obama administration is threatening to rescind billions of dollars in federal stimulus money if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers approved in February as part of the budget. --- The SEIU said in a statement that it had asked the Obama administration for the ruling...

American Patrol Feature -- May 9, 2009    Help Wanted: Captain of Caltanic -- Urgent -- Struck Illegal AlienBerg     Even as the County of Santa Barbara is fighting wildfires, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to shut down scores of state fire stations if ballot measures on the May 19 special election do not pass. -- According to polls, the budget-related ballot measures are expected to go down to defeat...

Dan Walters -- Torrance (Calif.) Daily Breeze -- May 8, 2009    What happens if California's five budget measures don't pass?    Prospects are rapidly diminishing for the five ballot measures that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders say they need to keep the state budget from drowning in red ink. -- So, one might ask, what's Plan B? -- Rejection of three measures (Propositions 1C, 1D and 1E) would have a direct impact totaling nearly $6 billion...

Los Angeles Times -- May 8, 2009    State weighing cost-cutting plan to release 38000 inmates    California officials are weighing a plan to save hundreds of millions of dollars by commuting the sentences of 38,000 state prison inmates, including all [illegal aliens] now incarcerated. -- They also are considering closing prisons and sending other inmates to county jails, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Times...

Lou Dobbs Tonight -- CNN -- May 8, 2009       Voter anger growing in illegal alien-bloated California    May 7 -- Californians are sick ot their current government from hell. This includes the worthless legislature and the girlie-man, Hollywood phoney, RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger. -- The nearly bankrupt state is crawling with illegal aliens who cost taxpayers $ billions annually. -- Thanks to 'StephenLone Wolf' for uploading the video to YouTube. [Transcript]

Sacramento Bee -- May 2, 2009    Governor, lawmakers get lowest ratings ever    California voters, frustrated by the recession and the state's fiscal crisis, gave Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature their lowest-ever approval ratings, according to the Field Poll released today. -- Only 33 percent of registered voters surveyed April 16-26 said they approved of Schwarzenegger's job performance...

Sacramento Bee -- April 25, 2009    California prison officials propose releasing 8,000 inmates to cut costs    State prison officials have proposed reducing their inmate population by 8,000 by the middle of next summer as part of the $400 million budget hit Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laid on them earlier this year. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matt Cate said his agency hopes to achieve...

San Francisco Chronicle -- April 24, 2009    Many Contra Costa crooks won't be prosecuted    Misdemeanors such as assaults, thefts and burglaries will no longer be prosecuted in Contra Costa County because of budget cuts, the county's top prosecutor said Tuesday. -- District Attorney Robert Kochly also said that beginning May 4, his office will no longer prosecute felony drug cases involving smaller amounts of narcotics.

Orange County Register -- Santa Ana, Calif. -- April 22, 2009    Long-term unemployed more than double in California    The number of long-term unemployed in California has more than doubled in the last year and now make up nearly 25% of all people without jobs, reports the state Employment Development Department. -- In March 2008, 168,000 Californians had been out of a job 27 weeks or more...

Los Angeles Times -- April 17, 2009    California jobless rate soars    California's unemployment rate hit 11.2% with the loss of 62,100 jobs last month, reaching its highest level since the government began keeping systematic records in 1976, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. -- a percentage point from a revised, seasonally adjusted 10.6% in February...

American Patrol Report Feature -- April 16, 2009    Ground Zero -- California tea parties the largest    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that the claim by some conservative activists that illegal immigration is to blame for all of the state's fiscal problems is ignorant and bigoted. ~ L.A. Times

Los Angeles Times -- April 16, 2009   L.A. Unified moves to cut 5,000 teachers and others    Los Angeles school district officials moved forward Tuesday with plans to lay off more than 5,000 teachers, counselors, custodians, clerks and other employees, but the battle over funding will rage on for weeks -- affecting who goes, who stays and what schools and classrooms will look like for students next year...

Los Angeles Times -- April 4, 2009    Union officials say L.A. is considering 400 immediate layoffs    Faced with annual budget shortfalls that could grow to nearly $1 billion by 2010, Los Angeles city officials are considering the immediate layoffs of 400 city workers and eliminating an additional 2,800 positions in the months ahead, according to union officials...

Associated Press -- April 2, 2009        Workers bear California's fiscal burden    When they plugged California's $42 billion budget hole in February, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state's legislative leaders said everyone had to give up something to repair the state's finances. -- That sentiment did not extend to California businesses and corporations with significant operations in the state...

Los Angeles Times -- April 1, 2009   California lawmakers weigh options for a potential fiscal 'doomsday'    Sacramento -- Legislative leaders are weighing contingency plans for a potential fiscal "doomsday" if a slate of ballot measures designed to balance the state budget fails in the May 19 special election. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the bipartisan team of lawmakers pushing the half-dozen propositions...

Bloomberg -- March 26, 2009   Schwarzenegger opens California fairgrounds to homeless camp     California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said a make-shift tent city for the homeless that sprang up in the capital city of Sacramento will be shut down and its residents allowed to stay at the state fairgrounds. -- chwarzenegger said he ordered the state facility known as Cal-Expo to be used for three months...

American Patrol Report -- March 26, 2009    California meltdown    California Governor Schwarzenegger's gambit to ask voters to raise billions of dollars by borrowing from the lottery and extending tax hikes appears to be bombing out. The L.A. Times reports that polls show these ballot initiatives are headed for defeat. --Faced with an already overwhelming deficit, failure of these measures may put the illegal immigration state into bankruptcy.

San Jose Mercury News -- March 25, 2009    California's economy to see longer recession    ..."California is in the midst of its worst recession since the 1930s," said Jeff Michael, director of University of the Pacific's Business Forecasting Center. "The state will lose nearly a million jobs before it ends, and no area of the economy is being spared."

Bloomberg -- March 23, 2009    Defaulting commercial properties hit banks on vacancy-rate rise     ..."We began construction as speculation and frenzied demand drove up construction costs, and we started marketing homes as the turmoil in financial and real estate markets began,² Livable Places said in an undated message on its Web site. ³The impact on the southern California economy has been dire..."

American Patrol Report Feature -- March 22, 2009    Say goodbye to California..... Sinkhole de Mayo cometh    ....Consider, for example, this dark, but perhaps realistic, projection by University of California at Santa Barbara economists. -- "The... economy will likely continue to decline for another two years, perhaps longer. We expect the number of California jobs ... economic output ... retail sales [and] tourism revenues will fall throughout the forecast horizon..."

New America Media -- Los Angeles -- March 22, 2009    Radical open-borders zealot introduces Calif. DREAM Act... again    22nd District California State Senator Gil Cedillo has once again introduced legislation calling for otherwise qualified illegal [aliens] to be eligible for certain types of privately funded financial aid for college. -- Cedillo represents Downtown and surrounding areas, and he recently introduced Senate Bill 160 — also known as the DREAM Act...