A small fraction of eligible California voters went to the polls last Tuesday to cast ballots on six propositions designed to remedy the state’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall through regressive tax increases and cuts in essential programs. Despite support from Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic-controlled state legislature, all were trounced except one that prohibits salary increases for certain state officials during budget deficit years.
Schwarzenegger responded to the news of the propositions’ defeat, stating, “The message was clear from the people, go all out and make those cuts and live within your means.”
John L. Burton, chair of the California Democratic Party, remarked, “People are going to have to figure out: Do they want schools, do they want roads, do they want public safety, do they want to take care of the less fortunate?”
The notion being put forward by Schwarzenegger, the Democrats and the media alike—that the state’s working class is now responsible for devastating California’s once extensive and accessible network of social programs—should be treated with contempt. Voters were forced to choose between rotten austerity measures and slightly less rotten austerity measures funded with regressive tax increases. The latest round of budget propositions were not motivated by a desire to give voters a chance to exercise their democratic rights, or even to try to balance the budget. The special election was instead a calculated attempt to shift blame for the budget crisis from the California ruling and financial elite onto the working class.
Only a few days after the vote, state officials are already implementing devastating attacks on what remains of the state’s social safety net.
The Schwarzenegger and Obama administrations have made clear their intention to roll back social gains won through generations of struggle throughout the state. The facts clearly speak for themselves. The state of California is often a political bellwether for the rest of the nation and this particular case is no exception. A majority of states are facing severe budget crises of their own and will attempt to implement similar austerity measures.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/may2009/cali-m23.shtml