California's budget woes are nothing new. After a low level functionary single-handedly decided to triple the state's car tax, the GOP legislators are filing suit. Of course, the government will continue to rake in the taxes until the matter has been fully litigated. What strikes me is how the California government and the employee's unions are still pushing through big dollar raises.

SACRAMENTO - As California entered the new fiscal year without a budget or any plan to climb out of its multibillion-dollar budget hole, Republican legislators went to court Tuesday to dismantle the tripling of the car tax ordered by the Davis administration and set to take effect in October.

State employees, meanwhile, balked at the governor's plea for 180,000 of them to give back raises of up to 7% that were negotiated last year and take effect today. The workers have been warned that if they do not accept salary freezes of a year or longer, as many as 10,000 will be laid off.

I don't know which is more damning, that California has a whopping 180,000 employees, or that Gray Davis (who has been quoted as saying "The problem is not spending, the problem is lack of revenue"), gave them all 7% raises that took effect this month.

In spite of having the biggest budget gap in the history, and despite a massive state wide recall effort, Gray Davis continues to raise spending. I think he needs psychiatric help. Gray Davis' has a long history of fiscal irresponsibility. For his first four years in office, Davis:

• Turned a $7 Billion surplus into a $23.6 Billion deficit.


• Increased the California annual budget from $57.8 Billion to $78 Billion his first two years in office. An increase of 15% and 17%.


• Increased the state payroll by 33,000 employees, more than the next three largest states combined.


• Borrowed $6 Billion during an energy crisis to pay for future energy deliveries at 3 times the market price.

It's one thing to suffer the brunt of an economic downturn. But the man needs to at least do a little damage control. I mean, you shouldn't be out buying steaks when you haven't even paid your electric bill.