California politics and education update

Gov. Jerry Brown's prophecy isn't pretty

Special report: Big California quake likely to devastate state

Scathing report alleges corruption at CalPERS

Democrats stand alone on budget cuts

There's a common complaint voiced by disgruntled Californians, especially political conservatives: Sacramento's spending is out of control. That's why the state still faces a hellish deficit. 

And it's all the Democrats' fault. They run the place. 

Never mind that: 

• California governors possess enormous veto power over spending. And for 23 of the last 28 years, a Republican has occupied the governor's office. 

• Voters have gone on their own spending sprees at the ballot box: bullet trains, stem cell research, after-school programs. 

• Republican Texas is almost as deep in the red with its budget as is California. 

• Even under the rosiest scenario, with Gov. Jerry Brown attaining an extension of temporary tax hikes, spending from the state general fund during the next fiscal year is slated to be 17.5% less than it was three years ago. Spending will have dropped $18 billion, from $103 billion to $85 billion. In fact, three years ago, the legislative analyst was forecasting a $125-billion general fund budget for 2011-12. 

• General fund spending per $100 of Californians' personal income in the next fiscal year is projected to be the lowest ($5.05) since Ronald Reagan was governor. (Reagan had righted the sinking ship by raising taxes a record amount.) 

No question, Democrats over the years have been guilty on multiple counts of budget bloating and check kiting. 

But this week, trying to partly close a $26.6-billion deficit hole, they hope to pass a budget that cuts programs by $12.5 billion. And if you don't think most of these are real cuts, take a close look. But avert your eyes from the elderly poor, the disabled and sick welfare kids. Some sights aren't pleasant.

GOP activists are thwarting the democratic process, Jerry Brown says

CalPERS Board Refuses To Lower Investment Forecast, Insists Pension Fund Will Make 7.75% Per Year

The board appears to have bowed to pressure from local government officials, who pushed fiercely for CalPERS to keep the assumed rate of investment return unchanged, the Sacramento Bee reports. A lower discount rate would have forced municipalities to increase annual CalPERS contributions by hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Critics argue that overly optimistic earnings projections have left the $228 billion public pension fund with huge unfunded liabilities. The Wall Street Journal's David Reilly notes that if CalPERS fails to meet its expectations again, California will sink even deeper into a financial quagmire. The state's public pensions are currently underfunded by about $475 billion. 

In addition to its pension liabilities, California faces $59.9 billion in unfunded retiree healthcare obligations, according to a new report from the state Controller's Office. The report finds that the unfunded cost of retiree health and dental care grew by $8.1 billion in just one year.

Californians Overwhelmingly Favor Pension Limits

California voters support limits on public-employee pensions by a 3-to-1 margin, according to the Field Poll.

Seventy-three percent of those surveyed favor a cap on the amount of salary used to calculate pension benefits, compared with 20 percent opposed, according to the statewide survey by Field and the University of California, Berkeley, released today. Forty-two percent said the pensions are “too generous,” up from 32 percent two years ago. 

“California voters have changed their views in recent years about the pension benefits of state and government workers,” Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field of San Francisco- based Field Research Corp., said in a statement. In 2009, “more voters believed that the level of pension benefits that most public workers received was acceptable.”

San Francisco's Pension Gap Is Truly Terrifying