CA state budget is in the red as everyone knows, but another large part of the reason beside services for illegals, is the money promised to State Employee union pensions. Some retire at full pay for the rest of their life. All this for votes. Done under Gray Davis. When the state goes bankrupt, I suspect the promises will go too. Its not far away. Civilians have been getting hosed for years now, but unions could vote themselves more from the public treasury and toss the finger wave to the rest of the unwashed. There will be a domino effect. It will catch up with states than refuse to control their spending and promises made with answers of more taxes only. When they dessimate the working class, and wages go down, tax revenues go down. Somehow this concept is lost on the average politician as they are happy to squeeze the tax payer with extreme malice.
They know....they just don't care. They also know that when they're out of office and milking their connections - there'll be zero accountability for the catastrophes they leave in their wake.