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Wonder how much welfare fraud is involved in that $ 20 billion going to Mexico.......my guess is just about any Mexican can get multiple matricula cards under various aliases to get a good chunk of cash. How else can they afford SUV's and shopping at Walmart during the wookday with several kids in tow? This is one issue that should addressed above all else.........if we could stop the fraud and reduce the $ to these people they'll deport themselves.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the California state government is in very bad shape financially. I'd say that state is just one recession away from a severe financial crisis. Governor Arnold has managed to prop up CA's finances through a series of tactics like a tax amnesty program and reduced funding for public hospitals. But spending is still out of control in CA, especially in two areas: Medicaid and public education. The Medicaid program is riddled with fraud that may account for as much as 40% of total spending, while public education has bloated bureaucracies that consume more than half of all funding on administration and other overhead costs. The bloated education budget is further increased by the large numbers of children of illegal immigrants who CA must pay to educate by federal court order.

The legislature is so crazy in CA, they may vote to increase taxes on high-income people who are already among the most heavily taxed people in America. If Arnold is not reelected and a Democrat wins, this tax increase may not be vetoed, which would result in even more productive business people leaving CA for states with lower taxes. If CA raises income taxes, after 10-12 months the tax increase will result in less revenue (as high income people leave) and then a severe cash-flow crisis will hit the state, especially if we also have a recession. That could send California into a long-term downward spiral of reduced police & fire protection, increased crime, and a declining business climate. Ultimately the state could end up being a series of gated enclaves for high-income people along the coast surrounded by low-income areas with high crime rates. If a Democrat is elected governor in the next election, watch out for a fiscal crisis in the once golden state where I grew up in a different era of responsible state government and judicial sanity. All in all, I'm happy to be residing now in Alaska and Arizona.