Next Gen Journal

by Don DeAngelo

As California goes – so goes the nation!  Now that may be a trite play on an old adage, but it seems to be pretty apt for our current situation.  California has just supposedly passed a budget, and this multi-billion dollar fiasco is supposed to restore the state’s ability to bring its spending under control and ensure that the state’s credit rating improves.  But examine the budget deal closely and you will see the problem with both parties and the dilemma of the national economic debate.

NGJ Columnist Don DeAngelo

It seems that the Republicans are frozen in the 1980s and the Reagan Revolution.  For them, everything boils down to taxes being too high and government being too big.  Forgetting that Reagan cut taxes when the highest earners were levied 60% burdens, the conservatives continue to insist that the people are overtaxed.

Democrats seem to be frozen in the 1930s.  FDR was king and the Republicans were a party so out of power that they almost didn’t exist.  Democratic dreams of a quasi-socialist state were within reach.  The Obamanomics of today clamor for just such power and influence.  They flood the Congress with elaborate legislation (the average so far is over 1,000 pages), and insist on a vote when no one has even read the proposal.  The nation is kept in the dark on any details but is constantly reminded of the impending doom should the government not get its way.

The result is a ballooning national deficit (now over $1 Trillion so far this year), with no clear means of paying it off and no real idea if the measure(s) will even work.  Meanwhile, the Republicans have decided that they should just bang on the table and cry foul.  If they could just get the health care plan to fail, it would, in Senator DeMint’s estimation, “be the Waterloo” of the President.

But, why would Americans simply want to wait for President Obama’s demise in the hopes that the Republicans MIGHT do better?  If the people are rejecting the Democratic Party’s nostalgic push for a return of the New Deal (which is appears they are), what makes Republicans think they will be any happier being pushed back to the 1980s?

In California this has played out already.  The Republicans successfully forced the Democrats to accept a budget without significant new taxes and Democrats have made sure that not one single existing state program was eliminated.  The result? – a budgetary mess that fails to adapt to the new economic realities of California and the limited powers of the government.  Instead all programs were attacked equally, gouging K-12 education as well as the silly policies.  It failed to make any assessment of what is most important to the state or make any real decisions about the role of Sacramento.  The consequence is that we will be in this mess again next year because the root causes of the government’s fiscal woes have yet to be confronted.

This reflects a sheer lack of leadership and vision.  The states could and should be at the forefront of innovation.  California has an economy with incredible potential; most foreign countries would kill for the opportunity to use the resources at California’s disposal.  Yet the state has decided to go into hibernation rather than confront the harsh climate.  The time has come to set priorities and allow the natural economy to recover and flourish.

Here are some basic, outside-the-box ideas that attempt to give California a chance to thrive again:

(1)  Eliminate all of the commissions running in California and start over again.  This time be sure that no two commissions are dealing with the same issue.  We spend way too much money talking about how the government might help when the best policy is for them to simply stay out of it!

(2)  Eliminate all state departments that have a mission that would best be done by the federal government.  In my opinion, there really should be only one national standard (and therefore regulation) for labor, environmental protection, health and safety, and anti-terrorist programs.  Just get rid of these state departments and save billions of dollars.

(3)  Let’s give all state parks, nature preserves, and wildlife refuges back to the Indian tribes we took them from in the first place.  This would right a historic wrong and remove what is a huge financial burden to the state.

(4)  Get rid of the initiative movement.  This relic of the Progressive Era is expensive, corrupted, and way too costly.  Referendums should only pass if a “quorum” of state voters (75%) actually come out to vote.  If the legislature cannot pass a law without a quorum, then why shouldn’t a referendum follow the same standard?

(5)  Have the state legislature mirror the U.S. Congress.  Have budgets start in the Assembly and then move to the state Senate where a cloture vote of two-thirds would be required to end debate.  After a successful cloture vote is obtained then a simple majority vote passes the budget.

These are just a few “ideas” to move California in the right direction.  While many in the rest of the U.S. may be wondering what the heck I am talking about, they should really begin to take notice.  The events of California are but a microcosm of what is to come in Washington, DC.  With the two parties busy trying to revive the glory days of their respective influence, the rest of the country will remain in a period of economic chaos and despair.  New ideas are needed and a complete reconfiguration is required to ensure that the states and the federal government regulate the economy without killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

Don DeAngelo is a NGJ Columnist and a teacher of A.P. American History in San Diego. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Delaware as well as a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of San Diego and a Master’s in History from San Diego State. While he is not a member of  ”the next generation,” Don offers a valuable and informed perspective; anybody who cares about the American future should read his columns.