Peter Schrag | San Francisco Chronicle | Jan. 9, 2010
Maybe the saddest thing about California in 2009 is that the bad news was so predictable.
It's a long list: the budget-process meltdown in Sacramento; the ugly combination of escalating fees and reduced programs and access at the California State University and University of California systems; the K-12 teacher layoffs and, along with them, the increasingly crowded classes; the Friday closings of state offices. Nor should we be surprised at the near-record voter-disapproval numbers for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature, or the predictions from the state legislative analyst that, barring major fixes, California faces a $20 billion deficit in the 2010-11 budget year and more of the same for some years beyond.