California gets balanced budget, but is it really?

I'm predicting the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be back at the negotiating table in a few months because this "balanced budget" actually has a lot of accounting gimmicks and borrowing. But there are signs that the economy is beginning to improve and that will help if revenues increase through more retail sales and other taxes tied to the economy.

Schwarzenegger said he's proud the the Legislature for making tough choices last week and finally passing a revised budget that closes the $26 billion spending gap. The governor says California is coming back, and the California Dream is strong as ever.

He didn't mention that the state is limiting college enrollment in the public universities and raising fees substantially on students already there. These are the people who will drive the California economy in the future and it's terrible short-sighted to damage the university system so severely.

By not acting responsibly earlier on the budget, the state was put into a no-win situation. But it was of the lawmakers' own making. The state was out of cash, forcing officials to send IOUs instead of payments to thousands of state contractors and other doing business with the state.

It's definitely time to reform state government.