California’s budget blues

Re “A state trapped by fiscal inertia,” May 24, and “Poor would be hard hit by state cuts,” May 22

I’m a single, professional, self-employed Democrat. I live in an apartment rather than a house. I drive around in a Camry. I don’t own my dream house, but I have something far more valuable than any piece of real estate: I have peace of mind.

This fiscal responsibility was a lesson hard-learned. I will never go back to buying what I cannot afford. The immediate gratification is just not worth the stress that fiscal irresponsibility breeds.

California is experiencing the stress that those in debt know all too well. It has amassed debt because, among other things, it has grown and spent unprecedented amounts of money. The governor and legislators have been grossly and recklessly fiscally irresponsible.

It’s time to use surgical precision to cut the size of government. State workers, and their unions, need to comprehend that their jobs are not entitlement programs. The state is an employer that, like any other, has to lay off workers when it cannot pay them.

Higher taxes are not an option; the state’s economy is suffering already.

It’s mind-boggling that the recent voter turnout was so low. It’s not the time for apathy. To quote the movie “Network,” it’s time to tell Sacramento: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.”

Dinah Perez

Los Angeles

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Regarding your front-page headline: “Poor would be hard hit by state cuts.”

Why do the poor have to support the rich?

Lani Martin

Huntington Beach

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Thanks to your excellent article, California made headlines here in Tennessee.

As a fiscal conservative who fled California years ago because of the out-of-control spending, I am amazed taxpayers have not revolted sooner. In this state, we demand that our politicians live within their means. We don’t conjure up goods or services we cannot pay for.

It is so nice to live in a state where our politicians do not continually threaten us with huge tax increases for basic governmental services.

William Haupt

Nashville