I would like to follow up on what Mark just wrote about how California’s editorial boards are reacting today to the news that voters widely rejected propositions to increase their taxes and allow the state to accumulate more debts. Today’s results demonstrate how totally biased or out of touch California’s newspapers are. Yesterday Reason’s Matt Welch reported on the position of their editorial boards.
| Proposition: | 1A | 1B | 1C | 1D | 1E | 1F |
| San Francisco Chronicle | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Los Angeles Times | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sacramento Bee | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fresno Bee | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Santa Rosa Press Democrat | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| San Jose Mercury News | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Riverside Press-Enterprise | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contra Costa Times | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Orange County Register | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| San Diego Union-Tribune | No | No | No | No | No |
I understand that it’s a sad day for them. Yet is it a reason to be insulting to their readers? Plus, can they really afford to lose suscribers? I don’t think so.
So what now? According to the Los Angeles Times:
Schwarzenegger has called for cuts that would hit every corner of the state. He announced plans to lay off 5,000 of the state’s 235,000 workers and has proposed slashing education by up to $5 billion, selling state properties, borrowing $2 billion from local governments and potentially reducing eligibility for healthcare programs.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa predicted that the city’s budget could take a hit — but he vowed a fight: “I’m going to do everything I can to protect the city coffers.”
Worst-case scenarios also call for the release from state prisons of up to 19,000 illegal immigrants, who would face deportation, and the transfer of up to 23,000 other prisoners to county jails.
Obviously, these scare tactics haven’t convinced voters to endorse tax increases. Stop embarrassing yourself. Instead, try to remember that it was the promise of having a small-government governor that got you elected.