California No Longer Controls It's Own Budget

As bad as California legislators are, it's still preferable to have the elected representatives of the people making decisions on the budget rather than federal judges. However, as Big Government points out there is a nasty pattern developing of federal judges ordering changes in the California State budget:

In 2005, a federal court took over the administration of California’s prison health care system – literally deciding how the system operates. At the time, the federal judge “hailed it as a ‘bold and uncharted adventure’ that could last several years.” Doesn’t that sound like constitutional reasoning to you? And sure enough, he virtually runs the system to this day.

In 2007, a federal judge made a dubious ruling that protects a non-indigenous bait fish – the Delta Smelt – at the expense of the way of life of the entire Central Valley of California. The ruling has turned off the water for many farms, driven unemployment in some areas as high 40% among certain groups and driven up the cost of food for all of us.

Now, on October 20, 2009, a federal judge has “halted the state of California’s plan to cut or reduce caregiver services for 130,000 disabled and low-income seniors.” The cuts were part of an overall solution, however temporary, to the ongoing California budget crisis. In stopping the cuts, the federal court has all but ruled that the state of California cannot reduce expenditures in that area because the federal law may not allow it.

By the logic of this decision, untold billions of the California budget may be exempt from budget cuts. In other and plain words, the California legislature does not have control of its own budget – a federal judge does. Thomas Jefferson simply must be turning over in his grave.

So, what's next? Education took a big hit in this year's budget. Should somebody sue to restore those funds too since there are federal requirements in that area?

And what comes after that - a judge ordering each taxpayer to open their wallets and had over their money? It's a logical progression based on what's been going on.