Poll Proves Majority of My Fellow Californians Are Complete Idiots

From Top of the Ticket:

If the conventional mantra about California being on the forefront of the nation's political trends holds true, it's really bad news for America's taxpayers.

According to a new L.A. Times / USC Dornsife poll, a majority of Californians -- 52% to 38% -- are just fine with Democrat Jerry Brown's plan to fill the state's chronic budget deficit with $14 billion in new or renewed taxes along with cuts, as long as they get to vote on it.

This despite the recent history of waste, corruption and spending abuses in the most populous state's vast government.

This despite the state's continuing 12% unemployment rate, second-highest in the country.

This despite the weak 44% job approval rating for Gov. Brown.

This despite 41% of Californians believing that wasteful, unwise spending by ....

... state officials is responsible for the deficit.

This despite 67% of Californians believing the state's coughing economy is not yet improving and possibly worsening.

This despite 66% of Californians believing the country is on the wrong track under the Obama administration.

This despite 70% believing California is on the wrong track under -- oh, look! -- it's Jerry Brown again.

Brown's idea is to erase the $26-billion deficit in an $85-billion budget with a claimed $12 billion in cuts and $14 billion in new or extended taxes, because who doesn't believe more government would help any situation?

Geez.

There is only one answer to California's massive overspending problem: Stop spending. The tax and regulatory burden on California business is already driving companies and jobs out-of-state, and increasing taxes will do absolutely nothing to fix the underlying problem. It may forestall some pain...briefly...but the pain will return bigger and more devastating.

Now before I completely write the state off, there is a glimmer of hope in another poll:

California voters want government employees to give up some retirement benefits to help ease the state's financial problems, favoring a cap on pensions and a later age for collecting them, according to a new poll.

Voter support for rolling back benefits available to few outside the public sector comes as Gov. Jerry Brown and Republicans in the Legislature haggle over changes to the pension system as part of state budget negotiations. Such benefits have been a flashpoint of national debate this year, and the poll shows that Californians are among those who perceive public retirement plans to be too costly.

Voters appear ready to embrace changes not just for future hires but also for current employees who have been promised the benefits under contract.

Seventy percent of respondents said they supported a cap on pensions for current and future public employees. Nearly as many, 68%, approved of raising the amount of money government workers should be required to contribute to their retirement. Increasing the age at which government employees may collect pensions was favored by 52%.

This comes just as word gets out that Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown gave the state prison guards another sweetheart contract which now allows them to accumulate an unlimited amount of unused vacation time that must be cashed out when they retire, thus created yet another unfunded liability for the state.