Rebuilding voters' trust is Job 1 in Sacramento

Polling shows that Californians are concerned about possible program cuts -- not only in public schools, but in health and welfare services. The same polls also show that people don't want to pay higher taxes -- from their own pockets anyway -- largely because they don't trust politicians with the money.

That's a fine kettle of fish as we wind up a long weekend celebrating the 232nd birthday of our democracy, a republic dependent upon trust in our elected representatives.

"I don't think I've ever quite seen the level of frustration and distrust with Sacramento that I'm seeing now," says veteran political consultant Rick Claussen. "People are ready for a revolution -- just waiting for someone to take them there.

"If I were to qualify a measure for the ballot that would return the Legislature to part-time, tie their pay to performance . . . or recall the entire Legislature with one vote -- I swear to God it would pass."

Pollster Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California, says "trust in both the federal and state governments is near or at an all-time low. People are thinking that neither party does a very good job at fiscal management."

A statewide Baldassare poll in March showed that only 32% of Californians "trust the government in Sacramento to do what is right" most of the time. That's roughly the same ugly view of the politicians the public held around the time it was recalling Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replacing him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger in late 2003. Only three years earlier, however, nearly half the public trusted Sacramento.

The venerable Field Poll, over the years, has shown a roller-coaster ride for legislators' popularity. In May, only 30% of voters approved of the Legislature's job performance. In March 2007 -- following a landmark year of bipartisan achievement -- 42% approved. But in 1988, the lawmakers enjoyed 57% approval.

To quote Don Vito Corleone in "The Godfather": "How did things ever get so far?"

Of course, a cranky anti-government attitude is part of the American DNA. So the current distrust of Sacramento has much deeper roots than late budgets and double-talking politicians.