"The other refrain you hear is, 'I want to let Sacramento know how mad I am. I want to punish the politicians for not doing their job.'
"Voters don't accept any responsibility for having a role in this fiasco. And they clearly do. They don't understand that they've made it difficult for the politicians to do their jobs."
They've made it difficult by passing feel-good "ballot box budgeting" initiatives that lock up tax revenue for certain programs -- K-14 education, early childhood, after-school, mental health -- and prevent the Legislature and governor from prioritizing.
Voters also have sanctioned heavy borrowing: Schwarzenegger's $15-billion bond in 2004 to pay for daily expenses, plus $3 billion for stem cell research and tens of billions for infrastructure projects, including an exotic bullet train.
But the biggest obstacle of all for the Legislature is the inane two-thirds majority vote requirement for passage of virtually any money bill -- spending or taxes. The voters signed off on that gridlock-inducing system. California is the only large state to suffer it.
Another frustrated consultant for the "yes" campaign, who'd talk only if not identified, says, "Voters have come to one basic place: They just think the whole thing is a bunch of crap. They don't buy it, don't care and don't want to be involved."
Claussen adds: "It's very hard to have a rational dialogue with the voters because they're not rational at the moment. It's like, 'Don't bother me with the facts. I've had it. I'm mad.' "
They have reason.
Voters were told by Schwarzenegger in 2004 that his budget "reform" and "economic recovery bond" would fix the state fiscally forever. They only made things worse. Running for reelection, the governor foolishly promised not to raise taxes, then found he really needed to, angering Republicans.
The public perpetually is told, after months-long haggling in Sacramento, that the budget finally has been balanced. Then it soon learns that, oops, the state has fallen back into a deficit hole.
While families recently were fighting layoffs and cutting their budgets, they read that legislative staffers were getting pay raises. The boosts were soon rescinded, but the political damage was irreparable.
And every day there seems to be another local scandal about some fire chief or city executive making off with an obscene pension.
What's really at stake in the election, however, is a needed change of fiscal direction for the state.
Proposition 1A would enact reasonable spending controls -- not strong enough for conservatives, but far too onerous for the liberal spending lobby. The political flaw in 1A is that it would trigger a two-year extension in temporary tax increases.
Props 1C, 1D and 1E would raise nearly $6 billion by amending old "ballot box budgeting" initiatives. If they don't pass, there'll likely be painful cuts in education, public health and local government services -- plus prisoner releases -- that should make even the most right-wing Republican lawmaker wince.
"It's about California's future. It's about California's legacy," Schwarzenegger told reporters last week. "It's not about me. It's not about the legislators or anyone here in Sacramento."
Sorry, governor. It shouldn't be. But it seems that it is.
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george.skelton@latimes.com
