Isn't this just a bigger version of Michigan's problems?

Government for the benefit of more government (HT:betsyspage) Some snipets:

Democratic leaders of the California Senate and Assembly agreed in closed-door negotiations with Schwarzenegger to cuts in virtually every social services, health and welfare program in the state. This was the governor's price for going along with proposed increases in sales, gas and income taxes... ...But the cooperation ended when Schwarzenegger took his everyone-must-share-the-pain thesis to its logical conclusion. To ease the state's cash crunch, he announced plans to have state employees take off two unpaid furlough days a month beginning Feb. 1... ...Medical checkups for poor kids can be halved. Help for the developmentally disabled can be reduced. Job training for inner-city youths can be suspended. But when it comes to cutting pay or benefits for a highly compensated state work force, Democratic officeholders not only draw the line; they express horror at the very thought... ...This survival-of-the-fittest scrum has made more obvious than ever that Democrats in the state legislature aren't just allies of public employee unions. Instead, these lawmakers are best described as wholly owned union subsidiaries – people who see state government as a jobs program, not a means to provide services to the downtrodden or anyone else. (emphasis mine).

If we're not careful and get a grip on things here in Michigan, we will be where California is right now.