Americans have traditionally respected private property and individual rights, rejecting elitism and excessive power. We reject unchecked power, generally associated with partisan elitist states and political institutions that take rights and property from the general population and distribute them to preferred party members and supporters in order to reinforce their power. We are also weary of governance by officials with extreme powers to regulate or supervise other bodies of power, like a Czar does; a term derived from the Greek title for "Emperor".

California is one of the most influentialstates of the nation, and as of right now, one of the more economicallytroubled ones.

Within our state's budget, there is plenty thatnot only can be trimmed down, but deserves to be trimmed down. As manyCalifornians may agree by now, it's time to trim the fat; and not justceremonially, but really. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared early thisweek that California is in a state of emergency, and the budget mustbe amended to reflect, and subsequently, fix that.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a California-based Federal districtcourt has taken up the question of whether California'sprison overcrowding violates the prisoners' "constitutional rights."The case name has not been released to the public, and there may be no singlecase, for the question comes on the heel of multiple lawsuits filed byattorneys claiming medical neglect of prisoners constitutes an infringement oftheir Constitutional rights.

Relying on bureaucratic largesse and federal agencies to dictate our farmingpractices has proven a slippery slope, one that has kept Californiafarmers’ legs churning while the economic position of theirfarms has been declining. Industrial farming concerns that lobby tofederal agencies cannot be trusted to draft sound, sustainable farmpolicy for the state.

In 2008, more than half a billion dollars was donated to help elect California lawmakers, with another $360 million going to support or oppose the state’s various ballot measures. By anyone’s reckoning, these totals are staggering, and are unlikely to shrink in the future, given the costs of running political campaigns in the state. Worse, it is clear that money has become the principle means of achieving access to legislators and the resultant influence so coveted by lobbyists.

On December 2nd, rationalized as a quick fix to the budget deficit, Mayor Richard Daley said that the City of Chicago had agreed to Lease all 36,000 Chicago metered parking spaces for 75 years for a lump sum of $1.16 Billion dollars. The owner of this Lease: J.P. Morgan Chase.

Throughout this year's election season, talk of the pitfallsof partisanship permeated the national conversation while the citizenry lauded candidateswho pledged to tear down barriers and end politics as usual. The prospect ofchange spurred an inordinate share of voters to shun party loyalty and embracepragmatism.

The election became a resounding critique of the ultraisticpolicies and parochial doctrines that crippled a national economy and alienatedlarge segments of the populace.

Watching the conduct of Governor Schwarzenegger with respect toCalifornia's economy, one often feels a painful desire to slap the formerCyborg across the face and snap, "Don't just do something, stand there!"

Unfortunately,the worst part is that if the governor obeyed such aninjunction, it would arguably do more for California's economy than all thehysterics that Schwarzenegger and his cabinet are engaging inover the current problems.

With California facing an 11.2 billion budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger called lawmakers into a special session Monday and announced a fiscal emergency in the state.

"Without immediate action, our state is headed for a fiscal disaster,and that is why with more than two dozen new legislators sworn intoday, I am wasting no time in calling a fiscal emergency specialsession," Schwarzenegger said.

Unable to reach a compromise on a plan to reduce state spending and raise taxes, the debate will carry on into the session of new legislators who were sworn in this week.

Perhaps it is a function of a Western independence, or a simple and clear recognition that a stale policy isn’t necessarily the best policy; or a combination of both. Either way, Californians have wholeheartedly embraced the idea of Legislature term limits over the last 20 years. In February, Proposition 93 was proposed to change the current term limit law and voters defeated it, evidence that Californians are still supporting state term limits.