Like the popular kid in class, California has the prototypical legislative cool-factor; all other states watch them for cues as to how they might proceed, be it in immigration, narcotics, or taxes.

During the disco days of yore, visionary Californians dabbled in a bit of drugs tax reform, hustling in a nationwide tax revolt with the passage of Proposition 13.  Reverberations from this Reagan Revolution precursor can still be felt today, though much still needs to be done if California (not to mention the rest of the country) is to recapture the optimism and prosperity encompassed by the Gipper.

Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger is flexing all his muscles to push his “year of reform” plan. Proposition 76, being sent to the voters this November, is a step in the right direction, but we’re wary of giving so much power to a politician.  If the Governator really wanted to usher in prosperity and lasting reform, he’d push for a Colorado type of Taxpayers Bill of Rights and give more power back to the people…

…but at least the tides are turning. Like they say, you can't turn around the Titanic overnight.

This from today’s SFChronicle:

The ballot measure, dubbed by supporters as the "Live Within Our Means Act," would repeal several provisions of Proposition 98, an initiative that set formulas for education spending, as well as change other laws that determine spending on everything from roads to health care for the poor.

In other words, after decades of California budgeting by ballot initiative, this 14-page measure proposes to change much of past initiatives while imposing new constraints of its own.

"It sounds simple, but the measure is really intended to live within your means," said Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce and one of the authors of the proposition. "The goal is to ensure that there are no unmanageable deficits in the future."

But of course, this type of logical thinking has big government hounds up in arms:

"This is an effort to make more cuts to public education and to starve government," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles.

Cue the violins...

The fact is, the sky will not fall if spending is brought under control. To read about how the tax limiting measure in Colorado has fared over the past decade read this paper by Fred Holden of the Independence Institute.

Hopefully California’s trippy perceptive outlook on spending will push the rest of the nation (including the spendthrift federal government) to take similar measures.