Third Failed Governor

It is easy to write despairingly of the situation in California, and difficult to find anything there about which to be optimistic. A Los Angeles Times article does the former with some grace:

Brown risks becoming the third failed governor in a row, unable either to win concessions from the opposing party or effectively lead his own.

I believe there is some daylight showing in the positions reflected in this article, if only CA's pols had the courage to discern it. First there is this:

The governor repeatedly has warned that, if he can't win Republican consent for a special election on tax extensions, he will submit a budget balanced through cuts alone, a prospect he calls "disastrous."

Then there is a clear signal from the electorate:

The statewide Field Poll continues to show declining public support for any tax extensions, even the moderate ones Brown is proposing.

The article's author, Tim Rutten, draws this conclusion:

Like the citizens of other financially failed states, such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland, Californians continue to be gripped by the fantasy that they can have public services and meet public obligations without paying for them.

I draw another conclusion, namely that Californians are willing to live with fewer public services in order to not pay higher taxes. Brown's major constituencies - state employees and teachers - fear I am right. Jerry Brown should submit his threatened cuts-only budget and see how the CA public responds.