California budgeting

The LAT reports this morning that the governator will announce on January 10th severe budget cuts necessitated by a projected $14.5 billion deficit. Only days ago the California Assembly approved a plan to add $14 billion to the budget for a state universal health care plan. It's always easy to increase expenditures but never possible to reduce them. Democrats in the California legislature most likely don't plan to reduce them. They plan to raise taxes instead, but there's a diminishing return. The higher you raise taxes, the less they return because people find ways to avoid them, like by moving out of state.