Nobody could have predicted that after California finally voted to raise taxes, the state would cure its budgetary ailments in a relatively short amount of time.
Riding a wave of new tax revenue, California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday proposed a state spending plan that eliminates the deficit and provides $6.3 billion more in spending than the previous year.
The revenue has wiped away a budget deficit that stood at $25 billion when Brown took office two years ago and has created a slight surplus.
Brown proposed a $97.6 billion general fund for the 2013-14 fiscal year, an increase of 7 percent from the current year. The additional revenue will help him pour more money into public schools and universities. [...]
His budget includes a surplus of $850 million.
It's no coincidence that following the election of a super majority of Democrats to the state legislature, California is finally poised to clean up a mess that's been building for many years.
That sounds familiar, doesn't it?
I do believe that after President Obama leaves office the country will be in as good of shape financially as it was when Bill Clinton left office. Or, at the very least, as good as can be expected given that the Republicans still have control of the House of Representatives.