Ryan's Review

But we knew that. The only difference now is that city officials are admitting it. Thus far, four California cities have filed for bankruptcy protection: Stockton, San Bernardino, Vallejo, and Mammoth Lakes. And Oakland could be next.

Tens of millions of dollars in budget deficits for these cities are forcing city officials to make common sense decisions. But when the United States Federal Government racks up deficits north of one trillion dollars, media pundits and other devout followers of Paul Krugman proclaim that there is no indication of loss of confidence in the US dollar. Therefore, by the mere existence of perceived confidence, the US government is thought to be solvent.

To an individual observer, this is nonsense. If someone were to claim the sky is red, when clearly it is blue, that person would be wrong. And they would still be wrong even if they were wearing a badge, and even still if they were elected by other people. Positions of power–in government, in media–does not eliminate all future possibility that the holder of those positions could say something totally incorrect. Point being: if California is broke, so is this country.