In fact, the two French men, who re-invented the famous suit in 1946, weren’t exactly two piece pioneers. The skimpy style dates back to ancient wall paintings.

I’m going to get political again… dang it!

Here in California, we are going through some tough economic times. I’m not intimating that the times in other states are not as bad, but I can only offer what I see in the state in which I live.

The LA Times is reporting that there are 1300 foreclosures every business day in this state. Banks and lenders have now foreclosed on $100 billion worth of California homes over the past two years. Is this predatory lending or consumers not quite up to the challenge of reading the fine print?

More people are looking for jobs. California’s unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in June, up from 6.8 percent in May, the state Employment Development Department reported. A year ago, in June 2007, California’s unemployment rate was 5.3 percent.

Prices for goods grown/manufactured in this state have skyrocketed over the last year; Inflation is at an all time high; Gas prices soar, airlines are ticketing/surcharging your baggage…

Times are tough. It may get a lot worse. Heck, in your state, things might actually be improving. But here in California, we have a larger issue.

The State of California is without a budget… We are going on our second month now…

And to help ease the crisis, the governor has decided that the state employee gets the short end of the stick.

Hmm… let’s digest that last sentence a bit.

The Senate and Assembly in the State of CA are in session… no wait… they are not in session… ummm… wait… are they in session? Hmmm… OK… we don’t know if they are in session or not. In fact, if they are in session, where are the elected representatives? I thought “in session” meant you were supposed to be there. Never mind… Let’s look at some sideline info.

The average income (average mind you) of an Assembly representative is over $127,000 per year (not counting per diem, perks and other little nice things like catered lunches). The average Senate representative’s income is over $184,000 per year (also not counting those other nice little things). I don’t think that the average “on the front lines” state worker is making that much. In fact, I am sure that some of those lower level management types aren’t making that kind of income either.

So, knowing this, Governor Arnold says, let’s “axe” the income of those state workers to a little over $6 an hour and managers to $11 an hour. Once the budget mess gets cleaned up (and we are on month 2 with no real end in site) we will reimburse those state workers and all will be well and good. (Doesn’t it make you wonder if this will effect his bid for a United States Senate position in 2010?)

Umm… those representatives that I was talking about? They work for the State of California, don’t they? Is their income going to be cut to $6 or $11 dollars an hour too? HEY! Who just laughed?

Question: If you’re at work and fail to do something in a timely fashion, what happens? You get reprimanded? Maybe have a discussion with your supervisor? All of those things? If you fail to show up for work one or two days a week, put your vacation to Hawaii/Bali/Tahiti on your company’s expense account, should you be concerned? If you continue to fail at your job, what would you expect to happen? Could you get demoted? Terminated?

Question: The State of CA legislature has been late on the budget for how many years now??? What happened to them? They got a pay raise last year, and the per diem rate was raised by $25.00 per day this year alone.

Let’s recap; the elected representatives who are supposed to be doing things for the people of this state are not doing their job and get pay raises for it. Since those representatives are not doing their job, we are going to punish the people who are employed by the state and are really trying to help the people who live in this state, by cutting their salaries. By not paying those state employees, cutting hours and support positions, we invariably punish the people of the state.

Meanwhile, the exalted elected get theirs. Each and every month. In effect, the people of the State of California get the shaft, and we are still no closer to a budget.

Anyone think that this whole budget problem is a little bass..ackward?

Can it be fixed? Hell yeah! How? Is there waste in government education/health/insurance/services spending? Yes sir! Do the individual state agencies buy consumables that are grossly over priced because they have to buy from specific vendors who know they can charge the state a truckload of money? You bet. (Anyone want to buy a “Rollerball” black ball-point pen for $12 each?) Is it ten times harder to terminate a truly non-performing employee from the state payroll? Absolutely. In the private sector, the kind of logistical/managerial crap that we see in government would never happen. If it did, the private enterprise would be closed and forgotten in a very big hurry.

Can it be fixed? Damn straight? Will it hurt much? If it doesn’t then it’s not being done right! In these tough economic times, the pain of straightening things out will have to hurt someone or something. Period. Some jerk who is on the back end of that ball point pen scam will have to take it in the shorts. It would be ABOUT DAMNED TIME!

But then again, this is the State of California legislature. They will probably pass some legislation that will increase some tax by some double digit percentage and the end user… the consumer… YOU… will have to bear the burden. The state employees will also have to work through all of this. They might loose their home, their car, their family. They are pawns in a really screwed up game. But, the dollar amount that each of us will have to “hurt” will help augment the income of our chosen representatives.

The sad part about all this? We elected these clowns… And we will stand in the voting booth in November and do the same damned thing. Therefore, ultimately, you and I are responsible for the budget mess. It just might be up to us to create a solution and submit it to our legislature.

Hey, I have an idea… Let’s propose legislation that says; “If the budget is not passed by July 1st, each and every senate and assembly representative, regardless of sex, MUST parade around the capital in a bikini, selected by a normal tax paying citizen, for every day that the budget remains unsigned.”

We could call it “A State of California Budget Bikini Toll”!

Wanna bet we would have a budget each and every July 1st?

Until next week…