If you want to see the future of the USA, look at California. Don Surber:

State controller: “The State will run out of cash in less than 50 days without corrective action by the Legislature and Governor.”

How do you take a state that has the coast, the sun, the mountains and more resources than any other state and screw it up like this?

One party rule is how. Democrats.

I am stunned by the sheer scale of this incompetence. California has the largest population, it is the third in size and it is 8th in per capita income; it has the 8th largest economy in the world.

How on God’s green Earth does this happen?

Well, we know: Living beyond its means. West Virginia is the second poorest state. It’s economy is less than half the size of Iraq. My state’s budget is balanced and we have a rainy day fund of more than $400 million to fall back on.

The canard that West Virginia “gets” $1.76 back for every $1 in federal taxes paid is based on transfer payments to the poor. The money goes to individuals, not the state government. The one major exception is Medicaid payments. The federal government pays 53% of California’s.

California state government went into the recession with deficit spending. Its cuts are deeper because it failed to cut the fluff earlier.

California Controller John Chiang sent a letter to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrats who run the legislature: “The State will run out of cash in less than 50 days without corrective action by the Legislature and Governor.”

By corrective action, Chiang likely means raising taxes.

He noted: “Likewise, without credible and durable budget solutions that produce positive results in the State’s cash position and demonstrate the State’s ability to repay at time of maturity, any form of cash flow borrowing — whether a Revenue Anticipation Warrant (RAW) or Revenue Anticipation Note (RAN) – will be met with heavy skepticism by investors. At best, this will result in a borrowing of limited size and at significant expense. At worst, it could result in a failed sale. As disclosed to you in my previous letter, I am reluctantly preparing to sell RAWs as a precautionary measure and will be meeting with rating agencies and launching an investor outreach effort in less than two weeks.”

Californians will have to dump state agencies and social programs — and raise taxes — to get out of this quagmire.

Much like the United States will have to do after President Obama.