Like many folks, I’m trying to lose some weight. I know the recipe is straightforward – eat less and exercise more. Looking at television we are led to believe by using a pill called “hydroxy“-something, a special exercise doo-hickey or a set of giant rubber bands you too can look like a supermodel in a few short minutes per day!

Yeah, right.

We know when we have been sold a bill of goods. The fact the weight loss industry is a multi-billion market says we are willing to pay for an easier way out of our predicament. In reality – if we applied some thought, took a little less on our supper plate and started dancing instead of watching others on TV dance for us – well, the results would naturally follow. It’s easy to decide we’re too tired to exercise right now. It’s easy to decide having a little more on our plate is OK because of how tough the day has been. After all, we’ll start the diet on Monday…

The results of obesity are clear: increased disease susceptibility along with a plethora of other issues. Most will agree – preventing obesity is easier than trying to lose a lot of weight and then live a healthy lifestyle

So what does this have to do with the California budget? It’s simple – to have a healthy budget we have to spend less and pay for the services we use.

Consider spending the “food” we eat in our budget. There are core things we have to eat to maintain life. The same is true for our economy, it needs spending in particular sectors to encourage a healthy society. California has gorged on programs over the years which have turned into entitlements.

Consider taxes/fees/revenues “exercise” – after all, these come as a result of our sweat! The recently passed California budget has sold us on the notion of “revenue” in the form of loans, time-shifted revenue recognition and money movement from fund to fund. These are the financial equivalents of those bizarre rubber-bands and exercise doo-hickeys covered with a patina of “salesmanship.” Simply, these methods are scams and everyone with a hand in these smelly schemes should be ashamed. Heck, PT Barnum would blush at some of the tactics being used to cobble this flim-flam the “Big 5″ is proudly calling a budget.

We need to “eat less” and realize “no new exercise” is not realistic. Party dogma may be an interesting tactic for those locked in chambers – but for California it is a stark moment of clarity: there are no magic pills, there is no special exercise doo-hickey which will bring us back to health. Those who claim our budgetary/economic condition can be healthy solely on one action and not the other are no better than the late night infomercial hucksters pushing false promises. We’re in poor condition and everyone will have to sweat to regain our economic and budgetary health.