CalMatters: California’s stubborn problems keep thwarting its ballooning budget

By Dan Walters, CalMatters

The first quarter of the 21^st century has been, in a sense, a test of whether California — a state enormously blessed but enormously troubled — can be effectively governed.

For decades, California’s two political parties had struggled for dominance. Control of its governorship, its Legislature, its congressional delegation and its presidential electoral votes had shifted back and forth as the mood of voters oscillated.