Fiscal experts have warned the governor and lawmakers that California/s budget deficit will mushroom to more than ,41 billion within 18 months.

The governor has warned the citizens of California that the state will soon run out of money, and vital programs will be shut down.

Members of the state Legislature aren/t doing much of anything beyond sitting in their offices trying to figure out how to outfox their political rivals.

But these disparate groups do pretty much agree on one thing 7 this state will fail. It/s inevitable, perhaps even destined.

Failure is inevitable because California is a ship without a rudder, a missile without a guidance system. Name your problem, and it/s a safe bet California has it.

Not only does this state have every conceivable issue on the table, it also has the distinction of being among the world/s top 10 economies, bigger than most nations, and more dysfunctional by far.

Some experts believe it/s because the state is too big and too diverse. Folks in the Inland Empire look to the west and, between wedge shots, scoff at the hectic lifestyle of the fading rich and nearly famous in L.A.

People living in the Bay Area are afraid to drive to Southern California for fear of being tainted by the working-class groups occupying the Central Coast. The desert rats don/t understand how we can stand all this fog in the mornings.

Maybe California should become two states, or three. Subdividing the state has been tried dozens of times, most recently in the 1990s, without success. Who is to say three smaller states wouldn/t just carry the one large state/s baggage with them wherever they go?

Political diversity is a major cause of the bigger problem. Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature are hopelessly divided 7 and will remain that way, as long as they are allowed to create their own gerrymandered districts. At least that practice will soon end, thanks to California voters.

But Prop. 11 didn/t win the overwhelming approval it should have received, with just 50.9 percent of the state voters wanting to take redistricting out of the hands of the Legislature and give it to a nonpartisan commission.

Actually, the ballot initiative process is part of California/s bigger problem. Citizens take matters into their own hands when they perceive a lack of activity or progress on the part of lawmakers, which is pretty much a constant. The result is a hodgepodge of conflicting mandates that saps government/s ability to govern.

Even more damaging to any semblance of progress in California is the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority vote in the Legislature, simply to pass a state budget. The supermajority rule is patently undemocratic, and ultimately self-defeating to the goal of creating reasonable fiscal policy.

The heart of the problem is that the stumbling blocks we list here only serve to amplify the overall dysfunction, which causes the general public to lose even more faith in government/s ability to manage the state, which leads to more ballot measures to trump lawmakers/ inactivity, which … You get the picture.

California/s chaotic form of government is a living, breathing demonstration of the law of perpetual motion. We/re like a hamster in a cage, running inside that little wire ring, thinking the harder we run, the better chance of getting out of the ring. But it just keeps going, around and around.

California government needs fundamental change. Fair districts that give everyone a chance to govern is a good start. Repealing the two-thirds vote requirement is a necessary next step.

And we need better leadership. Surely, out of the 34 million-plus people living in this state, there is someone who can lead the way into the future. Let the search begin.

December 17, 2008