Sacramento has had a striking lack of adult supervision since Gov. Pete Wilson's departure in 1999. Since then, state revenue has soared 76 percent, going from $58.6 billion to a projected $103 billion this fiscal year, but spending has gone up much faster. The result this year is a budget gap of $15 billion that is too big to cover even with all the usual scams – overly high revenue projections; absurdly low program cost estimates; imprudent borrowing; raiding funds ostensibly reserved for specific tasks; pushing costs into future budget years, etc.

The Assembly's latest vote on a state budget failed, 45-30, nowhere near the 54 ayes needed for passage. With the budget now 51 days late and counting, the outlook for getting a needed $9.3 billion water bond on the November ballot dwindles like the Sierra snowpack in August. But death by neglect for this bond proposal would be a mammoth mistake.

Hillary Clinton was right about one thing: This election has boiled down to a choice between change versus experience. But not how Hillary expected. She argued that her time as first lady plus as U.S. senator made her “ready to start on Day One,” giving her the upper hand over Barack Obama.