The Depth of California's Budget Problems

California's Legislative Analyst Office put together a "State of the Budget" presentation for the joint legislative session.  Pages 2 & 3 of the presentation are especially revealing:  almost $30 Billion in deficits over the next three years.  There are also a couple of interesting slides showing potential remedies if using only tax increases v. only spending savings.  Then it provides a summary of Governor Schwarzenegger's plan.

One issue I have with the presentation is that it seems very basic.  I think there are 3 possible explanations:  

1. Either the LAO isn't capable of providing more sophisticated analysis, 
2. The CA legislature isn't capable of understanding a more complex analysis, or
3. They didn't want to put the really scary stuff in print.

Regardless, none of those options bodes well for figuring out this mess we're in.