It is hard to overstate California's worsening water crisis, which is why the continuing excuses for inaction by legislative leaders are nothing short of appalling. If the Legislature fails to act yet again – and doing nothing is the course advocated by key Democratic leaders in both chambers – the state eventually will face a catastrophic cutback in supplies, triggering widespread economic dislocations and preventable hardship on a massive scale.

Six months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kicked off the 2008-09 budget debate by unveiling a bare-bones plan that would end a decade-long spending spree, there has been zero progress toward adopting it or any rival plan.

For 100 years and more, the American worker has repeatedly proved that he or she can out-compete any workers on the planet. So why does the American Congress feel such need to protect American workers from the competition?