Out-of-the-box-office thinking

My Man is weathering increasing vitriol over the ballooning state-budget deficit. The Austrian accounting whiz has called for a new look at voter-imposed budget mandates, spending caps he championed years ago that somehow lost at the ballot box and the creation of a rainy-day fund that would be boosted by revenues gushing in during good times. But misery merchants drooling over their laptops shoot back that state revenues have risen despite shaky markets, that per-capita spending in budget sectors like education have dropped even with mandated spending priorities, that the Golden State seldom if ever has sunny enough budget days to make an emergency fund viable. Then there’s those nagging, letter-of-the-law types who point out that California already has spending limits and emergency funds. What’s missing from the equation is this: State voters made an action-movie star their governor because they want action, not facts, irony and history lessons. Remember Total Recall? Arnie had to figure out if he really was earthbound construction worker Douglas Quaid or dreaming he was Hauser, a rebel fighter on Mars. How? By making the solution to his problem the problem to his solution. Da Gov could easily be doing this or employing a totally different strategy. My money’s on Jingle All the Way.