Twenty per cent of Caliornia's Public Workers to be Fired

The state of California was yesterday set to fire 20,000 public employees as it teetered on the brink of a total financial collapse.

The crisis in the Golden State, home to 37 million people and a $1.8 trillion economy, is now so intense that anyone who overpaid their 2008 taxes will receive an IOU instead of a refund cheque.

Meanwhile, all public works projects are being cancelled, schools are facing closure, the Department of Motor Vehicles has shuttered many of its offices and the state’s bonds are almost unsaleable on Wall Street, which has in turn pushed up the cost of borrowing, forcing the state into the kind of death-spiral that has laid waste to many businesses over recent months.

“We are dealing with a catastrophe of unbelievable proportions,” said the state Senator Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat, and chairman of the Senate transportation committee.

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Now who's the Economic Girlie Man eh Arnie?