California Budget Achieves Enlightenment
California Budget Achieves Enlightenment, Becomes Invisible to Math By Staff Satirists, Sacramento Bureau of Delusionary Accounting SACRAMENTO — In a heroic feat of budgetary sorcery not seen since Enron’s golden years, California’s Democratic leadership has agreed to a budget deal that technically exists, doesn’t technically balance, and somehow makes a $21 billion deficit feel like a wellness retreat for broke ideas. Sources close to the legislative process described the mood in Sacramento as “jubilantly evasive,” with lawmakers exchanging celebratory kombucha shots and high-fiving their own reflections in ethically-sourced glass. “We’ve decided to delay reality until fiscal year 2026,” said one legislative staffer while setting fire to a calculator. “That’s when accountability will finally come due—at which point we’ll either be in federal office or retired with book deals.” Budget Deal or Magic Trick? As Governor Gavin Newsom struck the final gong in the Budget Room—a space filled...