California is now the Wile E. Coyote of states. Our governor and lawmakers have dickered and dawdled all of us off a cliff, but we're trying desperately to resist the realization that there is no ground beneath us. Our legs are pumping and our eyes are on Obama administration stimulus packages and bailout money on the far, sunny slope, and we might just reach them if we don't acknowledge that the bridge is out, or that we've run off the road, or that our Acme wings have failed. Once we notice that we're hanging in midair, we'll fall.

Too bad for us, but Standard & Poor's has already noticed. It said this week that California is a monumentally bad bet for investors, presumably because the state lacks both the will to adopt a budget and the ability to raise enough tax money to guarantee it will pay back all those bonds voters keep approving; S&P now ranks California 50th among states in credit ratings.

Editorial: Los Angeles Times