State of the State

Read the full text of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech here.

But if you're pressed for time, this section is a pretty good summation:

For months, in the face of a crisis, we have been unable to reach agreement on the largest budget deficit in our history.

We are in our third special session and we've declared a fiscal emergency — and every day that goes by, makes the budget problem that much harder to solve.

As a result of all this, California, the eighth largest economy in the world, faces insolvency within weeks.

Or possibly this one:

Conan's sword could not have cleaved our political system in two as cleanly as our own political parties have done.

Over time, ours has become a system where rigid ideology has been rewarded and pragmatic compromise has been punished.

But the money quote, the real message of the governor's speech and the one that should be repeated ad infinitum:

No one wants to take money from our gang-fighting programs or from Medi-Cal or from education.

No one wants to pay more in taxes or fees.

But each of us has to give up something because our country is in an economic crisis and our state simply doesn't have the money.

Thanks, Arnold, for putting that into perspective.