Hi, is Henry there, please?

Calls on line 5, 6, and 8 for you, sir:

California is fast running out of cash and may need as much as $7 billion in aid from the Treasury Department within weeks, the Los Angeles Time reported, quoting a letter from California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson...

"Absent a clear resolution to this financial crisis," Schwarzenegger wrote in his letter, e-mailed to Paulson, "California and other states may be unable to obtain the necessary level of financing to maintain government operations and may be forced to turn to the federal treasury for short-term financing," according to the paper.

So Aaahnold didn't actually call, but emailed his request for seven thousand million dollars over to treasury. But what gives California the audacity to even imagine that state government can "turn to the federal treasury" to finance their very non-federal operations?

Perhaps it was the treasury itself. It seems pretty obvious that with public companies like Ford and GM and even private companies like Chrysler lining up at the trough for guaranteed, subsidized loans from Uncle Sam, the least he can do is open his wallet for his own profligate children.

Because if the Federal Government doesn't borrow or print a bunch of money in order to re-lend it to other governments, those governments might have to raise taxes or cut spending. That is simply not an option because it would be bad for the economy, or what's worse, for incumbent politicians.

UPDATE: Plan 9 is a now Law 9. Whatever happens from here on out, it's not the government's fault. They've fixed that old problem that we used to have.