A reality check for California's excessive borrowing

The L.A. Times reports:

California has the lowest bond rating of any state, requiring it to pay relatively high interest. Anyway, it needs to cling to cash to pay ordinary bills without resorting to IOUs. Every $1 billion in bonds requires $70 million annually for debt service.

"We're paying substantially more than Third World countries, er, emerging markets," Lockyer told the Assembly Budget Committee. "We could benefit from a reasonably balanced budget -- an old-fashioned balanced budget. It really is affecting our credit rating."