[Dan Walters] explains the Californ Ia deficit. The state's general fund revenues, with the exception of a $12 billion one-time windfall in 2000-01, have been remarkably consistent ever since the state came out of a severe recession... [Gray Davis], however, did not follow his own advice. Within weeks, he agreed to commit about $8 billion of the windfall to ongoing spending, including big tax cuts, thus creating a chronic deficit that in subsequent years was papered over with slippery bookkeeping maneuvers and billions of dollars in loans... [Cruz Bustamante] contends that the deficit stems from the 2001 energy crisis, during which the general fund was tapped for about $8 billion to purchase power... It's a widely believed scenario, but entirely untrue, since all of the power buys were ultimately covered with a bond issue being repaid by Electric Utility customers. That means Bustamante is either woefully ignorant about the budget crisis he says he can fix (largely with $8 billion in new taxes that he probably can't get enacted) or he's consciously telling untruths.

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