Apropos of my piece yesterday on state budget crises, the Wall Street Journal’s Stu Woo reports that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will ask the Obama administration and Congress for billions in aid. This aid will come in the form of California not having to provide matching funds for programs like Medicaid — Washington would apparently cover the entire bill for the year.

Schwarzenegger and the California state legislature are largely responsible for the state’s fiscal mess. But I think the governor’s arguments on why California uniquely deserves aid are basically right: California’s huge tax base helps subsidize all kinds of federal programs that may never benefit California residents. And a collapse of California’s economy could seriously hamper a national recovery.

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