For evidence California will not have a budget in place by the start of the new fiscal year, look at the efforts of Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla and Keith Richman. The pair unveiled a serious attempt at crafting a budget compromise this week, and it was met with polite indifference.

Canciamilla, D-Martinez, and Richman, R-Granada Hills, led a bipartisan group trying to find a middle ground on the budget, only to end up as the only two willing to support their plan.

Their proposal includes a sales tax increase and higher car taxes, but also deeper cuts in education, public health and corrections, along with a cap on future spending. And it tries to fix the state's built-in structural deficit at the same time. The plan isn't perfect, but it's a respectable attempt at progress.

Assembly leaders reacted all too predictably. Republican Dave Cox praised the deeper spending cuts, but said the tax increases were a non-starter. Democrat Herb Wesson praised the tax increases in the plan, then faulted it for its spending cuts.

The reality is that the state's budget deficit -- which is more than $30 billion and may be as high as $38 billion -- will not be solved without a combination of budget cuts and tax hikes. Anything else is a political pipe dream.

The sooner lawmakers admit the necessity for making choices they dislike, the sooner the state will have a budget in place. As long as compromise remains a dirty word, the stalemate will continue.