Ray Haynes is the Republican assemblyman from Murrieta
It's a sad event to witness. We all know drug addiction begins as a temporary high, with the eventual addict proud of his or her ability to experience the rush from the drug but handle the bad effects. Eventually the addict becomes addicted to the rush, and spends all of his or her money trying to chase the dream. First the addict spends his or her salary on drugs, trying to figure out a way to pay for rent and food, eating up their savings to pay those bills. Eventually they run out of money, and start to borrow money from parents, relatives and friends, always claiming to be in a "temporary, tough" financial strait. "Just this once," the lenders are told, "I just have to pay rent. I will pay you back." Then they don't.

The addict, constantly in a state of denial over the addiction, starts to blame others for the financial problems. "I don't have a drug problem," he or she will say, "I can handle it; it's only temporary." Eventually, the addiction leads the addict to stealing, as the lenders cut off money out of frustration for the addict's lack of financial or self-control. The downward spiral continues until the addict either deals with the addiction or dies from it.

State government in California is on that downward spiral. During the first two years of Gov. Gray Davis' first term, the state indulged in a spending addiction unparalleled in the state's history - a two-year splurge which increased state spending by $22 billion. By comparison, the entire state budget was only $21 billion in 1982. The rush was amazing as Davis and his leftist friends in the Legislature partied on the people's money in his first two years here.

Then the rent came due. A $78 billion spending spree required $78 billion to keep it going. Even as the money dissipated, the governor refused to cut down on his addiction. First, he borrowed from savings, which in state parlance meant that he took the money from the various special funds in state government. Second, he started borrowing money from Wall Street on a year-to-year basis. Next, he raised taxes, first by $1.2 billion by simply allowing the surplus to dissipate. Finally, he started begging Uncle Sam, the federal government, for money for his next fix. Now he is resolved to steal the money by exacting an unconstitutional increase in the car tax.

How is this unconstitutional? Because it will be done without the Legislature voting on it, and when the government takes money to which it is not entitled by the Constitution, that is stealing. We can't put the governor - or his lackeys who are collecting the tax - in jail for this theft because they own the jails and the guns, and they won't lock themselves up. There is, however, little difference between an armed robber and a government that takes money without the legal authority. Either way it is theft.

And it is a theft with the worst possible motive: to cover a spending addiction. The governor and his Democrat friends can't get enough of your money to spend on their pet projects. They want more. The rent is due, they are out of food and yet they still want more drugs.

The only question is whether we, as a state, will act as their enablers, feeding their addiction, or whether we will say no and let the whole thing collapse, thereby forcing these addicts into a twelve-step program.

Make no mistake: This will not end until the addiction is cured. Will it be cured this year, so that we can start the long, painful fiscal recovery process? Or will the Addict-In-Chief resist help once again, continuing to drag those around him into a deeper hole, prolonging the pain and making the problem worse for everyone? Only time will tell.