No Bailout for California

It may be hard to imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger on the breadline, but California officials came to the White House “hat in hand”—and were rejected. The Obama administration turned away California’s request for emergency aid, saying that it would only prompt requests from other states in need. Timothy Geithner and other top officials say that California—whose economy is the eighth-largest in the world, bigger than Canada’s or Brazil’s—should work on its budget before applying for federal aid. But an administration official told The Washington Post that the government will consider giving aid if California’s situation significantly worsens, but will administer in it in a way that would make federal loans unattractive to other states. Said one state congressman: “This matters for the U.S., not just for California.”