The Legislature Is Smarter Than You

Almost everyone in California agrees that our legislature is full of fools who can't count well enough to balance the budget.

If our legislature is dumb, what does that make the rest of us?

Because if education is any measure of brains, California's legislators are much smarter than the people they represent.

California, in fact, leads the country in the percentage of its legislators who are college graduates -- nearly 90 percent. The percentage of Californians who are college graduates is a bit above 38 percent. And if you don't think education levels are a good proxy for smarts, remind yourself that college graduates make far more money than non-graduates; our legislators are at least smart enough to do what it takes for a bigger paycheck.

Of course, our lawmakers' respect for higher education hasn't stopped them from imposing big cutbacks to the state's university systems. And the legislature's college degrees haven't helped lawmakers manage the state's famously complex budget system.

Some things are too hard to understand, even if you did well in school.

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