I see that Dick Ramirez, in "Not the way to go," and Steven Brooks, "California crisis solvable" (both in Opinion, Letters June 19), feel that their particular spending priorities should be California's priorities, even to the point of raising, again, the already overwhelmingly high taxes on the people and businesses of California.

Both of them don't seem to care too much about the ever-poorer results, despite the ever-higher spending ... both of them don't seem too concerned about the flight of wealthy individuals and successful businesses from our state.

And both for some reason don't seem satisfied with using their own money for their favorite "vital" programs.

Rather, they want to use everyone else's.

You've heard it said that a man spends his own money very carefully, his friend's money less carefully and a stranger's money less carefully still.

Ramirez and Brooks - and their pals in the California legislature - certainly prove the point.