With all the scaremongering you’d thing the end of the world was approaching

A look at the work being accomplished in California legislature this week would convince you otherwise:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — What budget crisis?

As California faces what one official this week called a complete meltdown of state government, some lawmakers have their minds on other matters.

Like creating a blueberry commission. Or standing up for pomegranate juice. And, in what passes for health reform in the nation’s most populous state, ensuring that the name tags of medical workers are in 18-point font.

Those are among the hundreds of bills being debated in the California Legislature as the state faces a $24.3 billion deficit and the prospect of running out of cash by late July.

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Among the more eyebrow-raising bills pending in the state Legislature are ones that would:

_ Ensure that juice sold as “pomegranate” is 100 percent pomegranate.

_ Instruct 9th and 10th graders about the value of organ donation.

_ Ban toy cigarette lighters.

_ Require day cares to serve only healthy food to children.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, a Democrat from San Francisco, is the author of the name-tag bill and another that would establish a commission to promote California’s growing blueberry industry. The commission’s $1.2 million annual budget would come from a surcharge on blueberries.

This comes as California State Controller John Chiang says California 50 Days From Financial Meltdown.

This comes as Schwarzenegger threatens to shut down state government.

With all the doom and gloom; threats to lay off firefighters, cops and teachers, starve children, and kick little old ladies out into the street, you think the legislature in California would find things to worry about other than;

Drafting letters to “The One” wanting the abuse of gay and lesbian Iraqis to end?

Apologizing for the persecustion of Chinese immigrants?

How about creating “housing standards” for egg laying chickens?

Remember all this when they run around with their hair on fire next month screaming “CRISIS!”