In his state of the state speech this week, Gov. Brown said that those who object to his budget proposal have failed to present alternatives. Critics have called that unfair. Either way, here's the good news: you can come up with your own budget alternatives to Brown's plan.
A couple of online tools make this fairly easy. The Bay Area non-profit Next 10 has the California Budget Challenge, which allows you to make the kind of budget choices facing the legislature and governor. And now the Sacramento Bee is offering up its own on-line tool for budget balancing.
I've used both. And one point that these tools drive home is: there are no easy choices.
