How on Earth can governor claim a ‘responsible’ budget?

Re “Newsom signs budget to close $46.8 billion deficit” (June 29): It’s a little hard to fathom Gavin Newsom using words like “responsible budget” and “careful stewardship” to describe a budget that has doubled in real terms over the last 10 years. I reviewed the California government tables on budget outlays and it shows that the 2014 budget was approximately $145 billion (about $179 billion in today’s dollars). Today’s $296 billion budget is about twice 2014’s no matter how you slice it. California’s population has not increased (let alone doubled) over the last 10 years. Something is wrong. Democrats have a supermajority in the Legislature and have held all statewide offices for many years. California voters should consider voting for change because we are on a very bad path that makes no sense and is not sustainable.

— Dave Marinkovich, University City