The New California Motto - Amitto

I am a native Californian. My state has always been a place where risk taking and discovery are an essential part of our psyche. But I look at the superlatives of the state and believe that Eureka no longer fits the state. Instead of Eureka, we should change it to Amitto - I've lost it.

Witness the following:

#1 - California has a number of superlatives about it now - the worst credit rating among the states; the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country; at the beginning of the year the third highest level of deficit (as a percentage of total spending) and a continuing inability to balance our budget; the second highest foreclosure rate and the highest rates for sales and income taxes in the country.
#2 - Even though our ports contribute significantly to our economic prosperity and our position in global markets, the state's leadership seems to treat them as almost toxic assets. Members of the legislature, including most recently Dean Florez, have used the ports as a PR device to show their political sensitivity.
#3 - We've let a three inch, inconsequential fish (the delta smelt) paralyze us into creating a new dust bowl in the central valley of the state. Water shipments to farmers in one of the richest agricultural regions in the world have been curtailed by as much as 90% based on shoddy environmental evidence.
#4 - Our state budget priorities are out of whack - we now spend more on prisons than higher education. We face yet another significant budget deficit. That goes along with a bizarre tax system which is driving high income tax payers out of the state.
#5 - A distinguished panel of Californians studied the tax system and came up with a good report on how to reduce the revenue volatility in the system. The report was not perfect but it was a great start. But it seems to be dead on arrival - no intention to move the discussion forward. The business community, which pays heavily under the current system, dismissed the ideas without any serious consideration.
#6 - We've furloughed state employees to save money making state services less available and making the job of public service even less desirable. At the same time we have allowed a couple of public employee unions and sometimes the trial lawyers to have an absolute veto on key items in the legislature.

The list could go on - but that gives you an idea of why the motto change is appropriate. My other question would be when can we recover, as a 1970s writer once called it "The Last Days of the Late Great State?" As a native Californian I wish I could say.