How far are our state officials willing to go to avoid making adult decisions regarding the financial crisis battering California's economy (and budget)?

Rather than rein in spending or pass even more tax increases, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to sell off public property that belongs to the state -- including the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

It's as irresponsible a proposal as one could hope to find these days -- no small claim in an era in which avoidance techniques are the rule of the day for dealing with difficult political issues.

Of course, Democrats don't get a free pass on this, either. Their refusal to reduce public spending, or cut salaries for state employees (whose unions are lavish supporters of Democratic candidates), represents as great a betrayal of average residents as does the Republican plan to sell off public assets.

The concept that raises, once granted, are forever is one so loony it could only exist in government.

But here's an idea: All those raises granted state prison guards the past few years? Eliminate them. Raises for teachers (whose salaries are in effect paid by the state, based on a per-student formula each public school district receives) from the past few years? Roll them back. There's no reason public salaries should be any more sacred than private-sector ones during a crisis.

We're in a recession bordering on depression, and despite all the happy noises from the talking heads on TV, it's not going away anytime soon -- and the free-spending days of the Clinton-Bush era aren't coming back either. Perhaps ever.

It's a message that falls on deaf ears in Sacramento, however, where the folks we thought we elected to grapple with tough problems would instead rather simply pretend they don't exist until their hand is forced.

And so now the latest idea being floated (on the eve of an election with a slate of budget-related ballot measures that the governor and legislative leaders want us voters to approve -- coincidence?) is to sell off state-owned properties to private developers in order to raise cash to help close the state's operational deficit.

On that list is the Del Mar Fairgrounds, which officials think could fetch some $650 million.

But then what? The citizens of this state will no longer have access to a wonderful facility in a unique location -- all so our governator and the legislative ideologues right and left can continue to play partisan games instead of fixing the budget.

Here's another idea: Raise taxes if you must, cut spending to what you actually bring in -- and maybe, just maybe, members of both parties can actually stop catering to their well-heeled benefactors and do what's right by the citizens of California.

Sigh.

The fairground is doomed if that's what it's going to take to save it.

Contact staff writer JIM TRAGESER at jtrageser@nctimes.com or 760-740-5408.