(Cross-posted from www.OCProgressive.com)

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a local Republican repeat their favorite talking point.

“We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem”.

So quickly, without looking below the fold, what’s your best guess on the average annual growth in California state spending, from 1997-98 to 2007-2008, first as a raw number, then adjusted for inflation and population growth?

From the Legislative Analyst’s Office

Total state spending over the decade 1998-99 through 2008-09 … Total spending grows over this period from $72.6 billion to $128.8 billion-an average annual growth rate of roughly 6 percent…

   * After adjusting for inflation, real spending has grown by roughly 18 percent over the entire period, or an annual average growth rate of roughly 1.7 percent.

   * Real per-capita spending-which adjusts for both inflation and population growth-would increase by about 2.2 percent over the period, for an average annual rate of 0.2 percent.

And if you’ve followed the news about the way that the consumer price index has been understated by federal agencies, it could easily be argued that there has been no real growth in state spending during the last decade.