Los Angeles, CA - Conservative calculations of California's budget debt now stand at above $60 Billion even while politicians admit to a current debt of $17 Billion.  The discrepancy involves deferred payments that are by law required to be paid currently but are being postponed.  To make matters worse, elected officials announced yesterday that some $2 Billion in IOUs issued by the state in the past few months will be paid off beginning in September.  Unmentioned, however, is the fact that all the money used to pay off the IOUs will be money to be borrowed from investors.  Thus, California is running a PONZI scheme no more legal than Maddoff's.