Politicians never seem to tire of patting themselves on the back for their willingness to reach across the aisle and cooperate with each other, as if "bipartisan agreement" is some sort of glorious end in itself.

The California Assembly has just passed a $7.4 billion prison-construction plan by a vote of 70 to 1. The lawmakers approved the bill under heavy pressure from federal judges, who threatened to release some prisoners early if the state didn't address its continuing problem of horrible prison overcrowding. The Assembly also reportedly rushed the plan through to ease the burden on Governor Schwarzenegger, who has a lot on his plate right now.

The prisons have for years been overflowing, and the California system now houses about twice its capacity in inmates. California and the United States lead the world in incarceration rates, rivaling most European nations with seven or ten times the per capita prison population.

This situation is an obscenity, resulting largely from crusades against victimless crimes, such as the war on drugs, which accounts for many tens of thousands of people convicted not for a crime against another person, but for a crime against the state. The cost to taxpayers is outrageous. What's worse is the savagery inflicted on peaceful people. The system is characterized by police brutality and prisoner-on-prisoner rape and violence.

Even many actual criminals shouldn't be in prison but should be made to pay restitution to their victims. The whole institution of the modern prison needs to be rethought by everyone seeking a humane and sensible world.

But addressing the core problems is much harder for politicians, it seems, than squandering ever more tax dollars on the same old big government "solutions." Instead of freeing some of the many thousands of Californians who shouldn't even be in prison or looking at the problems of the criminal justice system and its laws, the governor and legislators will just throw billions more at the problem, which should keep the breaking point at bay for the time being, but not for long.

Proud of this "achievement"—spending another $7.4 billion of other people's money (an average of more than $200 per California citizen)—Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said, "The days of 'gotcha' politics are over in California. We're ready and willing to continue working" together.

The cooperation between Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers has been called a practice in "post-partisanship." Last year, the Republican governor signed off on global warming legislation, a program to reduce prescription drug costs and a minimum wage raise—issues where Democrats have traditionally favored an active, expansive government role and Republicans have supposedly been more cautious of turning to government for answers. The governor, since his election, has been known for his grand bond initiatives for schools and unprecedented budgets to bolster infrastructure. Last year, he began flirting openly with moves toward socialized medicine. And in the last week, he has threatened to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for not allowing stricter enforcement of environmental regulations in California.

Having Republicans approve all the big government programs in the Democratic agenda and the Democrats approve all the law-and-order crackdowns and new prisons in the Republican agenda is not a reason to celebrate. It does not signify a new hope or usher in an era where both "sides" in California politics can agree on everything, where they can put their differences behind them, join hands, and sing "Kumbaya."

No, what we have here is something quite insidious: A situation where the leadership of neither party in Sacramento seems interested in cutting government, or even slowing its growth, in virtually any area. Now everyone in power agrees that more government is always the answer.

It is a good thing when parties disagree, after all. That's what they're supposed to do. The goal of an adversarial political system is to have at least two sides of a given policy debate represented.

But there is no debate any more. Republicans are as happy about expanding the welfare state as the Democrats are, if not more so. Democrats are as thrilled to build more prisons and expand the police state as the Republicans, if not more so. Both sides cooperate to steal our freedom and money, as their government "solutions" do nothing but create vastly more problems to be addressed down the line. California's "post-partisan" era of unanimous support for leviathan is not a sign of enlightened times. It is a tragedy and demonstrates the need for radical change.