AS THE RECALL rocks along, reporters continue to ignore the underlying causes of widespread voter disgust, including Gray Davis’ the tripling of the car tax this past summer, and the tidal wave of special interest legislation that ranges from workplace protection for cross-dressing employees to the bestowal of land use authority on California’s Indian tribes over sites they determine to have sacred significance. Employers already reeling from new entitlements on worker leave are now anticipating a new and hugely expensive mandate on health insurance for all workers, plus whatever the recall-panicked legislature can ship to the lame-duck governor in the next four weeks. The only reason that Gray has even a tiny prayer of staying in office is the calming effect of rising home prices. This is a story within the story, but it could also have a nasty surprise ending. Think of it as the potential second-half to an economic horrors double feature: The dot-com bust followed by the housing market collapse.

Even the whisper of such a thing alarms most Golden State home-owners. The country as a whole has seen healthy gains in the value of its housing stock. The National Association of Realtors put the national median existing home price at $182,100 in July–a 12 percent rise in one year.