Under the Capitol dome in Sacramento, Democratic and Republican lawmakers battle in a state budget quagmire, trading charges of obstruction or constitutional end runs. The fed-up governor warns of a financial "Armageddon."

But in Huntington Beach, Molly Logan has more pressing problems.

Her sales at Logan Surfboards took a 30 percent wipeout from 2007 to 2008. She is undercut by imports from Vietnam and Thailand, "where they have no environmental regulations and cheap labor."

While lawmakers fight over a proposed sales tax hike to bail California out of billions in debt, Logan said, "I'm much more concerned about my Roth IRA plummeting. I'm more concerned with the national economy. Right now, it's frightening, frightening."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is to deliver his State of the State message Thursday in hopes of galvanizing public opinion to pressure lawmakers to agree on a budget to keep California's government from going broke.

But his challenge comes as many Californians are too busy and too worried about effects of the larger national economic calamity to be consumed with details of budget wrangling in Sacramento.

Sacramento lobbyists, state worker unions and advocates for health, education and welfare may think of little more than the state's financial mess. Yet the Capitol isn't being overwhelmed by calls or letters from average Californians demanding a budget.

In Sacramento, the action movie-star governor furiously warns of the costs of inaction on a budget deficit that could reach $40 billion over 18 months. Lawmakers fight over taxes, state worker furloughs and slashing cuts for schools and services.

Outside the capital, they will draw little notice – or scrutiny – until they actually make decisions and act or let state government go belly-up.

"Certainly voters are aware of the (state budget) problem," said California Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. "But it hasn't really reached their own pocketbooks or own lives in a direct way. You're just waiting for the train wreck to happen.

"At the point when the state stops paying its bills or starts issuing IOUs to creditors, that's when this will really hit the fan."

On the "Morning Show with Hal" in Monterey, KRXA radio host Hal Ginsberg said his Central Coast audience is more concerned about the mortgage meltdown and a tripling of evictions in the Salinas region.

He said his liberal format show's biggest talk generator in the past several weeks wasn't Schwarzenegger's warning of "Armageddon." It was President-elect Barack Obama's selection of author and anti-gay marriage pastor Rick Warren to deliver his inaugural invocation.

But Ginsberg said California's budget crisis "is a huge problem for the state and a problem on every level for every Californian."

When he personally stokes the debate over looming cuts, the calls flow in.

"There will be calls from people who work in homeless shelters or Meals on Wheels or anything tied to government services that may be affected," Ginsberg said. "If the discussion has to do with schools or with salaries for elected officials and governmental employees – which we decry as too high – that also causes a response from listeners."

In Siskiyou County, in far Northern California, wheat, barley and potato farmer Marty Macy said he hears vaguely about "a budget out of control" in Sacramento and a "governor who wants to go to the federal government for billions of dollars because we're bankrupt."

Schwarzenegger has lobbied for federal help with the state Medi-Cal health program for the poor. He also is pushing the coming Obama administration to include California infrastructure projects in a national economic stimulus package.

In his world, Macy is worried about farmers who face drought and water shortages and – due to the credit crisis – can't get operating loans. "We're deeply concerned about the economy and where it's going to head," he said.

Meanwhile, he can't understand why politicians simply "can't get spending under control" in Sacramento without more taxes or regulations damaging to the economy.

Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.