Ideological boxes. Uninspired leadership. Lawmakers beholden to special interests. A two-thirds vote requirement to pass budget bills.

Those are some of the reasons lawmakers failed again Tuesday to enact remedies to solve California's midyear, $11.2 billion budget hole.

Here's another reason: The process stinks.

For several years, it has worked like this. The Big Five leaders – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the top Democrats and Republicans in both houses – meet in secret to hash out a deal.

Participants are sworn to secrecy. A cone of silence descends on the bargaining. All sides fear that leaks over possible tax hikes or spending reductions could jeopardize the deals they have cut.

The process drags out. Arms are twisted. Leaks inevitably occur as individual lawmakers try to sabotage an item they don't like. Then the deadline runs out. Bills are put up for a vote with no public scrutiny. They are then killed or turned into bogus budget solutions like the one enacted this year.

Then the process starts again. More secret meetings. More gridlock. A public that is increasingly disengaged and cynical about the proceedings.

This process isn't working and it has to stop. If it doesn't, Schwarzenegger and the mix of old and new legislators who convene next week will be responsible for allowing the state's financial crisis to turn into catastrophe.

What does such a catastrophe look like? Imagine the state unable to pay its bills or borrow money. Imagine mass layoffs of state employees. Imagine the state unable to leverage federal public works money that could generate thousands of jobs. Imagine creditors filing lawsuits. Imagine California ending up in receivership, much like its prison system.

To avoid catastrophe, state leaders of all parties need to engage the public. They can't continue to cloister themselves in their cones of silence, complaining about how constituents, or the media, don't understand the scope of this problem.

Schwarzenegger, with his big megaphone, must lead this process of engagement. He could do this in a number of ways. He could present a new budget plan, and then team up with Democrats and Republicans outside of the Legislature to rally the public behind it. Schwarzenegger did this with Proposition 11, the redistricting reform measure on the November ballot, and miracle of miracles – the proposition passed.

The other option is more risky. Schwarzenegger could cut a deal with Democrats and purposely seek to isolate the Republicans. In the last round, Democrats agreed to some pretty startling concessions – including $6 billion in budget cuts and some type of spending cap. If Democrats and the governor took their plan statewide – telling parents in Fresno and Orange County how their schools would be harmed without some form of tax increase – it's possible they could convince a few GOP lawmakers that voting for a tax increase is less politically dangerous than the alternative.

Whatever the governor chooses, he can't stick with the same script. The Big Five meetings are a failure. If he can't dangle quiet carrots in front of lawmakers, he needs to deploy the biggest stick he can find.

Engaging the public is one place to start. Californians will bear the burden if the state slides into insolvency. They must play a role in preventing that from happening.