"The most consistent and smartest thinking and writing about progressive politics isn't happening in Sacramento, but being churned out day after day on sites and by organizations like Calitics, Orange County Progressive, and the California Budget Project." - CalBuzz
Earlier this morning, The Sacramento Bee reported that a possible deal fell through last night and that The Legislature will work some more today to finalize a long-awaited budget deal. However, The LA Times is already reporting now that a budget deal may be announced as soon as later today. Unfortunately, many of Arnold's ugliest social safety net slashings will be included. But fortunately, some of the deepest education cuts he was looking for, as well as a weakened two-tier pension overhaul for state workers, look to be out of the running.
Honestly, I don't know whether to be disappointed or relieved right now. While the final deal will likely be better than what Arnold had specifically wanted, it's still quite awful and it will likely counteract whatever positive effects we get from the federal stimulus spending.
Still, stay tuned here at OC Progressive as we follow the latest budget news from Sacramento.
A solution's near? Oh, never mind. It's a stopgap that might just delay the inevitable.
Unusually unified legislators were moving today to prevent the state from issuing IOUs next week by delaying some payments to schools and local governments - but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned he would veto the maneuver.
On votes of 69-0 and 54-0, Assembly members passed two of three bills designed to free up cash and buy the state time while legislators and Schwarzenegger wrestle with the bigger task of healing a gaping wound in the state budget. The third bill was also expected to be approved by the Assembly, and the state Senate was also expected to pass the
But hey, I guess it's something. It would buy the Legislature that nearly exhausted resource that is time. But Arnold, oh Arnold, he doesn't want anything that isn't exactly what he wants.
Schwarzenegger, in a statement, said that what lawmakers passed "amounts to nothing more than a piecemeal proposal."
"Since the first day we began working to solve this $24-billion deficit, I have been clear: the Legislature must solve the entire deficit," he said.
If it passes both houses, "I will veto it because it doesn't solve the problem," the governor said.
Stay classy, Mr. Governator. Let the state run out of cash next week and let the state simply collapse.
"If the governor wants his legacy to be 'I refused to sign a bill that would have prevented IOUs,' that's his choice," Steinberg said. "I think it's a bad choice."
Two of the bills would defer payments that would have been due to all levels of the public education system and cities and counties for road repair until later in the fiscal year that starts July 1, or the 2010-2011 fiscal year, as well as cut deeper into state spending for schools in the fiscal year that ends next Tuesday.
The third bill redrafts a measure legislators passed earlier this year that would transfer money from regional redevelopment agencies to the state. In April, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled the cash grab was unconstitutional because the redevelopment money wouldn't necessarily be used by the state within the redevelopment agencies' areas. The bill passed by the Assembly today would require that the funds be used in school districts that at least partially overlap the redevelopment areas.
Assembly budget chairwoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, said the trio of bills would raise a total of about $5 billion. Legislative staff said that could be enough to delay the issuance of IOUs through July and August.
Honestly, this all smells fishy and it certainly doesn't solve any of our long-term budget issues. But still, a workable budget that can actually pass is probably still a few more days away and this may at least stop this horrid hot mess from worsening exponentially. I mean, would you accept an IOU from The State of California?
But again, Arnold doesn't care about averting any more pain and suffering. He just likes to posture. It's too bad he's doing it at our expense.
OK, so the big news we all expected actually happened yesterday. The Republicans blocked the Democratic "already compromised" budget that was already full of heavy cuts. Why? They say they want "a complete solution", but we know that's all hogwash and they really like being obstructionists.
So what can we do now? Senate President Pro-tem Darrell Steinberg tries to provide some answers. (h/t to Calitics)
It looks like Sacramento Democrats may finally be growing some spine and standing up for us. Can this be true? I doubt it, but at least Steinberg's statements give me some reason to hope again.
As we've talked about before, working-class Californians, even those who were previously middle-class or even upper-middle-class, need a strong social safety net now more than ever before. Now is definitely not the time to take that social safety net away from all these people in desperate need of help.We've been asking the legislators not to do this, and hopefully our Democratic leaders are finally listening.
In the coming days, they'll need to stand strong and fight for a reasonable budget. They can't fail us now. We just can't afford it.
Lawmakers are set today to vote on a plan to plug California's $24-billion budget deficit, despite predictions from leaders of both parties that it won't pass.
Legislative leaders were saying even before the first vote was cast that key provisions of the Democrat-crafted proposal -- in particular, tax hikes on the oil and tobacco industries -- will almost certainly fail to garner the necessary two-thirds approval. [...]
If today's attempts to pass the Democrats' plan flops as anticipated, legislative leaders and Schwarzenegger are expected to gather behind closed doors in coming days to negotiate a compromise.
California Progress Report also admits that the Democratic plan probably won't pass today. But as I've asked before, why did they even give up so much in the first place? They're not hurting themselves as much as they're hurting their constituents.
The cuts in this budget are severe enough, so I don't see how the state will ever recover with even more cuts to more of the social safety net that people need in a recession like this one. I honestly don't see falling halfway down the cliff of doom as that much better than going all the way down as Republicans want. And with Orange County already implementing massive budget cuts, I don't see how our local governments can afford any state raid into local funds as Arnold has proposed.
I don't want to give up hope for California, but it's increasingly looking bleak and downright terrifying here. Perhaps Gus is right and the Sacramento pols don't mind playing Russian Roulette with possibly turning the state's crisis into a national "Greater Depression"?
Overall, I thought The LA Times put an interesting editorial in its paper today on the ever-worsening budget crisis. They rightly call out Arnold and his GOP for their frighteningly disgusting cut proposals that would destroy the social safety net that the working poor (and increasingly now, middle class) depend upon for survival. However, there was something about it that just did not make sense.
Arlen Spector's switcheroo? Maine Senator Olympia Snowe said it best today:
"Ultimately, we're heading to having the smallest political tent in history, the way events have been unfolding. If the Republican Party fully intends to become a majority party in the future, it must move from the far right back toward the middle."
Of course, the GOP's official mouthpieces are spinning like crazy. Their strategy? Paint Spector as a...wait for it...politician. Shocking!
First up was RNC Chairman Michael Steele:
I hope Arlen Specter's party change outrages you. It should for two reasons:
First--Specter claimed it was philosophical--and pointed his finger of blame at Republicans all over America for his defection to the Democrats. He told us all to go jump in the lake today.
I'm sorry, but I don't believe a word he said.
Arlen Specter committed a purely political and self-serving act today. He simply believes he has a better chance of saving his political hide and his job as a Democrat. He loves the title of Senator more than he loves the party--and the principles--that elected him and nurtured him.
Second--and more importantly--Arlen Specter handed Barack Obama and his band of radical leftists nearly absolute power in the United States Senate. In leaving the Republican Party--and joining the Democrats--he absolutely undercut Republicans' efforts to slow down Obama's radical agenda through the threat of filibuster.
Facing defeat in Pennsylvania's 2010 Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record, and an end to his 30 year career in the U.S. Senate, he has peddled his services--and his vote--to the leftist Obama Democrats who aim to remake America with their leftist plan.
Next up was the National Republican Senatorial Committee, writing:
As we learned today, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has decided become a Democrat in the face of a seemingly insurmountable bid for re-election next year in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, his decision represents the height of political expediency that voters have come to reject from Washington.
Even before his announcement today, Senator Specter's political future was in grave danger, with recent polls showing him trailing former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey by more than 20 points.....While we are disappointed that Senator Specter has put personal ambition ahead of principles, we are confident that the Keystone State will reject this posturing and elect a new Republican Senator who will stand by his word next year.
Riiiigghhht. Pat Toomey has NO chance of defeating Spector next year. Spector will be re-elected as a Democrat.
What made Spector switch was what has made so many in Orange County and across the country switch....there's simply no room for moderates in the Republican Party. Snowe and the other senator from Maine Susan Collins might be next.
The Democrats fight a lot, the Democratic conservatives drive the liberals crazy and vice versa...but the big tent is what makes the Democrats Democrats.
Believe it or not, Mike Castle (R-DE) wasn't the only "moderate" Republican in a moderate, pro-Obama district that voted against President Obama's Economic Recovery Act that includes tax breaks for middle class families. So did Ken Calvert (R-Only Supports Self-Stimulus). That's why the DCCC will be airing a radio ad here in the LA/OC/IE market just like this one specifically targeting Ken Calvert.
Hopefully, this won't be the last we see of the DCCC here. The 44th Congressional District really deserves better representation. And hopefully, national Democrats can put some effort this time into helping Bill Hedrick cross the finish line successfully in 2010.
I just received this in my inbox, and I can't help sharing it with you. I had the freakiest experience of my life when I attended the 2007 CPAC Dinner after receiving an invitation from a friend. Everyone was foaming at the mouth when Tom McClintock was screaming about how evil Al Gore is by "telling lies about the great global warming hoax". And honestly, Steve Poizner was no better when he screamed about how everyone else in Sacramento is an evil "tax-and-spend lib'rul!!!!"
But in case you're the curious type that likes hearing what the other side is saying, this is the event for you. Just make sure you can find a Republican friend who can get you in for free. 'Cuz believe me, you don't want to pay to have those Howard Jarvis crazies harass you with their "literature"! ;-)
The Republican party has launched their latest set of talking poings that stress that our President has
too many ideas.
President Obama eloquently spoke to this at length in his Costa Mesa Town Hall meeting, to rousing applause, but I expect to see local Republicans pushing the national meme, following orders like good Germans.
There's a lot of excitement among the Orange County Democrats about President Obama's visit to Costa Mesa on Wednesday.
It reached a peak Monday night as a flurry of e-mails with all the breathless details of Obama's visit and how to get tickets started flooding Democrats' inboxes.
However, the reality is, if you weren't in line last night or very early this morning, you weren't likely to get tickets.
But why is Obama coming to Orange County first in this visit to Southern California? Certainly it's a chance to reconnect with the voters who helped him make a good showing in this so-called red county.
From the You Should Have Seen it Coming Department:
With a hat tip to the Capitol Alert, one delegate to the GOP Convention this weekend wanted the party to apologize to Gray Davis for recalling him.
Ha ha. Here's the actual resolution:
"Whereas, in 2003 a grassroots effort was begun to recall then-Governor Gray Davis from office on grounds which included gross mismanagement of the budget and finances of the State of California;
"...Whereas, candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned as a reformer and champion of fiscal discipline and responsibility who would bring change and reform to government which it sorely needed;
"Whereas, in the subsequent years Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has instead proven to govern as a tax and spend politician precisely similar to the one he campaigned to replace in the recall election;
"Whereas, the trust and confidence of Republicans has been betrayed and shattered by Governor Schwarzenegger's repeated and ongoing efforts to collaborate with Democrats in the Legislature to seek solutions to the state's fiscal crisis by irresponsible borrowing and increasing taxes and refusal to make the needed reductions in state spending;
"Whereas, Governor Schwarzenegger's current budget solution includes more than $14 billion in higher taxes on sales, income, gasoline and the car tax which he specifically attacked Governor Davis for raising;
"Whereas, it is plain that Governor Schwarzenegger has abandoned the most basic tenets of Republican ideology and rendered the whole purpose of the 2003 recall pointless;
"Therefore, be it resolved that the California Republican Party officially extends a heartfelt and sincere apology to former Governor Gray Davis for its role in recalling him from office."
They're blaming the global financial meltdown on Orange County, at least that's what the Register's Mortgage Insider says.
A new documentary on CNBC, "House of Cards," analyzes the economic meltdown and points to Orange County as the birthplace of the subprime loans that infected the world financial system.
(ed. note: Michael Fox is the creator and writer of the Moving Target blog.)
The Obama campaign should serve as a master class in winning elections for Democrats.
Unfortunately, not enough California Democrats are playing attention to the Obama campaign's most important lessons.
As the effects of the state's budget crisis and the nation's economic meltdown hit more and more California voters, the Democratic Party has a once in a generation opportunity to convince voters that it that will protect and defend their interests far better than the Republicans, as well as make fundamental and progressive changes in the way that California is governed.
But to do so will require that Democrats embrace and implement the lessons of the Obama campaign.
These lessons are:
1. Blame Republicans and Present a Democratic Solution
2. Use the Internet
3. Expand the Electorate
4. Champion the Middle Class
