Gov. Jerry Brown urged passage of his tax-and-cuts budget recipe and made an impassioned plea for bipartisanship in his eighth State of the State address. He didn't seem to move the needle much, though: Republicans remain adamantly oppose to taxes and Democrats fear deep cuts in programs. The Bee's Dan Walters reports.
"One is a Legislature dominated by very liberal Democrats and very conservative Republicans. The former are feeling heat from advocates for the poor, elderly and disabled who oppose the billions of dollars in permanent "safety net" spending cuts Brown wants, while the latter are being pressed by anti-tax groups to oppose tax extensions."
"Outwardly, nothing Brown said Monday appeared to change any minds. Republicans continued to oppose taxes while Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, who has close ties to public employee unions and other budget stakeholders, reacted very coolly, portraying Brown's budget as "worthy of serious consideration by every member of the Legislature."
Even were Brown to win enough votes to place taxes before voters in a June election, however, he would face a tough, perhaps uphill, battle to win their approval."
Brown aimed his State of the State to the wider public as well as lawmakers, noted Capitol Weekly's John Howard.
"But Brown’s austere, no-frills address appeared to match the times of economic pain and high unemployment, and he demanded immediate action. “It is absolutely essential to act boldly and without delay.” And he said placing the budget question before voters was proper. At one point, he read from the constitution, noting that “all power resides in the people.”
"His proposed cuts include $1.7 billion from health care programs serving the poor, $1 billion from the state’s universities and $1.5 billion from welfare programs. The budget present “tough calls and unpleasant choices,” Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in introducing Brown. “We all own this.”
One casualty of the cuts: California's state parks. The Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan reports.
"A bit more postmortem from tonight's State of the State speech at the Capitol: We ran into Resources Agency Secretary John Laird in the post-speech mayhem and he confirmed that a number of state parks are on the chopping block to be closed."
"An actual list will roll out in the next couple of weeks," said Laird, who has been one of the biggest park advocates in the state during his time in the Assembly and after his term. Laird's idea to add a surcharge on the vehicle license fee to fund state parks was turned down by voters in November."
Speaking of money, losing GOP gubernatorial contender Meg Whitman spent stratospheric sums of money on her campaign, but Jerry Brown nearly kept up with her on TV during the end game, notes the LAT's Seema Mehta and Maeve Reston.
"Meg Whitman vastly outspent Jerry Brown on virtually every facet of the 2010 contest for governor. From focus groups and consultants to private planes and lavish fundraisers, Whitman campaigned like the billionaire she is, spending $177 million to Brown's $36 million."
"But in one key area — television advertising — the Democrat nearly kept pace with Whitman during the final sprint of the campaign, allowing him to make his case to voters before they cast ballots, according to financial disclosure reports filed Monday."
A second federal judge has ruled against the federal health reform law, notes HealthyCal's Dan Weintraub.
"Vinson allowed the law to remain in effect while the appeals to his ruling are heard, but he also wrote that if his opinion stands, the entire law, not just the mandate to buy insurance, would be struck down. Without the mandate, he said, the rest of the law would not work."
"The case was brought by the attorneys general of 26 states, not including California, which has been a leader in implementing the law’s earliest provisions. The mandate to purchase insurance that was at issue in the Florida case would not take effect until 2014."
And from our "Old Soldiers Don't Fade Away" file comes the tale of Frank Buckles, who is turning 110 -- that's right, 110. He is the last U.S. survivor of World War I.
"He's the last known American veteran from World War I, according to theDepartment of Veterans Affairs, and one of only three survivors worldwide recognized for direct service during the war. The others, as British subjects, served in theRoyal Navy and Royal Air Force."
"He's an unbelievable person," said David DeJonge, aMichigan photographer and president of the World War I Memorial Foundation who is making a documentary of Buckles' life and has become his spokesman."
"Buckles lives on his West Virginia farm, near Charles Town, with his daughter, Susannah Buckles Flanagan, and round-the-clock caregivers. As you might expect, he is at almost 110 not in a condition to do cartwheels or make long speeches, but DeJonge reports that Buckles "continues to have great daily discussions with his daughter and caregivers." He occasionally wrestles with illness but is "a fighter and continues to pull through," DeJonge said."