Budget negotiations continued Thursday, with Democratic leadership feeling a bit like Charlie Brown kicking the football. "Democrats 'have already met Republicans more than half way,' Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) said in a speech before the Sacramento Press Club on Thursday. 'We've gotten the ball to the goal line...
The only problem is that Republicans have decided to move the goal posts farther out.'"
The Bee provides
more Nuñez quotes from the luncheon: "I think we can still reach a
global settlement that will lead to a deal on all the outstanding issues:
redistricting, term limits, pensions and some real budget and educational reforms. I think what it takes for us to get there is political will, something that's in short supply right now but something that I am truly committed to."
Good luck getting CTA to sign off on that global settlement.
Dan Walters writes the
wrap up of the week's developments, beginning with the Democrats decision to shut down the budget debate and the continuing negotiations over the ballot measures.
"What happened to change directions? '
We didn't want to be used as a whipping boy in this political season,' Núñez said Thursday. Evidently, the unions that are supplying the money to oppose Schwarzenegger's ballot measures, especially the powerful California Teachers Association, decided that beating him in November was far more important than holding up the budget for more school money in June - and Democratic legislative leaders quickly fell into line with that tactical decision."
Walters continues: "Clearly, we need structural reform of a structural problem. Whether Schwarzenegger's prescription - giving the governor more unilateral power - is the right one is debatable.
But something is needed, or California will continue to meander toward its financial Armageddon."
If we reach an agreement avoiding financial Armageddon, we still have to worry about the old-fashioned, Old Testament, vengeful God kind, as the state's tectonic plates reminded us this week. A
6.6 earthquake hit off the Eureka coast last night, bringing the week's moderate-to-large quake count to four.
From our
Strong Letter to Follow files, the Education Coalition released a statement yesterday, saying the group "
commends the Assembly Speaker and the members of the Assembly who stood up for education yesterday. At the same time, we are disappointed with those who decided not only to vote against a budget, but also against funding public education at this critical time."
Put through our
High-Tech Political Translating Device, it came out sounding an awful lot like,
"Screw you, Don Perata."Back in the Horseshoe, Schwarzenegger spokesman
Rob Stutzman would characterize the love affair a bit differently. "'To suggest there are active negotiations under way is an overstatement,' Stutzman said. '
Staff discussions or trial balloons don't constitute negotiations.'"
Hey, the Speaker and the Pro Tem were in Sacramento all week. Where was the governor?
Meanwhile, the Alliance for a Better California's pharmaceutical drug pricing initiative
qualified for the ballot yesterday, leaving only the electricity re-regulation measure yet to be verified.
The SF Chronicle writes that the governor has
sharpened his campaign message. "'They want to back us into a corner so eventually they can force us to raise taxes,' [Schwarzenegger] added. 'From now to election day,
I want to talk about all the specific taxes (they) want to change.'"
Why the pivot? Simple Salesmanship 101.
"'How do you sell redistricting, and teacher tenure and budget caps? They're all so arcane,' said
Martin Nolan, a longtime national political writer, of Schwarzenegger's ballot proposals. '
So, let's find a hot-button issue -- taxes.'"
In
Congressman Ray Haynes News, the
FBI is now investigating the sale of the home of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to a defense contractor. The contractor turned around 6 months later, and sold the home for $700,000 less than he paid for it.
And that, it appears, is just the beginning. "The action comes amid fresh signs of
unusual personal ties between Cunningham and the defense contractor, who
named a 42-foot yacht after the Rancho Santa Fe Republican and turned it over to him to use while in Washington."
Cunningham "supported the Washington-based defense contractor, MZM Inc., in its efforts to win tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts from the Defense Department."
In more
Hold on to Your Wallet News, White House wannabe Mitt Romney is
back in California today, to help raise money for the Orange County Republican Party.
The trip comes as welcome news for the Boston Globe, which after losing whipping boy
John Kerry has glommed on to a new hometown target to
smack at every turn. "Romney's third California speaking engagement this year. It is the latest in a series of out-of-state events that have made the governor
a target for critics who say he is no longer focused on his job in the corner office of the Massachusetts State House," the paper reports.
Of course, none of those hometown "critics" are quoted in the piece, but that apparently is beside the point.
Back on GOP congressional openings,
Matt Rexroad reports over at
Calraces.com that there is a "Draft Jim Rogan" movement under way in CD 48. "The Free Enterprise Fund (formerly Club for Growth) has started a movement to draft former Congressman Jim Rogan to run for the Cox seat and they quote none other that former OC Chairman Tom Fuentes."
This one could wind up being fun...
