"A Field Poll released Thursday showed only 15 percent of registered voters give the 120 lawmakers passing marks, while 73 percent disapprove of their job performance," reports Dan Smith in the Bee.
"'This is the lowest job (approval) rating recorded for anybody from any institution,' said Mark DiCamillo, director of the 62-year-old Field Poll. "No one has ever gotten this low. Even Richard Nixon."
"The record budget standoff – now 74 days into the fiscal year – clearly has contributed to the Legislature's slide in the eyes of the public, DiCamillo said.
Eighty-two percent say the budget impasse is a "very serious" problem, up from 68 percent in July."
Meanwhile, most of those polled say they are willing to pay some new taxes to end the budget impasse.
AP reports, "A new Field Poll says California voters are more supportive
of
budget-balancing plans proposed by Democrats and Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger than of one offered by Republican lawmakers.
The
survey found that 32 percent of respondents backed the Democratic plan.
It would use a combination of spending cuts and higher
taxes on the
wealthy and businesses to eliminate a $15.2 billion budget deficit."
But hey, who cares, right? The Fresno Bee's E.J Schultz writes, "even as the impasse stretches into a third month, there
will be few,
if any, political consequences for the 38 Democrats and 22 Republicans
seeking re-election in November, experts say.
"Not
one single legislator is in any danger of losing," said Tony Quinn, an
editor of the California Target Book, which handicaps
legislative
races. "The gerrymandered districts have made them all safe."
Left
up to the state Legislature, the political boundaries
in California are
drawn to protect incumbents. The upshot is that in
most districts one
party dominates. In the past two elections, only one
congressional seat
-- and no state legislative seats -- has changed party hands.
Of course, just because people don't like the job they're doing, at least one lawmaker is still earning high
marks--on her looks.
"Assemblywoman Nicole Parra made political news in August after she was tossed
from the Capitol for bucking the Democratic leadership.
But she's making men's magazine news in September. Maxim selected the Hanford Democrat as one of "the world's hottest politicians." Parra snagged the No. 4 slot on the list, finishing two spots behind would-be GOP vice president Sarah Palin."
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's fourth education secretary in five years resigned on
Wednesday , saying he was ready to start 'a different chapter of my life,'" writes the Bee's Shane Goldmacher.
Like maybe a chapter with some real power.
"David Long, the former superintendent of schools in Riverside
County whom Schwarzenegger touted as having "the most unbelievable experience" last March, lasted 18 months on the job.
"The Governor's Office did not announce Long's resignation, though they made him available for an
interview after The Bee obtained his resignation letter.
No replacement has been named.
"When Long was tapped for the job in March 2007, Schwarzenegger had touted 2008 as the "year of education reform," promising to overhaul both school funding and structure.
"In his resignation letter, Long wrote that he took
the job 'because of the remarkable window of opportunity that
existed for education.'
"But those grand plans fell by the wayside as the state
slipped deeper into deficit. In January, Schwarzenegger
proposed across-the-board cuts to education, though he later backtracked.
The year of education was largely abandoned, as the
state remains without a budget 73 days into the fiscal year."
And, schools are paying a price for the delay, writes Nanette Asimov in the Chron. "During the budget impasse, schools have been receiving
only about 70 percent of what is owed them. But while "general purpose" dollars continue to flow to schools, billions of dollars
earmarked for a host of categories - special education, books, libraries, adult education,
transportation and more - are frozen in a Sacramento vault.
"It works like this: Each month, the Education Department and the Controller's Office are supposed to cut checks to pay for those
educational categories. But every time a monthly deadline
passes without a budget, the dollars schools would
have received are rolled over to the next month, leaving
educators to take out loans or cut back on the programs
themselves.
"In July, the amount rolled over was $43 million. In August, that grew to $576 million. And when the Sept. 8 deadline passed with no budget, the figure soared
to $2.5 billion.
"Community colleges are in the same pickle, waiting
for $487 million currently owed them.
"'The bottom line is, schools need a budget resolution
now - but it has to be the right resolution,' said Dennis Meyers, a lobbyist for the California
Association of School Business Officials. 'The worst thing would be to adopt a quick-and-dirty, get-out-of-town budget. What schools need is a long-term solution that includes permanent revenue.'"
"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president, has urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto a fee
on cargo containers going through the ports of Los
Angeles and Long Beach, setting off a wave of criticism from California environmentalists," reports Patrick McGreevy in the Times.
"Palin's letter to Schwarzenegger is dated Aug. 28 -- one day before presidential candidate and Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.) announced that he had picked her as his running mate.
The letter argues that both consumers and the economy
in California and Alaska would suffer as a result of
the fee.
"Though the issue might otherwise be viewed as a relatively
parochial port matter, Palin's newfound status as a national political figure has
raised the stakes in what state environmentalists consider
to be their most important pollution reduction effort
this year. They say Palin has no business getting involved
in the California issue."
Dan Walters looks at the declining strength of Republicans in their traditional
strongholds in the state.
"As many as five inland Assembly districts now held
by Republicans forced out by term limits could switch
parties, thanks to GOP registration losses averaging
three percentage points. And Democrats could pick up
one state Senate seat.
"Were all six districts to switch (and Democrats hold their one seat at risk), the political effect would be heavy. Democrats would
be within one seat of having two-thirds majorities in both legislative houses, thereby
eroding the GOP clout on the budget and taxes that
is very much on display during this year's prolonged budget stalemate."
So, maybe instead of redistricting reform, the answer
to ending the stalemate is a more complete jerrymander!
Ventura County Star's Tom Kisken writes on the balance billing fight between
doctors and insurers.
"A person injured in a car crash is treated in the emergency
room.
The insurance company pays the out-of-network doctors involved in the
care less than they think they're owed.
So a doctor or the hospital sends a bill for the remainder
directly to the patient.
It's called "balance billing" and has spawned a turf battle among
state officials who are trying to outlaw the practice,
insurers who
support the ban and doctors who fight it and see themselves
as victims.
"Legislate, regulate and litigate. We'll do whatever it takes," said
California Medical Association President Richard Frankenstein,
before a
meeting with Ventura County doctors this week. He laid
responsibility
for balance billing on insurers trying to protect their
profits by
underpaying doctors.
"It's a very clever ploy of multimillion-dollar companies to avoid their responsibilities," he said.
"A bill by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, would ban ER doctors from
balance billing and would set up a process to mediate
insurance
disputes as well as an interim rate of payment. The
bill was approved
by the Legislature two weeks ago and awaits Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger's signature. It would supersede the managed care
regulation."
And finally, from our Look Before You Leap FIles, the
Chronicle reports "A car-burglary suspect fell to his death early Thursday after
he
climbed over a wall on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill while trying to
flee from police, apparently unaware that on the other side of the wall
was a 200-foot cliff, authorities said.
Ouch.
