Well, if no news is good news, then the news we have
for you today is by definition all bad, right? I'm sure there's a logic professor out there somewhere who can tell
us the flaws in that reasoning. But they don't know the California budget.
The Chron's Matthew Yi reports that the Big 5 met again Sunday, but not much new to report.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders
met Sunday night in hopes of reaching a compromise
to solve California's fiscal crisis, but were unable to find a way to bridge
a $26.3 billion gap that is leading the state toward insolvency.
Schwarzenegger's insistence on government reforms that may not have
immediate impact on the deficit is fouling the latest
round of talks, said Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Baldwin Vista (Los Angeles County), when she emerged from a 2 1/2-hour meeting. "I am very discouraged," she told reporters outside the governor's office."
And if she's discouraged, we're discouraged...
"With California's fiscal crisis deepening, the state's top public officials grappled with the two largest
portions of the state budget: education, and health and human services. Together,
the two categories make up about 70 percent of the state's roughly $100 billion general fund budget.
Schwarzenegger and the Legislature also face added
pressure this week because many of the largest banks
have said they will soon stop accepting the state's IOUs, which the controller began issuing Thursday.
The banks have said they will not honor the state's IOUs after this Friday."
Jim Evans, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg,
a Sacramento Democrat, said: "The legislative leaders and the governor are working
hard to find solutions. The next week will be critical
in bringing this impasse to a close without further
damaging public education and the social safety net."
But Michael Rothfeld has the solution -- the California state budget reality show.
We'll bite on one condition -- that we get to vote legislators off the island, one
by one...
"Would state budget negotiations be more fruitful as
a reality television show?
"In a Capitol notorious for secret deals hashed out
by powerful leaders, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says
he would enjoy televising or webcasting some of the
talks on the state's fiscal crisis. His counterparts in the Legislature
say they are willing to give it a try.
So far, their approaches have led to a deficit that
has swollen to $26.3 billion and a cash supply so low that the government
is issuing IOUs instead of paying all its bills.
Schwarzenegger has been touting a need for transparency
in the face of evidence that Californians don't trust their government. He even says he would like
his office to be a "glass house" so visitors can see inside.
"Everyone will be performing more, but I think eventually
they will get used to it that there is cameras around," he said in a recent interview.
But cameras might have made clear, for instance, what
made Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) bolt out of a recent negotiating session in the governor's office.
"He broke it. He should fix it," she sputtered, struggling to contain her exasperation.
Other legislative leaders offered no insight when they
emerged.
"I wouldn't be able to speculate on why she said that," ventured Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta)."
We've got some ideas...
Matier and Ross report the speaker isn't the only one who's angry at the governor.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a message for the lawmakers that he has been bashing
up and down the state this past week for supposedly
bending to powerful unions - it's nothing "personal."
"I know they can't look like they surrendering on the first vote. ...
They have to be pulled kicking and screaming," the governor said of his demand that Democrats vote
for even more cuts to solve the state's $24 billion budget nightmare.
And while he has been publicly chastising lawmakers
for supposedly putting the interests of unions over
that of the public, privately the governor has nothing
but kind words for Democratic State Assembly Speaker
Karen Bass and state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, saying they both have a tough and often thankless
job.
In the aftermath of the July 1 deadline without a budget - when legislators' tensions were at a peak -Schwarzenegger said he was the first one on the phone
to Democrat leader Steinberg, urging "Steinie" to come down to the smoking tent and keep trying for
a solution.
Never mind that later the same day Schwarzenegger was
out bashing lawmakers for wasting time.
There's another reason the governor is bashing lawmakers.
Since throwing down his "all or nothing" budget fix demand, Schwarzenegger's pollsters have clocked a 13 point rise in his public approval ratings, bringing
him up to 43 percent.
In other words, just as in his Hollywood days, playing tough guy plays
well at the box office."
Now we're really depressed...
Carla Marinucci looks at what the fiscal crisis is
doing to our reputation.
"The optimistic, golden-glow appeal that symbolizes California is enshrined
in the state's official seal - an elegant icon starring Minerva, the Roman goddess
of wisdom, surrounded by bounties of food and natural
wealth, and the Gold Rush motto: "Eureka!"
"But it seems the state has lost its way, with Minerva
getting mugged by California's multibillion-dollar deficit, billions of dollars in IOUs to cover
debt, financial mismanagement, legislative constipation
and warring special interests.
"California's current fiscal troubles are not only beginning to
define the place - but turning it into a late-night comedy routine punch line. Jay Leno ribbed that
the state motto is now closer to "Welcome to California ... now available on eBay!"
"Even President Obama, at a recent radio and TV correspondents' dinner, joked that "given the fiscal crisis in California," his TV air time is "competing directly with Governor Schwarzenegger's new reality series, 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' "
"With a state of emergency declared and IOUs going out,
the state's fiscal fiasco could threaten one of California's most valuable assets - its brand as the capital of can-do, a place of fresh ideas and innovation, where businesses
and residents thrive."
OK, that's another reality show reference. Can we please step
up our collective game, all of us?
Ed Fishbein notes what's going on in Sacramento may simply be a preview of coming attractions for the
rest of the country.
(See, a nice cinema reference. Don't we all feel classier?)
seems to be getting a good laugh out of California's budget fiasco. The undercurrent in many of the television
and print reports seems to be that the self-indulgent Left Coasters are getting exactly what they
deserve. And while schadenfreude - the German word for taking pleasure in the misfortune
of others - is never pretty, we certainly deserve much of the
scorn.
But it would be unwise for the out-of-state audience savoring the spectacle in Sacramento
to assume it holds no lessons for anyone outside our
borders. Because the "California Disease" could very well be headed to a theater near them.
The reason isn't just that many other state governments face serious
fiscal problems, with some of their deficits equaling
California's, as a percentage of revenue. Nor is it the unique
institutional factors that make California's Legislature so dysfunctional - the mandated spending, the gerrymandered districts
that guarantee seats to the ideologues of both parties,
the two-thirds vote required to pass a spending plan."
And finally, from our God Bless America files, "Joey Chestnut chomped down a record 68 hot dogs, capturing his third straight July Fourth
hot-dog eating contest at Coney Island, an annual showcase
for flamboyant hot dogging contestants eager to show
they really are what they eat.
Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., hoisted the American
flag and then stood proudly like an Olympic athlete
as "The Star-Spangled Banner" played following his 68 to 64 1/2 dog victory over his archrival, six-time titleholder Takeru Kobayashi."
It's like World War II all over again, but with hot dogs...
"As soon as he knew he had won, he shot his right fist into the air, his mouth still bulging while he chewed
the last of his wieners at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating
Contest.
"This is great," Chestnut told ESPN, which broadcast the 10-minute contest live. "After the second minute, I knew that my body was cooperating
and it was going to be hard to beat me."
Yeah, talk to us when you're 50, pal...
