"There is no doubt that on May 14,
the GOP governor will unveil a litany of horrendously awful actions to
close what he now estimates to be a budget gap for the fiscal year
beginning July 1 of $15.4 billion," writes Greg Lucas.
"Schwarzenegger has said he will
propose two spending plans, one if the budget-related measures pass –
Propositions 1C, 1D and 1E — and another if they don’t.
"In his letter to lawmaker,s the governor said the $15.4 billion hole will deepen to $21.3 billion if the propositions fail."
Timm Herdt says the budget crsis has left governor
in an
unusual position. "It appears that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, out of
desperation, is
getting ready this week to attempt the rarest move
in any politician’s
playbook: When all else fails, tell the people the truth.
"A free-falling California economy has caused state tax revenues
to
shrink faster than any reasonable economist could have
anticipated.
Sure, it was just back in February that lawmakers put
together a plan
to close a $40 billion shortfall. But since then, the unemployment
rate
has climbed above 10 percent and tax receipts from the critical month
of April have been counted.
"Here, reports Controller John Chiang, is what that April accounting
showed: personal income taxes down 12.6 percent from projections,
corporation taxes down 35.6 percent, sales taxes down 19.9 percent."
But, hey, have no fear. Dianne Feinstein is here on her Golden Pegasus to, um, save the, er,
day ... sort of ...
The Chron's John Wildermuth reports, "Feinstein weighed in Tuesday on the state's special
election next week, supporting Propositions 1A and 1B . But don't expect
to see her trading high fives with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
on the
campaign bandwagon.
"I will reluctantly vote for 1A and 1B because I do not see any way
to prevent a greater financial disaster for the state
of California,"
she said.
But Feinstein said she wouldn't back Proposition 1C, which would let
the state borrow $5 billion against future state lottery earnings.
"I will vote against Prop. 1C," she said, "because I do not believe
that taking money from future lottery proceeds to reconcile
existing
debt is advisable in public finance."
Mark DiCamillo talks May 19 turnout with Kevin Yamamura. "The electorate in Tuesday's contest will be an older, more
conservative group of voters, DiCamillo said. They
will be habitual
participants rather than the young rookies who signed
up for last
year's contest.
DiCamillo anticipates a 25 percent to 33 percent
turnout in this election. By comparison, 79.42 percent of registered
California voters participated in November's election."
"This is going to be a 'Tea Party' turnout with everybody
who's angry about taxes, and that's a big advantage for the 'no' side,"
said Bill Carrick, a Democratic strategist unaffiliated
with the
campaigns.
"A scathing report released Tuesday details years of alleged crime,
fraud and sordid activities inside the San Bernardino
County assessor's
office , prompting the county to file suit against six former
employees
in an effort to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars," the LAT's David Kelly reports.
"According
to the 30-page document, unqualified people were hired to do
nothing,
time cards were falsified, unauthorized political campaigning
was
common and former Assessor Bill Postmus was so strung
out on drugs that
his assistant said he "looked like he fell off a park bench."
So, what exactly is the problem?
Hey, good news! Carrie Prejean can keep her crown AND start her political career . So sayeth The Trumpinator
The LAT's Carla Hall reports, "Title holder Carrie Prejean was thrust into a media
firestorm
last month at the Miss USA pageant when contest judge
Perez Hilton, who
runs a celebrity blog, asked her how she felt about
same-sex marriage.
She replied that she did not personally believe that
two people of the
same sex should marry, adding "no offense to anybody out there."
"Trump said at a news conference Tuesday in New York
that Prejean "gave
a very, very honest answer when asked a very tough
question. . . . It's
the same answer that the president of the United States
gave. . . . It
was probably a fair question because it's asked of many people. . . .
She gave an answer from her heart and I think for that
she has to be
commended."
We can all breathe a little easier now.
And finally, the folks at SEIU aren't the only ones who can go crying to the feds when
things don't go their way. The governor can also use some federal
intervention in settling an ongoing spat with cousin Bobby Shriver
and the Santa Monica City Council over where the gov's jet can land.
The LAT's Dan Weikel reports, "The
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals left in place a preliminary
injunction issued by U.S. District Judge George Wu
last May to halt
implementation of a controversial jet ban that the
Santa Monica City
Council adopted in late 2007.
Because of city agreements with the government
that bar unjust discrimination against particular aircraft,
federal
justices stated that Santa Monica was unlikely to prevail
when the FAA
rules on whether to approve the city's jet ban."
For those of you keeping score at home, it's now Shriver: 1, Schwarzenegger 1.
