Former Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte is an early riser, and we’ve already chatted this morning. He said that from telephone calls, e-mails and text messages with his former colleagues, he has not seen Senate Republicans this united in many years. This morning I also spoke with the current Senate Republican Leader, Dick Ackerman, who told me that he expects all fifteen members of his caucus to vote for an amendment to the currently proposed budget that eliminates California’s structural deficit.
Ackerman has given an overview of some of the proposals by Senate Republicans in an exclusive piece for the FlashReport this morning. But as soon as they are officially released, look for the FR to post up all of the detailed reforms and cuts being proposed by Senate Republicans to begin a process of reigning in some of the excessive spending in state government, with a particular eye on some of the more egregious examples of misprioritized spending by Democrats.
If the watchers of Capitol politics are looking for telltale signs of Senate GOP unity, you need look no further than this website to see that Senator Jeff Denham and Senator Roy Ashburn are "on team" with Senator Ackerman. And in an Associated Press story this morning, Senator (and FR blogger) Jim Battin (who rather famously came up one vote shy in a leadership election against Ackerman) said, "They want to divide our caucus. I’m supporting Dick Ackerman on this."
Speaking as a long-time GOP activist myself, and as an elected officer of the California Republican Party, I couldn’t be more proud of Senate Republican right now. The liberal Democrats in the legislature, aided by the left-wing editorial writers of major main stream newspapers (and a good number of liberally-biased reporters) will now take up the cause of trying to bash Ackerman and his colleagues for having the audacity to say "enough is enough" when it comes to California government routinely spending more than it takes in. For saying "enough is enough" when it comes to funding so many programs that are just beyond the scope of what any normal, rational person would say, "that is what my taxes are supposed to pay for."
**There is more – click the link**