I’ll have a column later this week about why the GOP is losing voters, but I can guarantee this, it isn’t because Republicans in the Assembly are hanging tough in the latest State budget fight. In fact, if they keep it up, they’ll likely wind up gaining back some of the respect that our GOP officeholders have lost over the years. With the Governor spewing more nonsense yesterday, questioning the "courage" of the State legislature, it is instructive to look at Assembly Leader Mike Villines response:
Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis questioned the governor’s own gutsiness.
"I don’t believe it shows strong backbone to have said (no tax increases) publicly for years and years and years – and then to change your position overnight," Villines said.
Now, even though Villines is my friend, I am more than objective about our elected leadership. I happen to think Mike Villines is one of the more under appreciated elected officials in California. He speaks and reacts from his gut – and he’s a conservative before he’s a Republican. One good way to measure his effectiveness is by how much heat he gets from the newsrooms and editorial pages across the State – plenty. He should wear that heat as a badge of honor.
Although I haven’t heard him say this, I think, what Villines and others want is this: they want to change the debate from "what we are spending" to a results oriented discussion – and they should. With California’s immense growth in State spending – results are what we want to talk about., because the results aren’t there. Thus, they should pick up the mantra and talk about results – and discuss why yet another compromise with Democrats not only doesn’t make sense from a tax standpoint, but will yield "no better results for Californians".
Conservative voters love what is going on right now with the State Budget. We’ve been meeting the Governor and Democrats "in the middle" for the last five years, and now have a disaster on our hands. It’s time for them to do it our way now.