The California State Budget — some thoughts…..

In general, I think the Governor has made a respectable effort to implement a 10% cut to state agencies – a level of cut that should have been taken years ago to eliminate the structural deficit.

There are fewer gimmicks than previous budgets – which is good,but because he has included$430 million in revenues from the2007 Tribal compacts, it is critical that these compacts go into effect this year and that the voters approve Props 94 – 97. And speaking of Indian gaming, I am flat stunned that the Governor would fail to include any funding for local gaming mitigation grants from the Special Distribution Fund. This is a… Read More

I came to the conclusion John & Ken were intellectual frauds during the 35th Senate special election back in 2005, when they viciously and dishonestly turned on then-state Sen. John Campbell and propped up Jim Gilchrist like puppeteers.

So it was interesting to read this website posted by former KFI talk show host John Ziegler called TheRealKFI.com.

In it, Ziegler chronicles his career at KFI, the key role John & Ken played in his forced exit and his opinion, based on observing them for four years, that J & K are entertainers pretending to be a couple of Howard Beals.

A friend e-mailed the link to me, and the site must be getting overwhelmed with traffic because when I clicked the next page it usually wouldn’t load until after several attempts.… Read More

In this post and the one below it, legislative Republicans express their initial thoughts on the Governor’s budget proposal, with its across-the-board 10% cuts. Not every legislator is represented. These quotes came from the two leaders’ offices — if a GOPer isn’t here, they probably didn’t supply comment (shame on you!)…

Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines, Fresno — “The budget unveiled today by Governor Schwarzenegger is only the first of many steps that must be taken to get the deficit under control. Assembly Republicans share the Governor’s commitment to budget reform and no tax increases, and will introduce proposals to help fix the system.

“We believe the only responsible way to solve our budget problem is to cut wasteful spending and start living within our means. While the choices before us are difficult ones, across-the-board cuts, including the Legislature’s budget, are a good way to start the discussion about how to cut spending because they avoid picking winners and losers. One thing is clear – higher taxes will do nothing to solve the problem and Republicans will stand united in… Read More

Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman (R-Tustin) – ““I agree with the Governor, we cannot tax our way out of this problem. We must regain control of spending and live within our means. As we move forward, the level of spending the Governor has proposed must be viewed as a ceiling and not a floor. Every decision this legislature makes between January and June from sub-committee to the Floor must be made with an eye on the state’s bottom line. We need to act quickly and responsibly if we want to reduce the impacts of our current fiscal emergency. This includes making mid-year adjustments. Now is the time to debate the state’s needs, prioritize them appropriately and ensure adequate funding for the most important first.”

Senator Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta), Budget Vice-Chair – “By no means can we solve California’s budgetary problems by raiding the taxpayers’ wallets. Though cuts are never easy, with over $140 billion annually flowing into the state’s coffers it is clear that we must cut the fat from the bloated Sacramento bureaucracy. The Governor is moving in the right direction by proposing a budget that by-and-large adheres to… Read More

My tens cents, summed up in a couple of sentences, can be found at the end of this article from The Hill on the Doolittle retirement announcement.

I will expand greatly on the situation in a future post, but here you go…

Doolittle says he will not seek reelection By Jackie Kucinich and Aaron Blake The Hill January 10, 2008 Embattled Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) announced Thursday afternoon that he would not seek reelection, yielding to pressure from his Republican colleagues to step aside amid… Read More

To add to Doug’s brief comment’s below, I would add a few thoughts. First and foremost, we will have more comprehensive coverage of the Governor’s Budget Proposal tomorrow, including an exclusive column from the Governor’s DIrector of Finance, Mike Genest (who has penned several columns for the FR). If you are overanxious, and want more detail on the budget proposal right now, the Governor’s office has set up a website on his budget proposal, which you can go to here.

The very briefing 30,000 foot summary — in order to bring down state spending, the Governor is proposing an across-the-board cut of 10% from every state agency, department and program that is financed via the state’s general fund (some large areas such as transportation, get their funds from other sources). The Governor’s idea is that it is better to "spread the pain" than it is to cut too much from any one area.

While this strategy makes sense from a marketing point of view, since it is rather easy to explain (I just did it in one paragraph), it is a controversial approach because it… Read More

The Governor has just left the stage from introducing the ’08-09 budget. He was very clear that spending needed to be reined in and brought under control.

just a couple quick highlights:

-He said we cannot tax our way out of this problem -pointing to the charts, he noted thathad previous budget reforms been in place, we would be in balance, instead the current chart shows a wide gap of $10B or more. -this is a budget that doesn’t please many people

No doubt, this will be difficult. Let the frenzy begin.… Read More

I got back from New Hampshire last night and I am already planning my trips to Michigan and Nevada. There is a special sense of excitement over the politics of other states, probably because CA politics are so familiar to me.

After Romney’s second place finish in New Hampshire on Tuesday, about 500 volunteers (mostly ‘maxed’ out donors and friends of Mitt who have raised big bucks for the campaign) gathered at the Boston Convention Center to try to bring in some needed campaign cash. And we performed very well.

Yesterday the Romney Campaign announced that we raised about $5,000,000!

As usual we had a great time. The campaign has volunteers catering to our every need, plenty of coffee and breakfast when we get there in the AM and lunch at Noon. There are phones and laptop computers available and wireless Internet. Photos of previous National Call Days flashing on big screens around the room. It’s inspiring to see a photo of yourself and Mitt on the screen while you’re calling a friend and asking for a credit card number.

I… Read More