SENATE GOP RESOLVE AND SOLIDARITY
The built-in deficit in the budget passed by the California Assembly is actually about $2.9 billion. This is significantly more than the numbers being thrown around by those advocating the passage of that document in the Senate. One of the problems is that with a budget that is so huge, there are so many areas that can be interpreted and analyzed in different ways. I can tell you that over the years, I have come to rely on the financial acumen of State Senator and FR friend Tom McClintock for some clarity and truth on fiscal matters. $2.9 billion is his number. He also reminds us that this year’s proposed budget represents a $21.7 BILLION dollar increase in state spending since the recall election that brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to Sacramento.
So with this as some very sobering context, we have to applaud what are being referred to as the "Magnificent 14" for their solidarity. Republicans sticking together in support of a more fiscally prudent and sound state government is a good thing, and is to be encouraged and applauded.
We need to let FlashReport readers in on a little secret — one that you might not realize if you were to only get your budget news from your local newspaper. The goals of Senate Republicans in this budget debate are extremely modest. Republicans are asking for a modest amount of cuts that, frankly, closes only 20% of the gap between income and spending in the currently proposed budget. And the programmatic changes that they have put on the table (the ones you cannot address with a line-item veto) such as CEQA reform (this is essential as looney Jerry Brown has been using his office as Attorney General to start suing developers for not being "green enough" in their plans), overhauling the CalWORKS program, and other issues such a equalization of school funding and permanently removing thousands of vacant positions from the state government.
Stepping back and looking at these GOP proposed changes as a whole, they are a tiny blip in terms of the real reforms that California needs, and would get with Republican majorities in the legislature.
Last night, Democrats voted as a block to refuse to consider the above mentioned GOP programs, thus demonstrating an unwillingness to even debate these issues. And in a demonstration of hubris, and in revealing their agenda of trying to use those who need vital services as a tool in the budget impasse, the Democrats refused to take up a GOP motion to fund vital services until a budget is passed.
So we would say to Senator Don Perata — look in the mirror when you need to see the reason why no budget has passed out of the Senate. You and your Democrat colleagues are completely incapable of checking your seemingly unending, voracious appetite to grow, grow, grow state government.
I am proud of our Senate Republicans!
ABEL MALDONADO
What do you say about a Senator who bails on the most significant effort by Republicans in years to place a slight speed bump on the Democratic train ride to bigger, fatter government? Talking about this Senator’s actions last night (he was the lone GOP vote with all of the Democrats for the currently proposed budget) should and will be the subject of future commentary, but right now I will simply say that his decision was extremely disappointing. My emotional ride concerning Maldonado kind of tracked in line with that movie, the Million Dollar Baby. My expectations were low for him, and then rose to an amazing high as I saw strength of resolve from the Central Coast Senator that was causing me to reevaluate previous assumptions about him. Then, crash and burn. I left the Clint Eastwood produced movie really depressed, and that’s how I feel about Maldonado.
ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS?
I will be writing a bit more with some candid thoughts about Assembly Republicans and this year’s budget debate. To be honest, I still have some folks that I want to talk to about this on the Assembly side. But I will make this general observation, which is that the solidarity for the noble efforts of Senate Republicans from the Assembly Republican leadership has been underwhelming, and that is being kind. At a time when Senator Ackerman and his caucus are standing tall for the right things, Republicans in the State Capitol should be there for each other, with support and encouragement. I respect the fact that Assembly Republican budget negotiators felt like they got the best deal they could, but in light of a true understanding of the long-unseen resolve in the Senate GOP Caucus, there should be a reevaluation.
Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines and his budget team should return to the capitol to meet with their Senate Republican counterparts as soon as possible. It would appear that the budget negotiation may re-open, which would mean a great opportunity to inject more meaningful fiscally prudent changes to the budget and related policies that effect California’s finances.
Frankly, the absence of a budget is atrocious, and given that every legislator is paid a full time salary, all 120 legislators should be in Sacramento right now, working on this until it is done. But with Fabian Nunez toodling around Europe on vacation, that’s hardly likely.
PUTTING THE BRAKES ON ARNOLD? GOOD IDEA UNTIL HE CHANGES HIS APPROACH.
On a closing note, I would add that there are two other indirect benefits that come out of the budget impasse that is causes because the Democrats will not agree to modest fiscal sanity in our state’s spending plan. The first is that that this process highlights how out of touch the Democrat leaders in the legislature truly are with Californians, making it even more likely that voters will ‘terminate’ their scheme to try to extend their legislative careers via ballot measure (both Perata and Nunez are forced out of their offices next December). The other is that I saw mention that this stalemate might create a road block to Governor Schwarzenegger moving forward with his legislative agenda. Normally, with a Republican Governor, this would be a bad thing. But with the last year as an indicator, the Governor’s top priorities (with the exception of a fair redistricting plan, which is likely DOA in the legislature) are all out of the platform of the other party. His plans to massively increase government’s role in health care are anathema to the GOP’s vision for maintaining maximum freedom and liberty for Californians. And, of course, his now-obsessive focus on massively overly regulating California as a one-state response to a ‘global warming’ problem of which the very existence of which is in question (let alone the specific role that humankind may or may not play in the mix) has been a tragedy. With all of the high-profile missives to Washington, D.C., on the "green" agenda, I missed the lobbying to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. At some point, perhaps the pendulum will tilt back from the left to the center or even to the right and the Governor’s agenda will be one that his own party can support. But for now, he is still on his "bi-partisan, party of one" tour.
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