Posted by Jim Battin at 12:00 am on Sep 12, 2007 2 Comments
This ran today in the
Riverside Press Enterprise – – –
No Budget StandoffsLegislators should
stop their empty chatter and adopt real fiscal reform
By SEN. JIM BATTIN
This year’s protracted budget negotiations finally concluded
with the signing of a $145 billion spending plan on Aug. 24.
The deliberations were marked by unusually personal attacks.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate Pro Tem Don Perata freely
branded Republican senators "terrorists" and "vandals" for
demanding a balanced budget. The state Democratic Party went so far
as to fund a recall effort against Sen. Jeff Denham for refusing to
cave to pressure, which included Perata booting Denham from the
Governmental Organization Committee.
Despite the name calling that permeated negotiations as they
dragged beyond July and into August, virtually every lawmaker in
Sacramento agrees that the government’s chronic failure to deliver
an on-time budget cannot be laid at the feet of… Read More