How bout some quick math here: 54+27+1=Budget

2/3 vote minimum required to pass a budget in both houses, 54 in the Assembly, 27 in the Senate and the Guv’s signature once the blue pencil has been put away.

In the Assembly are: 48 Dems, 32 Reps.

In the Senate are: 25 Dems, 15 Republicans.

Senate Republicans call for improvements to the budget document that came from the Assembly $700 mill [or more] upside down, that it be truly balanced on a "non-election year, non-get-out-of- town" excuse basis…a goal that many columnists, editors and opinion leaders have shared publicly.

So, what do we get?

The same tired, lazy math equation every year that says, in the Assembly,54 equals 48 Dems plus callingout 6 Reps to hold their noses and vote it out with mostly Dem priorities and spending habits.

That formula in the Senate: 25 Dems, plus catcalls from the Left all over the state to get 2 Reps to capitulate on a budget,to ‘kick the can down the road’ one more year and watch the ’08-’09 budget blow up big time in all our faces.… Read More

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s "Beat up Republicans in their district" tour continues as he spent the morning in Kern County, the home of Republican State Senator Roy Ashburn. I don’t think the Governor’s approach is working… Senator Ashburn just posted this up on the web…

POLITICAL REALITY – By Senator Roy Ashburn

Senate Republicans in Sacramento have been roundly criticized for refusing to approve an irresponsible state budget. This week Governor Schwarzeneggerhas beentraveling the state seeking to put pressure on us in our own districts. It won’t work.

The voice of the Senate Republicans resonates… Read More

Over at his Citizens for the California Republican website, State Senator Tom McClintock has posted an outstanding column with a little bit of "budget terminology 101" an some ominous numbers foreshadowing challenges ahead.

My eyes were drawn to the last part of what he wrote, and I am reprinting it below:

HOW DID YOUR LOCAL MEMBER OF CONGRESS CAST THEIR VOTES ON FIFTY SEPARATE OPPORTUNITIES TO STRIP EGREGIOUS PORK OUT OF FEDERAL SPENDING BILLS? Perhaps one of the most influential and important groups in Washington that is dedicated to market-based economic principles, and cutting government spending, is the Club for Growth. Of the handful of key websites that our FR team goes to every morning when we compile news of interest, the CfG’s site is one of the best.

The Club for Growth has compiled a RePORK Card on how all of the members of the United States House of Representatives voted on 50 anti-pork amendments that were introduced on the floor of Congress. Over the past many weeks, Democrats were moving out all of the mammoth appropriations (spending) bills that provide… Read More

We want to draw the attention of all FR readers to the great profile of our site by Mike Zapler of MediaNews. It tops the main news page today, and we penned some additional thoughts on it here. Today, Jon Coupal pens an outstanding piece for us on the state budget impasse. It is important for everyone to read, and to forward along. The liberals will try to spin the state budget holdup as being about "obstructionist Republicans" when this is really a battle for meaningful, structural reform in how California spends money. I spoke with State Senator Bob Margett last night, and he reminded me that it is about budget forecasts for future years, and the need to make important changes now to lower the projected deficits in outlying years. On that note, we’d like to commend State Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman for standing tall, leading his caucus to a place of relevancy in state budget negotiations. Those who are advocates of maintaining the big-government, big-spending status quo in Sacramento … Read More

John Fund in today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary…

Merv and Ronnie

Ronald Reagan didn’t have many buddies in liberal Hollywood after he became president. Merv Griffin, who died yesterday at age 82, was perhaps his closest friend there. The former bandleader, talk show host and TV producer understood television as well as anyone in the medium’s history. He also knew that Ronald Reagan was an historic figure and worked hard to make sure he was remembered through his chairmanship of the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. In 2004, he was one of the honorary pallbearers at Reagan’s funeral.

But perhaps his greatest service to his… Read More

Congressman John Doolittle has penned this column for FlashReport readers:

Don’t let the Democrats fool you, while they campaigned on the promise to fix our broken immigration system, their first attempt at immigration reform was a bill that would have granted an estimated 12-20 million illegal immigrants amnesty. Months later, in a misguided bill that expands government-run health care to Americans with incomes higher than $80,000, the Democrats are attempting to provide illegal immigrants with health care. Ten years ago, Republicans in Congress and President Clinton enacted a health care program for poor children. When we drafted that legislation, we specifically prohibited non-citizens from receiving… Read More

I haven’t posted about the budget lately……frankly, I’ve been a little afraid to.

When I reported from the floor of the Senate during the infamous Senate lock-down I think I set the Pro Tem off. Later that day he said Senate Republicans were a bunch of whackos captured by right-wing blogs. He then amped that up by calling us terrorists.

Then, in another post, I got into a "comment dual" with the Speaker’s press operative, Steve Maviglio – ‘nough said.

In an effort… Read More