Budget delays don't look set to end soon

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Dday wrote yesterday about Arnold's absence in the budget negotiations, and I think he got it spot on. Well, now we have the words directly from the mouth of Speaker Nunez. The SacBee did an interview with the Speaker, and well, he notes that Arnold doesn't really have any sway over the Republicans. Check the video here.

But, it looks like the Republicans are digging in for a fight. From my prospective, it's not clear what they have to gain from a protracted fight, but both sides seem set to do battle.  So, on we march.  The Speaker has even canceled the summer recess until the budget is passed. Woooo, that'll get them.

On the Dem side, the Speaker has announced that he plans to call a vote on a plan that will cut the operating deficit by a billion of so. That's actually about the same, if not more, as the Governator's original budget proposal. But, you know, the governor's plans seem to be pretty irrelevant at this point. So, I'm guessing that the vote tomorrow won't garner much, if any, GOP support, and so back we go.  I guess we'll just play the Circle Game for a while, and hope that someday, Joni Mitchell will demand her lyrics back.

But, it appears that Nunez and Perata want this battle in the public. It's a calculated risk, in that the public might see the obstinance of the GOP as annoying, or it could just become a general Pox on both your houses type thing.  But perhaps it might be time for some real risks.  And hey, maybe at some point we could talk about that damn 2/3 rule.