GOP as Budget Obstructionists

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

It is now officially a meme. Check out this lede from the LAT this weekend.

SACRAMENTO — For all of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's cheery talk of newfound "post-partisan" collaboration among Californian lawmakers, this month's impasse over state spending shows that fractious political jockeying, personal distrust among leaders and individual electoral ambitions still can derail business at the Capitol.

Senate GOP leader Dick Ackerman's reluctance to sign off on a state budget, now 28 days overdue, has been hardened by his need to appease disgruntled conservatives in his 15-member caucus.

That group's resolve has also stiffened compared with previous years as some of its members seek better jobs that rely on the party base's support.

Or this paragraph from Steve Wiegand's acerbic column in the SacBee. The "him" in this case is Arnold.

But somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday, it apparently dawned on him that a hands-off strategy was not going to persuade at least two of the 15 Republican state senators to cast the 26th and 27th votes needed to get the $103 billion general fund spending plan to his desk.

And here is the Merc today:

He's graced the covers of Time and Newsweek this year. National political TV show hosts still clamor to interview him. His appearance at a Florida Republican Party fundraiser this month generated $1.6 million.

But back in his own state Capitol, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't persuade a mere two senators in his own party to vote for a state budget that is now nearly four weeks overdue. Far from being treated like a celebrity, Schwarzenegger's popularity among GOP legislators and activists seems to have ebbed to a new low.

Both Schwarzenegger and GOP senators insist their differences are philosophical, not personal. And some observers believe the impasse has more to do with internal Republican politics, and the lack of moderate legislators from either party, than the GOP's feelings about Schwarzenegger.

Even so, the 15 Republican holdouts have reached a conclusion that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: They have more to gain by defying the governor than by siding with him.

These Republican Senators are far outside the mainstream. They are hijacking the budget process over a feud with the governor. Their stance is more about revenge than it is about substance. They are being obstructionist for the sake of being obstructionist. Ok, they have proved their point, they are relevant, if only because they can stall the legislative process. Now it is time to stop playing around and get back to work on the state's business.