by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Marty D. Omoto
Director/Organizer
California Disability Community Action Network

Policymakers often like to use words that make the world - as they hope we'll see it - better.

That is human nature and to some extent we all do that to mask or somehow hide unpleasant or bad news (like responding to a friend in need of exercise who asks how their brand new spandex exercise shorts look on them, though I suppose it depends on the friend).

It's like the proverbial story of a parent telling a child that the old family dog was taken to a farm out in the country so he can roam free and live (rather than being told unfortunately that he was "put down" or less delicately, put in a cardboard box and "killed" at the local vet's office. Either way, its hard to make that sound good).

One believes masking the truth of course, makes it easier on the child, though it is also done to make it easier on the person who is giving the news so that it doesn't sound so bad.

Likewise, use of different words can create an artificial reality that allow policymakers during a budget crisis to speak of unpleasant proposals, bad and even horrific ideas that one would normally dare not speak in public (never mind in church).

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

“I’ve got a great idea, let’s put on our own show”. Thus Mickey Rooney’s line in a half dozen “barnyard musicals” of the 1930’s. The same worn script is now being used by the government in California’s budget crisis.

The legislative “show” is the repeated effort of Democrats to cast Republicans as the villains in the state’s budget crisis for their refusal to offset service cuts with new taxes. The GOP has their own script, claiming they are all that stands between Democratic taxes and economic ruin for California.

The audience for these shows, the Capitol Press Corps, writes critical reviews of both shows. They prefer fantasy scripts of the sort written by the retiring “budget nun”, Liz Hill. Her recommendations have the strange virtue of rave reviews while commanding absolutely NO votes from ANY of those who employ her for advice (!)