by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

It's been just about two weeks since the Senate collapsed. Sad to say, that we might even be further away from a solution. Let's look at this mess in a bit of a random order. Lot's of things going on, even if there has been absolutely no progress.

14 Senators are holding up the budget until a majority of their far right cohort agrees to the deal, even though we only need one more vote. Essentially they are requiring that 74% of the legislature approves of the final budget. The two-thirds budget requirement is arcane as it is, but to require near unanimous consent is just absurd.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Senate Republicans have spent the last month holding up the state budget. And there are four points the Republicans feed the press: they want a balanced budget, they want to reduce the structural deficit, they want the sales tax on gases to go to highways, and they want to protect transportation. But a closer look at the Republican rhetoric shows that it doesn't match up with the facts. Here are the four main issues -- and the facts that skewer their claims.
 
Balanced Budget Argument -- The Senate Republicans say there is a "Constitutional" requirement to have no structural deficit, but the budget before the Senate far and away meets the balanced budget requirement of Proposition 58, which the Republicans, the Governor, and the Chamber of Commerce put before the voters just 3 ½ years ago.  

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]