[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

Legislation that would reform the foreclosure process in California for the benefit of homeowners trying to hold on to their homes passed the Assembly today on a 55 to 18 vote, just one vote above the two-thirds majority it required. Ten Republican Assemblymembers joined 45 of the 48 Democrats in voting for the bill, while all 18 votes against it came from Republicans.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Randy Shaw

Last week, some progressives expressed betrayal at Barack Obama’s support for a “compromised” FISA bill. While FISA’s telecom immunity provision is not a front burner issue for many, it is a hot button issue among the netroots, a community that has strongly backed Obama. Meanwhile, recent stories in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other traditional media describe Obama as moving to “the center,” further alarming some on the left. This early progressive criticism of Obama comes amidst celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the New Deal, created by our best and most progressive president, Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt is often held up as a model for Obama, but some on the left apparently do not realize that FDR was a pragmatist who made deals with the proverbial devil--in his case, Southern segregationists--to get his progressive economic plans enacted. Those expecting Obama to follow a consistently left-wing agenda misunderstand both the man and the nature of U.S. politics.

Roosevelt the Pragmatist

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Don Perata
President pro Tem
California State Senate

Today, more than 10,100 dedicated public school teachers are receiving pink slips. School districts are required to send the notices by March 15th every year to notify teachers that they may not have a job the next fall.

It is outrageous that teachers are the latest casualty of the Governor's budget cuts.

In January, the Governor proposed slashing $4.8 billion from education. To do that, the state would have to shorten the school year by a month, lay off one-third of all teachers or increase class sizes by 35 percent.

That is unacceptable. Deep budget cuts will devastate our education system, hurt our economy and darken California's promise.

A couple generations ago, California had the reputation for the best public schools in the nation. Our schools produced students who now lead private, non-profit and government agencies. My, how times have changed -- in 2005, our state ranked 47th in the nation in per-pupil spending. I don't know anyone who doesn't want to see the state maintain and strengthen its economy. But doing so requires giving more to our schools, not taking from them.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By David Dayen
d-day

The headline, State Democrats determined to raise taxes, is kind of ridiculous, but the meat of the story indicates that Democratic leaders are drawing a line in the sand.

“Democratic legislative leaders declared this morning that they are prepared to delay the state budget this year if that's what it takes to get tax increases, which they called the only reasonable solution to California's multibillion-dollar shortfall.

"This is going to be the fight of a lifetime," Senate leader Don Perata (D-Oakland) declared at a news conference on the steps of a Sacramento high school that faces teacher layoffs and bigger classes under the governor's proposed budget, which closes the deficit with spending cuts, borrowing and deferrals.

"We are not going to be going anywhere this summer," he said, referring to the annual midyear process of trying to agree on a budget by the July 1 start of the new fiscal year. "I told everybody that wants to go to the Democratic [National] Convention, ... TiVo it. That is close as you are going to get."

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Stephen Crockett [courtesy of Blog for America]

Democrats have numerous possible opportunities to replace Republican members of Congress with Democratic challengers in 2008. Republicans are retiring at rates that must be alarming to the Republican Party. While it is difficult to keep up with the rapid pace of Republican retirement announcements, I believe that at least 26 Republican House members and 6 Republican Senators are leaving office. Only 6 Democratic House members are confirmed as retiring. Zero Democratic Senators are currently known to be leaving office. Some of the Democratic House members are seeking Senate seats.

It is understandable that the media has focused on these seats but the best news for Democrats are the number of setting Republican incumbents from relatively safe Congressional Districts in deep trouble. This column will look at one Democratic challenger who is likely to retire a long-term Republican. The challenger is Frank Kratovil from the Maryland 1st Congressional District.

(Click Read More for the rest of this post)