[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As California newspapers go, the Bakersfield Californian is firmly in the conservative column. I'm not talking the nonsense editorials that appear in the Orange County Register or the ones penned by uber-right editorial writer Chris Reed in the San Diego Union-Tribune. But the Bakersfield Californian generally reflects the political views of the Central Valley. In other words, pragmatic conservativism.
 
That's why it's fascinating to see the newspaper juxtaposing the positions of two conservative members of its legislative delegation and their votes on closing the yacht tax loophole. 
 
The paper notes: "When closing the yacht loophole came before a committee earlier this year, Fuller voted to end it. However, she abstained when it came to a full Assembly vote. She told The Californian she saw the issue as another case of taxing businesses and the rich, when state spending should be cut instead.

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Oh, those darn legislative Republicans. Yesterday they decided to draw the line in the sand on the state budget by denying foster kids transitional housing. And today they're making out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- who hasn't raised taxes a dime as Governor -- as some wild-eyed, spendthrift. Yes, the same Gov. Schwarzenegger who is proposing cuts to the poor, elderly, and disabled in his state budget.
 
The LA Times article on the extremism of legislative Republicans is a must-read. What the article leaves out is that legislative Republicans are not only out of sync with their Republican governor, but way out to the right of rank-and-file Republican voters.
 
The new San Jose State University poll, as well as recent surveys by Field and PPIC, show that California's Republican legislative delegation is far more conservative than the Republican electorate on issues including health care, global warming, and immigration.
 
That's fine by me. The GOP bench is weaker than ever. The California Republican Party is a dysfunctional mess. And legislative Republicans continue to paint themselves into a corner as a bunch of yahoo extremists without the help of Democrats. Carry on!