[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By David Dayen
d-day

Congratulations, California! It's July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, and you don't have a budget, again. And if Mike Villines is to be believed, you won't have one for some time:

"We're doing meetings, but we're not making a ton of progress," Villines said on the final day of the 2007-08 fiscal year.

"The four legislative leaders are meeting regularly, but "a lot of it is building a rapport."

I hope they're playing that "trust" game where one of them falls to the ground and relies on everyone else to catch them, that's always a good one. Maybe they could swing a team building trip to Joshua Tree while they're at it!

According to Villines, those mean old Democrats are just irrationally sticking to raising taxes at a time of budget deficits between $15 and $20 billion dollars! Don't they know they could just stop funding public schools and everyone could go home for the summer?

In part, he blamed Democrats for sticking to a plan to raise taxes - $11 billion in the Senate and $6 billion in the Assembly - for stalling talks. He called such figures "totally unfounded and out of touch with reality."

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Congratulations, California!  It's July 1, the start of the new fiscal year, and you don't have a budget, again.  And if Mike Villines is to be believed, you won't have one for some time:

"We're doing meetings, but we're not making a ton of progress," Villines said on the final day of the 2007-08 fiscal year.

The four legislative leaders are meeting regularly, but "a lot of it is building a rapport."

I hope they're playing that "trust" game where one of them falls to the ground and relies on everyone else to catch them, that's always a good one.  Maybe they could swing a team building trip to Joshua Tree while they're at it!

According to Villines, those mean old Democrats are just irrationally sticking to raising taxes at a time of budget deficits between $15 and $20 billion dollars!  Don't they know they could just stop funding public schools and everyone could go home for the summer? (over...)

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Assembly leader Mike Villines apparently is beginning to parrot Tom McClintock when it comes to partisan attacks from the ultra-right.

In an interview with Sanjoaquinvalleyfornia, Villines took aim at Democrats and environmentalists, pulling no punches in an angry interview with a Central Valley reporter. He blamed Democrats for the lack of a water deal and the budget stalemate.

"That's a liberal minority of people these environmentalists, who I call whackos, who are totally out of touch with reality (that) are controlling the legislative process," said Villines of his legislative colleagues who are blocking the large-scale construction of dams that Villines wants to make with taxpayer dollars.

Here's another olive branch from Villines in the interview, talking about Democrats and predicting the GOP would win seats if the redistricting measure passes: "They are totally out of touch with reality. Their main issues are gay marriage, no reservoirs, no taxes. This is not mainstream California. They are out of touch."

Way to win friends and influence people there, Mike, especially during sensitive budget talks.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Today is the last day to register to vote. Personally, I'd like to see same-day registration. After all, we are living in the era of cheap and tiny computers. This is a fundamental fairness issue, legal voters simply should not be turned away. Nonetheless, here's the voter reg SoS page. Other interesting stuff:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Her politics are personal and rooted in her work as a community organizer

By Frank D. Russo

You had to be there. In fact, you can be there by watching the standing ovations and laudatory remarks by Democrats and Republicans—and a wonderful heartfelt speech by Karen Bass as she assumed the role of the second highest office in the state of California—the Speakership of the California State Assembly. This was a day that history was made as the first African-American woman to lead a state legislative body in the United States took over the helm.

Karen Bass has a lot of new friends as a result of being Speaker. Governor Schwarzenegger was on hand to witness the ceremony and sat on the dais along with five former Speakers of the Assembly, state constitutional officers, and even the President pro Tem of the Oregon Senate. After saying he would miss Fabian Nunez, who had just joined a “fraternity” of former speakers—one day to expand to be a sorority also--said wonderful things about her. So did Mike Villines, the Assembly Republican leader—who thanked Nunez for the collegial style in which the house had been run and then spoke of the Assembly and Bass in terms of friendships.