by Paul Rosenberg [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Dave Johnson
Speak Out California

On the same day that Barack Obama raised one million dollars in one minute for his campaign George Lakoff's Rockridge Institute announced that they will be closing their doors.

In the comments at the OpenLeft blog post, The Rockridge Era Ends, Paul Rosenberg wrote:

"As If We Needed Any More Proof That Democrats STILL Don't Get It!

"This is really terrible news--not just because of the loss of Rockridge, as if that wasn't bad enough, but because it shows so clearly that there is NO recognition of the need to build progressive infrastructure.

"Just look at how many millions have been raised by the Presidential campaigns this cycle. And just a tiny fraction of it could have not just kept Rockridge afloat, but DOUBLED it in size. ..."

I want to say this about that:

Donating a dollar to a progressive infrastructure organization like Speak Out California today is like giving ten dollars to EACH progressive candidate in every local, state and nation race this November, two years later, and every election following.

by Paul Rosenberg [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

In 1991, California faced a severe budget shortfall.  The LAO's documentation of how it was addressed can be found in its "State Spending Plan for 1991-92" [pdf], a 54-page document.  But to spare you the suspense (and me the time I don't have to read the whole thing), the entire story is neatly summarized in this chart:

What?!?!?  Almost three times as much in increased revenues compared to cost cuts???  Signed by Pete Wilson?  And herr Gropenator is a post-partisan?

Not so much.

An excerpt from the top of the LAO's document can be found on the flip

The State's Budget Funding Gap

The 1991-92 Governor's Budget, released in January of 1991, projected that the state faced an 18-month General Fund budget funding gap of $7.0 billion. As shown in Figure 1(next page), this funding gap represented the amount of savings, increased revenues, and other resources needed to offset:

• A projected 1990-91 fiscal year deficit of $1.9 billion.
  
• The projected 1991-92 operating shortfall of $3.7 billion which is the difference between 1991-92 "workload budget" expenditures and available revenues.
  read more »

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

A few random pieces cobbled together by the magic of bullet points:

by Paul Rosenberg [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

"Goods Movement" Is Destroying Communities, From The Lungs Of Children Outward