by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

A few months ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger unleashed his "cuts only" budget onto an unsurprised Sacramento. He said all the right things for a Republican: "we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem" yada, yada.  But, underneath it all, many observers thought that the budget was some sort of ploy to get Republicans to actually put everything on the table.  The logic went that the Republicans needed to know that it wouldn't be cuts on the Democratic-favored programs. It would mean closing schools in their districts, axing future water projects, etc.

If the Democrats are going to put their sacred cow on the table, education, at least the Republicans should do the same with their sacred taxation cow. But the Republicans in the legislature were slow to get the message, so Arnold is being a little more direct these days.

"I said and I made it very clear that everything is on the table," Schwarzenegger said.

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[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Key bills and issues we’ve been following during the past week and beyond

By Hannah Beth Jackson

Budget Countdown Day 14 and still no budget in sight. With time starting to pressure for action, the war of words is heating up, although it doesn't appear that beyond the temperature in Sacramento, much else is percolating. For a more detailed analysis, check out our weblog entry here.

In order to stir the pot, or maybe even get the Reps off-the-dime, the Speaker has indicated he’ll be putting the budget up for a vote next week—an old ploy to flush out the opposition and make them account to the public for their unwillingness to negotiate a resolution. During this year, in particular, they’ve been unwilling to publicly identify the cuts they’ve apparently presented to the Dem0crats. IN SECRET, sounding more and more like their Bush administration leaders in Washington who think they can do everything in secret as well. But this is California, where we love our sunshine!

For more on this story, check out the Sac Bee editorial.