[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California will lose a trusted public servant and bona fide "budget nun" when Elizabeth Hill steps down from the Legislative Analyst's office atthe end of this year. She called it like she saw it, never doing favorsfor unions or property owners, Republicans or Democrats, the LosAngeles Times reports. I met Hill when she visited my school a year orso ago and was really impressed by her candor and pragmatism—it's aloss.

It isn't just gas that is rising in price. Food, too, is becoming a higher expense for California families, with many in Northern California forced to ration, buy foods on saleand come out retirement to take part-time work, the Sacramento Beereports. This where the economy really starts to pinch.

Statewide protests against Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts are underway, with many education advocates declaring a "morality problem" rather than a spending problem with respect to K-12, the LA  Timesreports. It may be premature, however, to focus one's attention onArnold's budget, given its swift dismissal by everyone who takesbudgets seriously—the numbers are going to look quite different in acouple months.

There's more... 

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]