[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

California is undergoing a profound change. The land where the car was assumed to be dominant always had a higher amount of transit ridership than folks realized - LA's bus system is one of the nation's busiest - but with gas prices blowing right past $4 and headed for $5, Californians are flocking to transit - buses, light rail, subways, Amtrak, you name it.

And how does Arnold Schwarzenegger, avowed friend of the little guy, always looking out to protect Californians from taxes that might lighten their wallets, react?

By proposing a $1.4 billion cut to public transit. This is nothing short of madness. Rising ridership is limited by available buses and train cars, while soaring fuel prices put stress on transit agency budgets. MUNI's Nathaniel Ford puts it well:

"Even with California's massive deficit, scaling back the state's support for public transportation makes no sense environmentally or economically," said Nathaniel Ford, who runs the San Francisco Municipal Railway.

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

[courtesy of Blog for America]

For the holiday weekend, I grappled with the decision of whether to go to Grand Junction, CO, known as the 'heart of Colorado wine country,' or to let the gloom and doom of the rising gas prices win, which would mean staying home and watching TV. Since wine tasting is, fortunately, a free activity, I decided to let the opportunity to get my drink on for free justify spending the ninety bucks to fill up my tank both ways to get there.

There are times, though, when the math just doesn't add up this conveniently. Like how, despite the waning economy and Americans paying an arm and a leg at the pumps, the big oil companies continue to profit at record highs. Or how a conservative 'band-aid' solution to America's gas woes is to suspend the gas tax for the summer- saving Americans a whopping $30.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

California Senate President pro Tem Don Perata issued a statement and took questions from reporters shortly after 5 p.m. today on the steps to the state Capitol. The Sacramento Bee has an article on this with a few more details. Sacramento sources indicated last week that the polling for the race was not too favorable for the recall succeeding.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

CMR will have more later. Here's the transcript:

"Like all of you, I've been worried a lot about the economy - falling home prices, rising gas prices -- and how hard it's getting for people to find a job.
I've talked with both Treasurer Lockyer and Controller Chiang about the state's cash situation -- and the need to do everything we can to reach an agreement on the budget.

A long stalemate is the last thing we need. Without a budget - we run out of cash - the richest state in America gone broke!

We won't be paying our bills - and we won't be giving our schools, our emergency rooms and our police the resources they need.

There's more...