[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

Here in the dog days of April, as the state awaits the governor's May Revise, frustration seems to be setting in over the budget. The real political battles will begin in earnest after the May Revise, but the jockeying for position has been going on for some time, including in the state's media. Unsurprisingly, the media wants to spin the budget crisis as a failure of all Sacramento politicians, when in fact the current impasse is the responsibility of one group alone: the Republicans.

As an article in yesterday's Sac Bee would have us believe, there is "scant support for budget changes." But a deeper look shows that while Democrats have already proposed budget fixes, such as closing the yacht loophole and creating an oil severance tax (as exists in nearly every other state), it is the Republicans alone that have blocked meaningful budget action.

And why have they done so? Republicans want us to believe that any revenue solution is economically damaging. From the Bee:

“However, Sen. Dave Cogdill of Modesto, the GOP's incoming leader, said the state should not take away credits at a time when the economy is struggling.

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

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Today the Education Coalition released a new radio ad statewide, featuring parents at a PTA meeting talking about the impact of the Governor’s proposed budget cuts to students and schools, and urging Californians to call the Governor and their Legislators to tell them "no more education funding cuts." The transcript of the ad is below, and can be heard here.

California Education Coalition Radio Ad

"PTA"

Radio: 60 -- AS RECORDED(SFX: Low chatter of parents milling about after a local PTA meeting)

Mom: So...wow. Some PTA meeting, huh?

Dad: No kidding. Did you hear the Governor is saying we're in another budget crisis and need to cut education?

Mom: I know! Do lawmakers understand how these cuts could hurt our students?

Dad: I mean, the current plan would cut education again -- by nearly five-billion-dollars!

Mom: That means losing up to a-hundred-and-seven-thousand teachers.

Dad: ...and increasing overcrowded class sizes by more than a third.

Mom: It's so frustrating. Sacramento politicians can't seem to stay committed to funding our schools long enough to really make a difference

Dad: ...and isn't this exactly why we passed Prop 98? To guarantee a minimum level of funding for our public schools?

read more »

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

I had a hearty chuckle over the weekend reading the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial page editor, John Diaz, finding himself caught in the web he's weaved about "Sacramento politicians" dragging their feet on redistricting and election reform. Apparently the system we have in place is working in the Bay Area, and Diaz isn't quite sure how to deal with it.
 
Diaz reports that there are two hotly-contested Democratic primaries on the horizon: the much talked about face-off between Sen. Carole Migden and Assemblyman Mark Leno (with the possibility of the entry of former Assemblymember Joe Nation) as well as a potential donnybrook between incumbent Congressman Tom Lantos and former State Senator Jackie Speier. Indeed, these are looking like contests where Democrats will have to choose between outstanding candidates in safe Democratic districts.
 
Not that redistricting would change a thing. The Bay Area is solid Democratic; no possible map redrawing is going to change that. Yet Diaz constantly moans in his editorials about how redistricting is going to be the be-all and end-all that will change California politics.
 
Yet right in his own backyard there are two major challenges in the making.
 

by wu ming [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

So, I get this flyer (well, two actually) from some group that calls itself "Californians for Fire Safety." Hmm, I say to myself, I wonder who they are, and why they mailed me this glossy flyer? The flyer opposes those nefarious boogymen, "Sacramento politicians" trying to pass AB 706, which:

will ban material used to make flame retardant products that help to prevent fires - and keep our homes and families safe

Immediately I get curious. What materials are these? Why would they be proposed for banning? What chemicals in particular are in question? Who makes them? Who is for this bill, and who is against? Who is funding this flyer?

I look again at the flyer, and get nothing.