[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

There they go again.

After needlessly holding up the budget for months last summer with the same failed strategy, Senate Republicans yesterday signaled their intent to try to weaken the state's environmental and labor laws as the price for their support of the state budget again this year. Included in this year's demands are a delay in the state's landmark global warming law, repeal of the eight-hour day labor law signed by Gov. Davis, a plan to aid the health insurance industry, and relaxing compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, put it bluntly, according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune. "We are putting this on the table for the budget negotiations. You are not going to see these necessarily as bills floating around in the Legislature somewhere -- only to have a 10-minute hearing and be dismissed."

So once again, the Republicans are dragging non-budget issues into the budget fight.

There's more...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Given the Senate Republicans’ ignominious recent record of political irrelevance and pointless obstructionism, it wouldn’t seem to matter all that much who replaces Dick Ackerman as their next leader.
 
Whoever gets elected -- Senator Dave Cogdill and Dennis Hollingworth being the current "favorites" -- will have wide circles run around him by the more experienced and politically-astute Senate President-designate Darrell Steinberg. These days, being the leader of the Senate Republicans is a little like being the captain of the Washington Generals (the team of proverbial patsies who consistently played and lost to the Harlem Globetrotters, for you Meadowlark Lemon non-devotees). Or the leading shareholder of Enron stock. Or, in a dated and inaccurate reference but one that will particularly infuriate our right-wing friends, a general in the French Army.
 
But, if you’re like me and you find the Republicans’ proclivity for messy infighting and political self-destruction particularly comical, then you’ll be interested to know that the word in the State Capitol among Republican staffers is that a vote to elect a Leader-designate could occur as early as this week’s Republican Caucus meeting. It’s sort of the Sacramento equivalent of watching those women of ill repute fighting over a date with broken-down rocker Bret Michaels on VH-1’s "Rock of Love." I mean, even if you win, what have you really won?

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Now that the ball has dropped in Times Square, it's time for our "What's In, What's Out" list, where we take a look at what's hot -- and what's not in California politics.

In: Shane Goldmacher, Out: Dan Walters

Capitol Alert, shedding its high price subscription requirement, is the snazzy new way to get breaking news in the Capitol. Now if it would drop the whining W's -- Walters and Weigand -- for columnists that are capable of offering insight rather than daily lampooning of elected officials, they'd have a news product that would live up to the much-missed "Political Muscle" from the LA Times.

In: SEIU, AFSCME, Out: UNITE-HERE

Pragmatic labor unions SEIU and AFSCME, which helped muscle the new health care accord through the Assembly, are getting new respect in the Capitol. Meanwhile, UNITE-HERE -- whose leadership's scorched earth strategy failed to block Senate and Assembly approval of  tribal compacts -- appears to be throwing $2 million in members dues down the drain in fighting the compacts on the February ballot.

In: Adam Mendelsohn, Out: Adam Mendelsohn

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Both the Assembly and Senate GOP caucuses will be meeting in San Diego on Dec. 5 to talk about how to block progress strategy for the coming year. Well, Speaker Fabian Nunez has a different plan for that date. Specifically, he's scheduled a vote on the Democrats' health care plan for that day:

When Assembly Speaker Fabian N??ez postponed a floor session on health care until early December, he rescheduled the vote for the day the Assembly Republican caucus is slated to be in San Diego for its annual policy retreat.
***
Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines says he has spoken with N??ez, who told Villines he would "try to accommodate" but didn't promise to push back session from Dec. 5, when both the Senate and Assembly GOP caucus will be in San Diego. (SacBee CapAlert Latest 11.27.07)

I wouldn't expect the Assembly Republicans to miss the vote on account of the cancellation fees, but I suppose nobody is weeping at the Speaker's office over those lost deposits at the posh, non-union, digs the Republicans are surely meeting at.  But at any rate, the vote on 12/5 is far from a certainty, as the Governator hasn't given any plan (other than his 0-vote plan) his stamp of approval. But, it's likely the last opportunity for any plan to get on the February ballot.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

There was hardly a wimper from our right-wing brethren over at THE FLASH REPORT when Senate Republicans finally threw in the towel and voted for a budget virtually unchanged from that which the Assembly passed a month earlier. And when everyone in Sacramento is questioning whether there will be a shakeup in the GOP Senate leadership because of the Senate GOP's failure to get nothing more than a few breadcrumbs for holding out on a budget, FLASH has repeatedly been touting the leadership of Sen. Dick Ackerman.
 
Could it be that Sen. Ackerman officiated at FLASH publisher Jon Fleischman's wedding, as noted here in the Mercury News profile last week?
 
Maybe not. We're just saying...

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres weighed in with criticism of the Senate GOP -- and of the 2/3 budget vote threshold -- after the 52-day budget blockade ended. Here's his statement:

"No thanks to Senate Republicans, California finally has a budget more than seven weeks past the constitutional budget deadline. As a result of the Republicans' holding the budget hostage, California is the last state in the nation to pass a budget this year.
 
Our state has many great challenges facing us, including a health care crisis, under-funded public schools, and climate change. Sadly, Senate Republicans insisted on letting rigid extremism stand in the way of what is good for the people, leaving many vital state services in jeopardy.
 
Changing the budget vote requirement from two-thirds to a simple-majority would ensure that the wellbeing of the state would never fall victim to partisan gamesmanship, such as attempts to weaken environmental oversight and the fight against climate change, in the future."

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Via Steve Soto, check out these white men from the Senate GOP Caucus hitting happy hour to celebrate their denying money to nursing homes, hospitals, and childcare centers.

Making life harder on the less fortunate can be fun! I think I see Jeff Denham in there. Somebody get this on a button!

UPDATE: And a budget deal has been reached, making this picture's quest for immortality moot (although I think my posting this made the pressure just too much to bear). How about an open thread on the budget passage, then?