Today's Fresh Meat

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Stop the presses: a new Field Poll shows voters would prefer not to pay higher taxesbut are vague when asked what programs might be cut. The poll does showthat voters "expect" to see some taxes go up, according to the SanDiego Union Tribune, indicating at least there is some recognition ofthe need for more revenue.

A seven-member commission rejected, by a 3-2 vote, a motion to cut payfor California's elected officials, eliminating one option for loweringthe deficit, albeit a very small one, the Associated Press reports.

The San Francisco Chronicle story today on "ghost voting" in theAssembly is kind of spooky, especially the bad pun of a line that says the practice has "haunted" the chamber for some time.

The Chronicle also reports, in an unrelated story, that political contributions in Northern California (and throughout the state) are at record highs,due in part to small donors, but more prominently to many of bundlersand the affluent who have dropped in the thousands for Barack Obama,Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

There's more...