He’d have a better shot at that than convincing the Yacht Party of anything.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave Democrats the cold shoulder as he grew convinced he can somehow win Republican support for a midyear budget deal that includes tax hikes, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Wednesday […]

“He believes that he can convince the Republicans to vote for revenue increases given that we’re now pretty much at the brink,” Steinberg told The Bee’s Capitol Bureau. “And if that’s the case, great. Then we’ll resume a different kind of negotiation. If it’s not true, then I expect we’ll be right back to our $17 billion-plus proposal and try to close that out.”

Steinberg said he thinks lawmakers can still avert a cash shortage if they pass midyear changes by February. While the changes alone may not be swift enough to provide California with enough cash to pay its bills, he suggested that passage of a credible budget solution would enable the state to take out sufficient loans.

It’s important to remember how stunningly ineffective Schwarzenegger has been at governing for five years.  He hasn’t brought one Republican along on ANYTHING he has sought.  All of the policies he’ll be talking about as part of his “legacy” were passed without any Republican votes.  He has no chance whatsoever to attract anyone from his own party, and he never has.  That is the epitome of failure as a leader.

Of course, you have to question whether he really wants to solve the problem at this point.  It’s probably more about political posturing at this point.  Democrats wouldn’t privatize the state, so Arnold will fall back on the same tired tactic of demonization while California goes up in flames.

“We all know how this movie goes,” Steinberg said. “The governor will be out again in some community in California attacking the Legislature and elected representatives for failing to act. It’s frankly a tired, old movie.”

In the end, the Democrats couldn’t — or wouldn’t — meet Schwarzenegger’s demands (more cuts, additional public-private partnerships and easing of environmental regulations for at least 10 projects) for him to sign the budget.

“The Legislature has been more than willing to meet the Governor halfway on his proposals, but we cannot in good conscience back an ‘anything goes’ approach to California’s environment and a privatization scheme that would make George W. Bush blush,” the Democratic leaders write in an op-ed in today’s Bee.

Arnold was never interested in “creating jobs,” he was interested in breaking his old nemesis, the unions.  And when it didn’t happen, he used the ridiculous excuse that now, when the Republican project to bankrupt government is almost realized, NOW they’ll see the light.  And in the end, even his “comprehensive” budget solution would only solve the problem until he could leave office, sticking his successor with another crisis.



Fail, fail, FAIL.

UPDATE by Brian: The Republican Senate Caucus just sent out a quite humourous email.  I’ll summarize: You try to kick the ball Charlie Brown, we’ll definitely leave it there. A snip:

We should start by immediately enacting the $6 billion in budget solutions that have already been agreed upon by both Republicans and Democrats. This would be a responsible first step to avert the looming cash crisis and put Californians back to work.”

“Republicans continue to stand ready to work with the Governor and Democrats. Too much time has been wasted on schemes to make an end-run around Prop. 13 and the will of the voters. It’s time to adopt a fiscally responsible budget plan, which is what voters rightfully expect from their elected leaders.”

Just so we’re clear here, well over 60% of the California voters agrees that we need to increase taxes, according to recent polling data.  In some polls, that even exceeds the 2/3 figure. The will of the voters is to have a viable K-12 system, higher education, decent transportation options and human services.  

Apparently, the Democrats should compromise on the parts they are willing to give, but the Republicans don’t have to give anything.  That’s not compromise, that’s unconditional surrender. Surrender to a theory of market economics that is crumbling around us as we speak, yet that’s where the GOP leads us.  Compromise indeed.

One of the worst elements of the current budget crisis is that it crowds out all of the other urgent problems facing the state.  Nowhere is this more true than in health care.  When the Nunez/Schwarzenegger overhaul failed last year, the problem never went away.  And there are a host of other issues with health care delivery that linger.  Fortunately, we’re seeing a little progress and a few good ideas that can set a course for the future.

First, the state reached an agreement with Blue Cross to reinstate 678 patients who were wrongly removed from their insurance plan in a practice known as “rescission”.  Basically, the insurer waits until a patient files a claim and then invents a reason to cancel their policy.

The insurer has agreed to reimburse the subscribers for any out-of-pocket medical expenses and create a third-party process to review policy cancellations.

Blue Shield faces up to a $5 million fine if it does not take corrective action, said Darrel Ng, insurance department spokesman.

Between Jan. 1, 2004, and May 31, 2008, Blue Shield improperly dropped 678 subscribers, the agency said.

Obviously, the state meeting its responsibilities to protect California consumers is helpful, but it doesn’t solve the big problems of health care delivery.  One of the most pressing concerns how to get quality care out to rural areas, where there is a dearth of doctors and facilities.  Fortunately, John Garamendi has a plan to recruit new doctors to rural health centers.

State Lt. Governor John Garamendi is proposing an ambitious fast-track medical school at University of California-Merced in an effort to create more doctors for the San Joaquin Valley, one of the most physician-poor regions in the state […]

Entering freshmen – recruited from San Joaquin Valley high schools, with family ties to the region – would study at UC-Merced and local community colleges, then train in existing medical centers and clinics, instead of at a pricey research-oriented hospital.

They would be encouraged to train as primary care physicians and learn the challenges of practicing medicine in this vast region, where 130 languages are spoken and many residents suffer from chronic ailments such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory ailments from dust, diesel-burning farm equipment and wood-burning stoves.

And then there are the macro issues with rising costs and the uninsured in general.  Recognizing the dire needs in this area, foundations and nonprofits are stepping up in this area with advocacy that will hopefully bring more attention to the issue.

Overall, while the budget is obviously the pressing concern, we cannot overlook these burgeoning crises throughout California public policy.  There is sadly no magic fix for them, even if a budget is someday signed.

Tim Herdt over at the VC Star’s 95 Percent Accurate* is a veritable fountain of information today.  This time he brings us news about our favorite new state senator, “Phony” Tony Strickland.  As readers may recall, Tony Strickland ran a bogus campaign claiming to be an alternative energy entrepreneur though his alternative energy company has yet to secure a contract, and his voting record has been a boon to oil companies and other polluting industries who richly rewarded him with a major infusion of campaign contributions.

But according to Tim Herdt, Strickland may actually be persuaded to honor at least a few of his environmental campaign promises, in order to lend real credence to what had been essentially dishonest fabrications concerning his views on environmental issues based on his record:

New Ventura County Sen. Tony Strickland, who ran this fall as a “renewable energy businessman” promising to promote the development of alternative energy, has taken the first step to show that he meant what he said.

Strickland told me last month that he does not agree with the provision in his fellow legislative Republicans’ budget proposal that calls for a delay in implementing California’s landmark global warming law. That regulations to implement that law, AB 32, call for aggressive steps to promote alternative energy, including a requirement that utilities purchase a third of their electrical power from renewable sources such as solar and wind energy.

Furthermore, Strickland said he intends to soon introduce a package of clean-energy legislation.

Sounds good, but several caveats spring to mind:

1) Promises made by Strickland to a media figure like Herdt may well turn out to be as unreliable as most of the other claims Phony Tony has made over the years.

2) His promises to oppose his fellow Republicans on environmental issues in the Senate mean little if he knows that said environmental initiatives will be blockaded by his other Republican allies.  If Strickland knows that these bills and addenda will be blocked by others, his support means little; in fact, his “support” would only serve to give him cover while still maintaining his preferred anti-environmental policy aims.  We will know Strickland is serious if he makes real attempts to persuade his Republican allies to alter their votes.

3) Strickland’s promise to introduce a “package of clean-energy legislation” is worse than meaningless if his bill is merely a watered-down version of a stronger Democratic bill.  Claiming to support popular Democratic policies by offering a weaker version of a Democratic bill is a tried and true Republican tactic.

4) Supporting clean energy bills that provide aid for renewable energy development mean little if they do not come at the expense of the current establishment of corporate polluters.  It is easy for a Republican to recommend spending money or creating incentives on windmills or solar panels; it is far harder to take the just as necessary steps of disincentivizing the use of pollutants.

5) California is in a major budget crunch, and has numerous other problems besides.  Even if Strickland has come to a true conversion on energy issues (which has yet to be seen), his retrograde Republican views on all other aspects of state business make him a bad fit for the district, and unacceptable for California as it struggles to regain its footing after the fiasco of Enron’s energy deregulation, Schwarzenegger’s mismanagement of the state at the Executive level, and the intransigence of the extremist Republicans in the statehouse.

In any case, the fact that Strickland is at least paying lip service–phony or no–to support of alternative energy is a small victory for progressive causes in itself.

Cross-posted at Ventura County Democrats

I know, we aren’t even a full week into 2009 but it is going to be very difficult for anyone to get any dumber than this:

Schwarzenegger to veto budget bills

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will immediately veto the Democratic plan to reduce the budget deficit by $18 billion and urge lawmakers to use his January proposal as a template for implementing midyear cuts, according to Schwarzenegger communications director Matt David.

The move forces leaders to start over in their efforts to close a budget deficit estimated at $40 billion over the next 18 months. It jettisons — for now — what Democrats hailed as “the only game in town” — because it included tax increases approved without Republican votes.

For those keeping score at home, the budget was passed on December 18 so by “immediately veto” he really meant “sit on his ass for 20 days and then veto” the only game in town.

Schwarzenegger is simply incapable of governing and his Republican legislators are zealots who are going out of their way to harm the state, not help.

UPDATE by Dave: Steinberg tells the SacBee ed. board that the Governor got cold feet:

Between Sunday night and Monday, something else occurred unrelated to the specifics of the issues. It is cold feet, you know. He met with Republican leaders on Monday morning. I think he is back in that place where he believes he can get Republican votes for revenue and therefore doesn’t have to do this unorthodox majority vote thing. We have been sort of going down that road for five or six years. It hasn’t resulted in a single vote.

Arnold thinks he’s so AWSOM that he can convince the same people who have stomped on his stomach for 5 years to come around.  Or, more likely, he didn’t want to make the anti-tax zealots cross and risk a court battle.  There is no chance his budget can pass – it has even more tax increases in it than the work-around budget, and a substantial portion of it is, essentially, “hope for private investment.”  This leads us even further down a road to ruin.  Don’t expect any tax refunds, folks.

Putting their ideology over the best interests of the state, Republican legislators and Jon Coupal filed suit today to block the Democrats’ majority-vote budget deal. Coupal is the head of the Howard Jarvis Association, which as best I can tell is dedicated to ensuring California is unable to meet its residents’ basic needs during this crisis or avert an outright Depression.

Led by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a coalition of fiscal conservatives said Tuesday that they wanted immediate court intervention against Democrats’ plan to cut the budget deficit by $18 billion. In addition to cutting expenditures, the proposal relies on repealing the existing tax on fuel and imposing a new fee more than twice as large, a plan that the coalition said requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature, including approval from some Republicans.

What the Bee’s article doesn’t note (and I’m assuming it wasn’t a deliberate oversight) is that one of the plaintiffs is Insurance Commissioner and likely GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner. From the Howard Jarvis Association’s announcement:

Also joining the suit are the Americans for Prosperity, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, Flash Report Editor Jon Fleischman and KFI radio talk show hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou….

“This dishonest effort to raise taxes without a two-thirds vote is a dagger at the heart of Proposition 13 and every California taxpayer,” stated HJTA President Jon Coupal at a morning news conference on the steps of the Court of Appeal. “If taxpayers lose the protection of the two-thirds vote, there will be no limitation to the ability of the tax-and-spend lobby in Sacramento to take whatever they want from hard-working Californians.”

California’s budget crisis threatens the financial stability not just of our government, but of most Californians. If the state has to print IOUs the domino effect on the state’s credit rating, outstanding debt, and jobs could be catastrophic.

Coupal and Poizner are showing that such an outcome is perfectly acceptable to them if that’s what it takes to preserve conservative structural power in California. Their policies brought California to this point. Isn’t it time we held conservatives accountable for what they have wrought?