About, oh every 14 seconds, we here at Calitics mention the fact that Abel Maldonado is taking the state hostage. In fact, the email I sent out a few days back, said exactly that:
Call Senator Abel Maldanado (R-Monterey County, 916-651-4015) and tell him to give up his list of demands and end this hostage situation.
His demands have merit, but Sen. Abel Maldonado can’t put politics above what’s good for California.
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There was a point at which Maldonado’s reform demands began to look suspiciously like his next campaign for controller rather than a moral stance for centrist pragmatism. Here’s one not-very-promising campaign slogan: “I demanded reform. They wouldn’t give it to me, so I sent your state over the cliff.” We’ve seen that movie too, and we don’t like the way it ends.
Of course, the Times didn’t tell you to keep that phone ringing, but I will. If you haven’t called him, please call Maldo,916-651-4015, and tell him to end the hostage situation. If you have, call him again, or you can also call his local offices. And if you are in the district, why not call both offices and send him an email too?
John Garamendi has become the first gubernatorial candidate on the Democratic side to speak out publicly about the crime perpetrated on the citizens of California by a dysfunctional process.
Lt. Gov Garamendi: I’ve been listening to what you had to say about Republicans in the Senate and Congress, we have an infection here and it’s a Republican infection that’s really spreading across this nation. Just what do they propose to do? Shut everything down? They did that with Newt Gingrich. They seem to want to do that in California and we’re saying no way. no how. We’re gonna build, we’re going to go with Obama.
We do have a two thirds vote….And then when you have Republicans that have taken a no new tax pledge and seem to just want to throw this state and really the nation into chaos and further decline in the economy, then we have the gridlock that we see. We need to change our constitution.
We need to hold these Republicans accountable…
The problem is that, as a solution, Garamendi called for a 55% bar for the budget. That’s a completely arbitrary number, and it undercuts the principle of majority rule for an imagined gain of support in the Central Valley in a way that makes no sense. But at least he brought up changing the Constitution.
By contrast, Steve Poizner thinks the whole deal should be dumped because not enough rich people like him are getting taxed, because, like him, they’re too powerful.
“They don’t have the guts to raise taxes on rich people because rich people have lobbyists and rich people are mobile and rich people will leave.”
I would like to see the fantasy budget Republican Steve Poizner would submit calling for massive increases in the top marginal tax rates. He should present that at the California Republican Party’s spring meeting in Sacramento this week. I’d like to see that. Oh wait, his budget plan is to do everything but the tax increases as a six-month fix. What a surprise, he doesn’t have the guts either!
(By the way, there’s no evidence that progressive taxation has caused any flight of bodies from California whatsoever in history. Thought I’d mention that to pre-empt the trolls.)
Finally, the Governor found his way to Sacramento and made a beeline for the nearest camera, not knowing how to negotiate. This line will make the 6:00 news statewide:
“Anyone that runs around, I think, and says that this can be done without raising taxes, I think has not really looked at it carefully to understand this budget or has a math problem and has to get back, as I said, and take Math 101,” Schwarzenegger said.
Of course, this was the guy who said he’d “terminate” taxes and lied about Phil Angelides’ tax plans. So he has no credibility and less relevance, no matter the truth of his statement.
