Jan 08 2009
Democrat’s Majority Vote Budget Fails
The Democrats billed their majority vote budget as the only game in town.
That game has now lost.
The Governor refused to sign the bill and vetoed it instead. Finally the Governor is doing something that makes sense….sort of. He vetoed a bad bill that would have been caught up in litigation and allowed the Legisalture to play the blame game for many more months.
What is the next step?
Negotiations.
It really seems like the Reeps and the Dems are going to actually have to work together to get something done that they can present - with a united front - to the Governor. It is going to have to include some of the Governor’s demands, some of the Reeps demands, and some of the Democratic demands. Then everyone can pat each other on the back and go back to making nanny-like laws that make me think longingly of the freedom I had while in Basic Training for the Army.
The Democratic leadership is frustrated. They say they were willing to meet the Governor halfway and he kept changing the distance. But that is what happens when you try to disenfranchise one party (the Reeps) - you have to deal with whoever else is playing the game in town.
I can imagine the Governor will go on one of his little press trips again. From the steps of some small town hall in some small town, he will be telling people that he tried to get a budget and no one will work with him. He states that he cannot do it alone, that the Legislature has to present him with a bill first (which is true). The next question, from someone in the crowd should be, “But why are you here Governor instead of in meetings with the Legislative leaders trying to work this out?” No one will ask the question, and he certainly won’t answer it.
The type of solution we are going to need is going to require long hours of talking - negotiation. It is going to require people to move from their ideological benches and into the fray for the common good. It is going to be a fight.
The electorate also needs to be understanding. I am a huge fan of the “no new taxes” proposal. It makes sense. It also make sense to raise gas taxes (or fees) and put that money into infrastructure projects instead of using bond money or General Fund to do it.
California is faced with the prospect of using IOUs in about four weeks. That isn’t a long time to get something done. My suggestion to the Legislature is to start working now, and stop complaining about your lives because there are people out there who are doing much worse.
