Gov Brown Vetoes “Unrealistic” Budget
Jun 17, 2011 No Comments ›› Bruce LittleGovernor Jerry Brown called the budget plan agreed upon by California lawmakers "unrealistic" and voted the bill on Thursday afternoon. What's even more aggressive, though, is that he did it on YouTube, publicly demanding the legislators choose between deep spending cuts or significant tax hikes. Finance types hailed second-time democratic governor's aggressive approach to the ...
Continue ReadingGOP Lawmakers Baffled over Strickland’s “Taxpayers Caucus”
Mar 17, 2011 No Comments ›› Bruce LittleThere's been a lot of speculation around the Capitol over exactly what motivated the 30 Republican lawmakers to form a new "taxpayers caucus" last month led by state Senator Tony Strickland (R - Moorpark). The group is dedicated to fighting Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to put taxes on a June ballot unless there's an accompanying ...
Continue ReadingSchwarzenegger Sued Over Line-Item Vetoes
Aug 10, 2009 No Comments ›› Bruce LittleToday, attorneys for Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg filed this complaint on the Pro Tem's behalf against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in San Francisco Superior Court. The first line of the complaint says it all: "This case is about separation of powers." The filing outlines how exactly the Governor overstepped his constitutional authority in making almost ...
Continue ReadingIncrease the Tobacco Tax: A No-Brainer
Jun 24, 2009 No Comments ›› Bruce LittleIn California, smoking related costs total more than $15 billion each year. Nationwide, smoking-caused health care costs total $10.28 per pack sold in the U.S. Shouldn’t smokers pay for the resulting cost to society? Cigarette taxes could not only ease the enormous economic burden to existing public health programs that treat tobacco related illnesses, but with ...
Continue ReadingMessage from CDP Chairman John Burton About Budget Choices
Jun 15, 2009 No Comments ›› Sandra KinslerDear Democrat, In the coming weeks, our state legislators will face stark choices about our state budget – choices that will touch the lives of nearly all Californians. If our legislators do as Governor Schwarzenegger asks, California will slash billions from public schools and community colleges, eliminate health care for nearly two million people (half of them ...
Continue ReadingA Purple and Gold Revolution?
Jun 15, 2009 No Comments ›› 1st Vice Chair David AtkinsFor all the complaints about the extreme difficulty in getting Californians to pay attention to budget battles, and all the money spent on attempting to convince a generally apathetic voting public that the crisis is real, very little seems to break through. Many legislators seem resigned to the idea that huge, painful cuts may ...
Continue ReadingHelp Repeal 2/3 Rules in California
May 21, 2009 No Comments ›› Sean KeenanThe following is from the Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, George Lakoff. He is also a very good political strategist who understands framing and its importance in political debate. "The Democratic leadership should listen to its grassroots.They should immediately stop negotiating with the governor and other Republicans on how ...
Continue ReadingJust Go to Your Room and Don’t Come Out
Mar 27, 2009 No Comments ›› 1st Vice Chair David AtkinsThe nation watched in amusement this week as Republicans laid out their plans promised an April Fool's Day Budget complete with incomprehensible Kindergarten garbage they call charts. Some of us laughed. I hope that some of us cried; certainly, were I a conservative Republican, tears would be my reaction at the ineptitude of ...
Continue ReadingCalifornia Flunks Budget 101
Mar 3, 2009 No Comments ›› Marie Lakincross posted from Making Waves Blog, Ventura County Star, March 2, 2009 WHAT'S THE BEST REASON to not cut our state education funding? In the future we'll need sharp minds to get us out of these budget messes. I've been hunkered down for the past few days looking over documents and trying to make some sense of ...
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