The Budget: February 2009 Archives

Today's San Jose Mercury News front page story is about California's budget problem: that they are still one vote short.  But Californians reading the story are not told why one more vote is required, not are they told who it is required from -- until the 10th paragraph.  The 10th paragraph reads,

The votes were there in the Assembly. But in the Senate, only two Republican senators were prepared to buck party orthodoxy and vote to raise taxes. Three were needed.

Even in this 10th paragraph readers are not informed that every Democrat is voting for the budget. 

Before this paragraph, readers are told that "lawmakers" cannot agree and that "the deal still was held hostage by the thinnest of margins." But there is nothing telling them who or why. 

The reason this is such a problem is that the people of California need this information, to help them play their part in the functioning of our state government.  The voters need to know who to hold accountable or they will not make their wishes known through calls to their Assemblymember's or Senator's office.  And they can't make informed decisions at election time. 

This is typical of stories about the budget impasse -- across the state the major newspapers, radio and TV stations are not giving the voters the information they need in order to participate in their government.  The result is that the state is becoming ungovernable -- and going broke.

Take a look at The Conversation: Tax 101, Who pays, how much and why it might change this week with a state budget, by Daniel Weintraub in the Sacramento Bee, Sunday, February 8. It begins,

California's long era of tax cutting might soon end. With the state deep in a financial hole and unable to pay all of its bills, even some business leaders and Republican lawmakers are acknowledging the inevitable: The state government cannot balance its books with spending cuts alone. It needs more revenue.

Take a look.

After the Presidential election we at Speak Out California were rejuvenated and renewed in the hope and expectation that the divisive politics of Republican extremism were over.   Sadly, it is clear that they are not and so we must re-commit to our values and Speak Out loud and clear.

Please join us in our first action-alert of 2009 with as many clear and strong voices as we can to say to our new President and the Congress:  WE WON this election, now let's get to work putting our nation and our state back on track!

Thanks to Rush Limbaugh, US Senators report the calls they are receiving about the Stimulus Package are running 100 to 1 against passage. Our voice needs to be heard.  And thanks to California right-wing talk radio, Republican legislators think the public supports their sabotaging budget talks.  We need to step up!

ACTION: Tell California's US Senators that you support the stimulus package and tell California Republican legislators that the Democrats have agreed to cut after cut and they just can't cut any more -- now they need to agree to raise revenue!  Details below.

The Stimulus Package

There is some good news on the prospects of getting a budget in California.  Eleven California newspapers including Sunday's San Jose Mercury News carried a near-unprecedented front-page editorial titled, Outrageous budget fiasco has shamed California, calling out the Republicans for not participating in the budget process, saying,

"... [M]ost of the blame for the immediate crisis falls on Republicans in the Legislature, who this past summer -- to a person -- signed a pledge to not raise taxes.  ...  Democrats and the Republican governor have offered significant compromise, but GOP lawmakers cling to ideological purity -- schools, health care and other essential responsibilities be damned."

The reason this is good news is that this is a sign that California's media may be beginning to explain to the public that there is indeed a bad actor in this fight.  Until now the public has been hearing from the media a simplistic "they're fighting like children in Sacramento" or "both sides refuse to compromise."  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

The fact is that the Democrats have voted for cut after cut, and have tried and tried to reach a compromise.  They are trying to govern the state.  But every single elected Republican signed a pledge with a Washington, DC anti-government organization -- the one that said they want to "drown the government in a bathtub" -- promising to vote against any budget that increases state revenues in any way.  They took what they call "the pledge" and have refused to budge and refused to compromise in any way.

California's major media is finally, finally starting to bring these facts to the public, which means that the public will begin to apply the pressure that is needed in a democracy to move the Republicans and get them to participate in the budget and governing process.

And in the longer term, this information means the public will be able to decide whether they really do want to elect people who hate government -- and who take vows to defund government -- into positions of responsibility for managing the government.

If we cannot get an increase in revenues California's economy will be in real trouble.  On a national level Rush Limbaugh says he "wants Obama to fail" and in California the far right is driving failure as well.  We need responsible information sources to reach California's voters with honest information.