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When Meg Whitman bested Steve Poizner a few months ago, moderates all over California breathed a sigh of relief that a Republican with more in common ideologically with Arnold Schwarzenegger than with Rush Limbaugh would be competing in the gubernatorial race. Moreover, Whitman’s deep pockets freed up the California Republican Party to work on its House races, as well as give the occasional buck to the less-wealthy but still effective Carly Fiorina. What no one expected, however, is that after

The state legislature sauntered back from their month long July vacation on August 1 and promptly got back to what they were doing before, which is virtually nothing of substance about passing a budget.  Now September is here, and there has still been no meaningful forward motion on a budget. Goodness, just because the state constitution mandates that a budget be passed by June 30, and it's already two months late, is certainly no reason for our esteemed legislators to work themselves into a tiz

If it wouldn’t too terribly inconvenience the California legislature when they return from their month-long July vacation - taken in lieu of working together to pass a budget - could they possibly try to pass the budget when they return all sun-tanned and rested in August? Don’t bet on it. Instead there will probably be more frenzied attacks against evildoers on The Other Side for blocking a budget, followed by more paralysis and a continued cratering of California’s credit rating. Surely it’s

These days, it seems like we are provided with new evidence of the American public’s desire for Independent and third party alternatives to the Democratic and Republican parties on a regular basis. A Fox News poll released late last week found that a 57% majority of respondents think it would be a “good idea” if a third party were formed to run candidates against the Democrats and Republicans at all levels of government. Incidentally, an astute 4% minority noted that such parties already exist

With less than three weeks until Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveils his revised budget plan for the fiscal year starting July 1, he and the Democratic majority Legislature have done little to reduce the state’s projected $18.8 billion budget shortfall. Almost the only thing they have accomplished is agree that increasing taxes won’t be part of whatever solution they stitch together over the next 10 weeks.  “In this budget I refuse to raise taxes because there are so many other areas where Sacr

A significant – and often overlooked -- result of what’s been dubbed the Great Recession is that in just over half of the 50 states, the programs that pay unemployment insurance to workers who’ve lost their jobs are insolvent, leading states to borrow more than $39 billion from the federal government to keep writing checks. California, which has the largest unemployment program in the country, has the dubious distinction of leading 34 other states and the Virgin Islands in borrowing:  $8.5 bil

Forty-eight states face or have faced multi-billion dollar budget shortfalls and many are mirroring California, targeting state parks for savings. Supporters of the closures say parks are less essential than paying teachers, providing health care to the poor and continuing to offer other governmental services. Opponents argue that park closures don’t save much money, harm the economies of neighboring communities, and deprive residents of low-cost recreation. Last May, on the heels of a previo

First, it was GOP victories in the gubernatorial elections of Virginia and New Jersey.  Just last month, it was the senatorial election of Scott Brown who claimed a historic Republican victory in the bluest of blue states, Massachusetts.  Finally, it was Sarah Palin speaking before the Tea Party convention in Tennessee, claiming the time had come for a revolution and that the GOP would be ready to deliver this revolution to the people.  With these electoral victories and Palin’s efforts to conso

In a bizarre series of recent events within the political world, Massachusetts citizens elected themselves a moderate Republican senator in a liberal fortress, thus ending the Democratic supermajority in Congress, and spelling trouble for the Democratic agenda. While it is premature to label that particular race a harbinger of this November’s congressional midterms as a whole, political fallout can still rear its ugly head into the upcoming California senate and gubernatorial races. With M

Independent voters continue to set the tone across America.  In last night's upset GOP victory in the Massachusetts special election, independents made their presence felt as they shocked the Democratic establishment.  This is a trend that commenced with GOP gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia last year, and many pundits posit that unless the economy begins a definitive recovery over the next six to eight months, it may produce a powerful anti-Democratic backlash in the November m