Today’s trading deadline for Major League Baseball has approached with a flurry of trades, and one wonders if this same furious kind of trading activity is making any headway in negotiations over the state budget. In the case of the budget, California also has a trading deadline, it’s in the state constitution, but it is ignored every year. Major League Baseball is more responsible in adhering to its rules.

Still, you can imagine what’s going on in the heated negotiations.

REPUBLICANS: OK, we’ll give you new revenue. But you can’t call them taxes. You got to call them fees. You give us a spending limit tied to inflation and population.

DEMOCRATS: Make the revenue come from loophole closings and we’ll throw in a rainy day fund but no spending limit.

REPUBLICANS: And, what are those loopholes?

DEMOCRATS: Businesses, rich folks and yachts.

REPUBLICANS: You can have the yachts. Those other things make our team weaker if we let them go so we say no.

DEMOCRATS: What about we give you the lottery sale for the loopholes?

REPUBLICANS: Who wants that deal? Where did the lottery sale idea come from?

DEMOCRATS: We thought it came from you.

REPUBLICANS: Not us. No deal. Let’s go in a different direction. We’ll give you environmental improvements in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for agreement to build Dams to be named later.

DEMOCRATS: Yes, we see where you’re going with that, but this deal might upset our fans. We’ll have to think about it.

REPUBLICANS: Isn’t there any deal we can do?

DEMOCRATS: How about Nicole Parra for Abel Maldonado?

REPUBLICANS: Hmm. If Nicole wins a Senate seat we have her for eight years. Abel only has four left in the Senate.

DEMOCRATS: And then Abel will bring us to only one-seat away from the two-thirds majority to pass budgets and taxes, but we would still be one short. A win-win situation for both sides.

REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS: Done!