The budget is 77 days late. No one seems to care except those state vendors who are borrowing to stay afloat, state workers, those who keep tabs on records (we’re nearing one) or have a bet in the Sacramento Bee budget prediction game.
While waiting for the budget, other news is being made on California’s political front that deserve some comment.
Jerry Brown’s new ads continue his campaign strategy of calling Meg Whitman a liar. And, Whitman’s campaign attorney called the California Teachers Association a liar because of an anti-Whitman ad and told television stations to take it down. Where’s George Washington when you need him? Come to think of it, the legendary story that declared that George Washington could not tell a lie … was a lie.
Bill Clinton’s endorsement of Jerry Brown is probably not so much an endorsement for Brown as it is an anti-endorsement for Whitman. Clinton’s wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, does not want a female governor of California on the scene if she makes another bid for the presidency.
If the Fair Political Practices Commission’s plan to display all election related complaints on its website takes effect, get ready for a landslide of complaints to be filed. They will then pop up in political advertising as a campaign tactic. The first candidate that gets hit with a complaint will surely respond in kind against his or her opponent.
One of the city council members in the City of Bell, who is subject to a recall effort, supports the recall!
Councilman Luis Artiga won’t resign, though, because he doesn’t want his seat going to an appointed council member who would not be named in the recall petition. Given the legislature’s low approval ratings, one wonders if the Bell councilmember is a trailblazer.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives back in California today and plans to head straight to the San Bruno disaster area, as he should. Following that he should go directly to the site of another on-going mess, the state capitol, to deal with the budget, or lack thereof. The gaffes, rhetoric and noise associated with an election are drowning out the sounds usually associated with a late budget, the most important job state officials are supposed to do.
Did I mention we are nearing a record for budget delay? Well past time to get it done so we can sit back and enjoy the election follies.