One Party with Two Names: Our Grinning 'Leaders'

Screw the Poor, the Frail, Kids, Students, and the Environment

A month late and several billion dollars short, California's Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Democratic Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Republican Assembly Leader Sam Blakeslee, and Democratic Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg agreed on a budget deal that screws the poor, the frail, the young, the students, and the environment.

So why are these "leaders" grinning?



Maybe because they are "leaders" of California's One-Party-with-Two-Names?

Now comes the predictable, tiresome, hand-wringing "moderate" editorials from California's leading "respectable" corporate daily newspapers. Also, read the anguished cry of oppression and betrayal of our most vulnerable citizens.



Hand-Wringing MSM Editorials

Los Angeles Times --

"In dragging out the dickering and pushing California dangerously close to insolvency, Democratic legislative leaders insisted that they were protecting the safety net, knowing all the while that they were fraying it at the local end. They had few options, and it would be foolish for rank-and-file legislative Democrats to reject this budget based on the depth of the cuts. It's just that a little more candor about the limited nature of Californians' choices is in order.

That goes tenfold for Schwarzenegger, who insisted that the additional three weeks of parrying was an attempt to fix the state's structural problems once and for all. Nonsense. No once-and-for-all resolution was available. Despite the fantasies of would-be reformers, government cannot be remade in a few weeks during the middle of an economic disaster, a fact proved by the kick-the-can budget just announced. The real work comes over a period of months and perhaps years, as Californians turn their attention -- as they must -- to remaking our tax structure and reinventing our government."

San Jose Mercury News --

"Using veto power to rule out any tax increase, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Republicans guaranteed that the budget would be balanced by deceit and billion-dollar accounting gimmicks, like shifting the final payday for state workers to the next fiscal year. Like the Democrats, most Republicans didn't want to suspend Proposition 98 on school funding; they just didn't want to honestly fund it.

Instead of passing an oil production tax that many states already levy, California will grant new leases for drilling off Santa Barbara — if Schwarzenegger has his way."

Sacramento Bee --

"It is built on a base of billions of dollars in temporary tax increases approved in February and scheduled to expire in 2011, and temporary federal aid that is due to disappear even sooner. On top of that shaky foundation, legislative leaders and the governor have built a rickety house of borrowed money, shifted funds and old-fashioned gimmicks."

Finally, from One-Party Republican San Diego...

San Diego Union-Tribune --

"But whether the budget is approved tomorrow or in two weeks, it is essential that Schwarzenegger keep demanding reform in his final 17 months in office. His initial focus should be pushing hard for a two-tiered government pension system to reduce obligations to new hires. He should also continue to seek fixes to CalWORKS so that welfare reform can finally arrive in California.

But his broader focus should be on making the case as forcefully as possible that it's time for a new mind-set in Sacramento. For too long, the state has been run as if it were a jobs program, not a provider of essential services. This is why from 1997 to 2007, the number of jobs paid for entirely or largely by the state increased by nearly one-quarter, to 895,000.

It's time to roll back this huge growth. The idea that this will result in severe problems is a union-promulgated myth. All one has to do is look at the productivity revolution in the private sector in job areas that are essentially the same as in government: procurement, record-keeping, claims and payroll processing, inventory management and housing."

Cry of the Oppressed and Betrayed

Posted on L.A. Progressive, July 21, 2009.
The Republicans Win Big in California!
By Joseph Palermo

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his horde of retrograde Republican lawmakers got everything they wanted in a horrific bargain with Democratic legislative leaders that has ended (for the time being) California’s budget impasse. Not only will there not be a single cent raised for the state by taxing oil or tobacco, Schwarzenegger and the Republicans privatized $1 billion from the workman’s compensation insurance system, gutted all levels of the education budget, pauperized state workers with a third "furlough" day each month, raided the coffers of local governments, and even gave away the first new oil-drilling leases off the Santa Barbara coast in 40 years...

Posted on California Progress Report, July 23, 2009
New Budget Plan Takes California Backwards
By Willie L. Pelote, Sr.
Assistant Director ASFCME

Perhaps the most irresponsible aspect of the latest budget deal between Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republicans and State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) and State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), is that it utterly fails to deal with the structural nature of California's budget deficit, relying instead on one-time accounting maneuvers and the preservation of unnecessary tax breaks for multinational corporations that virtually guarantee the reemergence of future deficits.

The latest plan jettisons $2 billion of taxes on oil companies and alcohol producers supported by voters in favor of almost $16 billion worth of new cuts to education, health care, and social programs...
. . .
Schwarzenegger, the Republicans, Bass, Steinberg, and any other Democrat who votes for this budget plan will claim that they had no choice, that circumstances forced them to make these cuts to balance California’s budget.

This is untrue.

The decision to impose the lowest costs on the wealthiest among us and, thus, the highest costs on the least among us is and always will be a political decision.

Posted on the Web Site for the Western Center on Law & Poverty, July 24, 2009.
Legislature Guts The Safety Net
by Mike Herald

18 Democrats Vote for the Cuts That Start July 2011.

The Assembly just passed AB 8 4X by a vote of 44-21 to concur in Senate amendments that make historic changes in the state's CalWORKs program. The bill was supported by 18 Democrats and 26 Republicans. 20 Democrats and 1 Republican (Tran) voted no. The bill now goes to the Governor where he is expected to sign the bill.
. . .
But the damage done by AB 8 4X is extreme. The bill guts the safety net for the most vulnerable families by reducing children's grants for the first time in the history of the CalWORKs program. Grants will be reduced by 25% from a maximum of $566 a month for two children down to $420 a month if the parent can not comply with federal work requirements. These are parents who are either can not work legally or who have used up the 60 month time clock but are still so poor their children qualify for assistance. In reality, for most of these families they will see their grants reduced. Advocates implored Democratic legislators to not accept these cuts, particularly to immigrant families because politically it is nearly impossible to ever restore these benefits.
. . .
It is shameful, disgraceful and one of the lowest moments in the history of social welfare in California. It is deeply offensive to hear Democratic leadership claim to have "saved the safety net" or that they will undo this in the future. They will never have the votes to restore CalWORKs and they should stop trying to deceive the public about the harm they have done.

What is To Be Done? Reboot California Politics


Do you sincerely want to fix California's broken politics? How do you tell if somebody does? Fellow Americans, here's a simple rule: look to see if the thundering writer of editorials and commentary mentions a role for independents and third-parties. If the editorial or commentary stubbornly insists that in politics all is within Democrats and Republicans; nothing outside Democrats and Republicans; and nothing against Democrats and Republicans, and especially is they suggest that somehow this problem can be "fixed" by electing more Democrats or Republicans, then you know the guy is just a pompous blowhard and not to be taken seriously.

L.A. "Briefing" on Special Election

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is hosting a "briefing" on the May 19th Special Election.

BRIEFING ON THE SPECIAL ELECTION AND THE CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISIS
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
6:00 p.m. -- 8:30 p.m.
(Registration at 5:30 p.m)

CALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER
Wallis Annenberg Building
Muses Conference Room
700 Exposition Park Drive
Los Angeles, California

RSVP to:
rbarbosa@bos.lacounty.gov
or 213-743-7200

It will be very interesting to see how Ridley-Thomas "plays" this.

On the one hand, he is very close to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, who endorsed him in his bitter fight with Bernard Parks in last year's supervisor election.

On the other hand, he is also very close to the leadership of S.E.I.U. and some of the other Labor Boys who mostly don't like these propositions.

I personally, think this would be a wonderful opportunity for our inner-city Greens to turnout in force and underscore how the "Green Brand" means something very different from "liberal-Democrats-in-a-hurry."




The Democrats are all over the map and the top leadership is completely out of step with the rank and file on this one. The Los Angeles Democratic Party Machine Bosses, including Speaker Bass, who helped negotiate the ill-fated budget deal, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are holding their noses and urging voters to vote "YES."

Meanwhile, after painstakingly polling each county, the Green Party of California issued a statement urging a "NO" vote.

GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS RELEASE

Green Party Turns Thumbs-Down to Propositions on May 19 ballot, Charge Plan is 'Rotten Deal' That Only Gives Voters 'Choice' of Being Shot in Arm or Leg

SACRAMENTO (May 4, 2009) -- The Green Party of California today -- after polling its members and county councils statewide for the past month -- strongly urged state voters to vote "no" on all propositions on the May 19 special ballot, calling the plan a "rotten deal."

"We oppose the cuts in transportation, education, social services and other humane services, and we oppose this deal even though we were told that great hardship would result if (this) rotten deal failed to pass," said Michael Rubin, who analyzed the measures for the Green Party of Alameda County.

"Even more we oppose the process which offers us a 'choice' of being shot in the leg or shot in the arm, but did not offer us the choice of using our collective wealth to meet human needs," added Rubin.

The Greens agreed with the California Nurses Association (CNA) -- which also opposed the entire package, and League of Women Voters that Prop. 1A should be defeated, saying it would create new problems and mandate more billions in cuts to needed social concerns.

And although some Greens polled believed that Prop. 1B looked good at first glance, they discarded it -- as did the CNA -- because it was only the "sweetener" for the rotten deal, especially Prop.1A. They rejected Prop. 1C for much the same reasons.

Prop. 1D and Prop. 1E were turned down because they steal money from two previous propositions meant to benefit children and families, as well as from mental services.

Finally, Greens voted to oppose Prop.1F because it is deceptive, and doesn't really prevent the politicians from receiving their normal salaries, per diem and other perks (like free use of automobiles, etc.). It only bars "increases" in budget deficit years."

-30-

Contacts:
Susan King, Spokesperson, 415.823.5524, sking@cagreens.org
Cres Vellucci, Press Secretary, 916.996.9170, cvellucci@cagreens.org

The Green Party of California
PO Box 2828
Sacramento, CA 95812
Phone: (916) 448-3437
Web: http://www.cagreens.org
EMail: gpca@greens.org

I cannot count how many times a few of us have pleaded with our Green brothers and sisters not to devote all to foreign affairs, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gosh, whatever happened to "Think Globally, Act Locally?"

I mean, if our current situation right here doesn't make our case that the current two-party system of "liberal" Democrats versus "conservative" Republicans is totally dysfunctional and not remotely capable of dealing with the challenges of global climate change specifically as this global catastrophe will impact the delicate and complex ecology and society of California, then I don't know what will. "Liberal" and "conservative" populists can rant and foam all day about the evils of "Washington" but the awful truth is that our dysfunctional Sacramento politics is worse than the dysfunctional politics of Washington.

State of Arnold's State.

The Governor did a brilliant job of framing the issues as everyone's problem except his. He still does not accept the fact that he has done little to solve the problem other than to hold news conferences about an un-needed peripheral canal and veto bills.

The problem is that he is right. Sacramento is mired in an ideological war that may prove to be as intractable as the real war going on in Gaza. We have all seen the problems that are caused when politicians hold a hard line to their ideologies. That is governing in the manner of George Bush whose unwavering adherence to his outdated principles are the cause of most of the problems this country now faces. That is not an example for anyone to emulate.

Thankfully, Schwarzenegger kept his word to not give a list of programs. He replaced that with a list of "wants" that he said everyone had. I am not sure how a millionaire actor / real-estate developer can think he knows what the average person wants, but he gave it a try and some of them are OK. Clean air, water to drink and education are apple pie and motherhood for any politician.

What he neglected to mention is that we want those not only for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren.. These are the blessings of liberty that our constitution would secure for ourselves and our posterity. We must solve this problem now so that it is not a
burden to our grand children in any way... not through the cost of our fiscal irresponsibility nor from the actions that we did not take.

I am amazed that, in the face of a crisis of their own making, our state legislature has accepted a pay raise and continues to draw per diem payments even if they are not even in Sacramento. While the amount may be small, the symbolism of this is that Bass and Sternberg still don't get it. Somehow, they act as if they are not like the rest of us.

And in all of this, he failed to call attention to the fact that his own party has been the obstruction to any resolution with their perceived goal of whittling government down to the size of a pocket handkerchief and their mantra of No New Taxes. If we were to make the upper 10% of the citizens of this state pay the same percentage of their income as tax that the bottom 10% does, we would have a manageable deficit problem.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass: Let's Talk Taxes

Sacramento, Tuesday, May 13, 2008 – Karen Bass was sworn in as speaker of the California State Assembly. She is the first African-American woman to hold such a legislative post anywhere in the United States. Speaker Bass says ready to begin tackling the many challenges facing California. Governor Schwarzenegger was scheduled to release his revised budget proposal Wednesday afternoon.

Ms. Bass is a Democrat representing the 47th Assembly District in Los Angeles. The impression of this Green reporter is that Karen is more thoughtful, more honest, and more sincerely progressive than most Big City California Democratic Party pols. The Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by Ms. Bass proposing an "independent" look at the "Third Rail" of California politics: Taxes. Her op-ed includes a concise description of the paradox of California: a state with wealth, resources, and a productive work force that is somehow "a giant in crisis."

Peter Miguel Camejo, our Green Party candidate for Governor spoke "Truth to Power" about the budget way back in 2002, when Democratic Governor Gray Davis was lying through his teeth. Greens have earned the right to a seat at the table and we must seize this opportunity to engage in a little "triangulation" between the better elements of the California legislature and do-nothing, ethically-challenged "Regular" Democrats and Republicans.

. . .

The point is not that Camejo, Greens, or anybody else, has a "magic wand" to make our budget problems go away. The point is that the Green Party was straight with the people of California when Democrats, Republicans, including the phoney "post-partisan" Arnold Schwarzenegger, were all shucking 'n jiving... We have the duty to help save California and promote our key values to save the planet.

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