A gubernatorial spokesman predicts a "total meltdown" in the Capitol if there's not a deal for a new California budget by Saturday, the deadline for adding measures that would be part of any compromise to the November ballot. At Blockbuster Democracy, we're adopting "Total Meltdown" as a way to distinguish California posts from news from other states.
In Total Meltdown news...
DON'T TAKE PERATA'S WORD: The Senate Democratic leader said a deal was close. It wasn't.
DIFI SMACKDOWN: Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a rumored candidate for governor in 2010, went to Sacramento yesterday and criticized legislators for failing to put a $9.3 billion water bond on the ballot. She's right, of course. The state badly needs the infrastructure, and the bond represents a compromise reached by her and Gov. Schwarzenegger. But folks on the left and right hate it, and the California legislature's mantra right now might as well be: "Let's make the perfect the enemy of the good."
WE DECIDE, YOU VOTE. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors reversed itself and voted to put a sales tax on the ballot to fund transit programs. But then the board voted to register its opposition to the package. Yes, it's confusing.
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