By DAN WALTERS, Sacramento Bee

A comprehensive dictionary offers a number of definitions of "drill," one being a device for making holes in something, and another being a rehearsed exercise.

The death of California labor leader Jack Henning this month generated, as one might expect, paeans to his longevity, his skills as a hellfire-and-brimstone orator and his remarkable forays into national and even international affairs, the latter as ambassador to New Zealand during the 1960s.

California's state and local governments are, as everyone knows, wrestling with immense budget deficits, thanks to years of irresponsible budgeting and a severe recession, and a major aspect of that struggle is how to pare public payrolls.

Reflecting -- even befitting -- someone who conquered the image-obsessed worlds of bodybuilding and movies before turning to politics, Arnold Schwarzenegger's governorship of California has been marked by countless changes of persona and position.

By happenstance, shortly after voters passed Proposition 98 -- a constitutional guarantee of public school financing -- in 1988, California's economy plummeted into a severe recession, creating a huge deficit in the state budget.

Barack Obama's election as president indirectly created two vacancies in California's congressional delegation. In the ensuing game of political musical chairs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could redistribute political power in the state -- and perhaps even name his own potential successor.

Five years ago, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the much-heralded hero for city council members, county supervisors and other local government officials, helping them achieve long-sought constitutional protections against raids by the state.

Five years ago, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the much-heralded hero for city council members, county supervisors and other local government officials, helping them achieve long-sought constitutional protections against raids by the state.

Five years ago, the California Supreme Court angered gay rights advocates when it ruled that the marriage licenses that San Francisco was issuing to same-sex couples at the behest of Mayor Gavin Newsom were invalid because state law prohibited such marriages.

California's perpetual budget crisis and voters' rejection of five budget-related ballot measures last week have renewed the perennial debate over whether Californians are, to borrow a comparison from "The Three Bears," taxed too much, too little or just about right.
Much of the positioning is ideological, and therefore immune to being affected by data and fact.