ShareThisOne of the reasons California is in another financial mess is that the state's residents get the same old rhetoric from the Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento. There's a $16 billion budget deficit, yet both parties continue to protect their political benefactors as if the state has a $16 billion surplus.The Democrats' mantra: You can't make cuts in programs. That's code for saying, don't dare mess with the goodies for the public employee unions, such as the prison guards. The Republicans say you have to cut all the programs because tax increases will only hurt the little guy. Of course, their idea of a little guy is Kirk Kerkorian or Steve Jobs.The concept of shared sacrifice during troubled times is something that the politicians leading our state reject out of hand. Someone else must take budget hits, just not the special-interest pals who fund their campaigns.No wonder programs for the poor, blind and disabled are always on the chopping block. They don't give campaign contributions.This could have been a year of change for the Legislature. Three of the four legislative leaders would be new, and some thought they would bring different ways of looking at things to the Capitol.So far, I haven't seen anything that would lead me to believe that any of them will stray too far beyond the political boxes of their parties. I hope I'm wrong, but the three new leaders seem to be robots who parrot the political talking points of their predecessors.They may have slightly different styles, but don't expect them to vary much from what we've seen in the past.Unfortunately, visionary thinking on issues isn't a qualification for leading the Democrats or Republicans in the Legislature. You won't find a party of ideas in Sacramento.There's a reason: Not making too many waves has kept the Democrats in the majority in the Legislature and the Republicans in the minority. You can only wonder why the GOP likes being the minority party. I suspect the Republicans really don't want to be in charge, because then they'd have to produce. It's much easier to be on the outside lobbing grenades at problems instead of solving them.Meanwhile, the budget deficit has grown, and that should persuade the politicians to do something different.The new Democratic leaders -- Karen Bass as Assembly speaker and Darrell Steinberg as Senate president pro tem -- and the new Republican leader in the Senate -- Dave Cogdill -- will be challenged to reach beyond the status quo. I doubt they have the guts to look their political patrons in the eyes and say it's time for compromise.Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines is the only returning legislative leader, and his goal is to assure Californians that there won't be a political revolution anytime soon.His latest accomplishment is protecting an unjustified tax break for the rich. Villines led the effort to maintain a loophole that yacht owners have been sailing their luxury vessels through for years.In Villines' view of fairness, they can dodge California taxes by taking delivery of their yachts out of state and fuss with them for a few months before bringing them to the Golden State.Villines justified this scam by saying such a tax wouldn't generate much money, so why bother closing the loophole? The fact that it's the right thing to do apparently escapes him. Villines would rather take money from education than tax the owners of yachts. If his 29th District constituents think that's equitable, then they deserve him.The Democrats aren't compromising, either, claiming the state can tax its way out of the growing deficit. But holding the line on spending on their favored programs isn't an option. This is the party of credit cards, except these credit cards don't have spending limits.Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has staked out a compromise position, but in California, that's often a loser position. We like our politics played on the extreme, even if it means a stalemate on the toughest problems facing the Golden State. Schwarzenegger may remain popular among California residents, but he has diminishing clout in Sacramento.The ham-fisted way he went about endorsing the Democrats' term-limits measure on the Feb. 5 ballot shows he's no longer confident in his political footing. He first opposed loosening term limits, but finally backed Proposition 93. The voters realized they were being scammed and rejected the change.We're in an election year, and the politicians will be posturing even more than normal. Look past the rhetoric to see if they are actually improving California's quality of life. It's time to hold them accountable for their inaction.(Jim Boren is The Fresno Bee's editorial-page editor. E-mail him at jboren(at)fresnobee.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
You won't find a party of ideas in Sacramento
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
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You won't find a party of ideas in Sacramento
It's a great editorial Jim, what most people don't realize is that the extremes of both parties are put into office by groups. The individual doesn't count in California anymore, it all runs by groups. The prison guards know how to organize, raise money and get out the vote to put people into office. If the voters would stop falling for all the fear mongering and cast votes for smart on crime candidates instead of those funded by law enforcement labor union dollars, we might have more of a chance. I am convinced that about the only people who vote are those making a profit off the human bondage industry.
The politicians go after the weak, which includes the 3 million related to prisoners, who are weak only by choice and lack of education, the disabled and ill, and foster children. There will be little or no resistance from these people in the form of letters to editors or large protests, so they can do whatever they want to them.
It isn't the right thing but it's how the system has worked for the past two decades. There is a lack of conscience amongst our lawmakers who are purchased into office.
It would help if the Bee covered more of the prisoner deaths and stopped believing the State's reports. You called it though...great job