Update: In this video taken Sunday, a clearly angry Sen. President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg lectures Sen. Sam Aansted over the budget.

"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub,"

-- Grover Norquist in The Nation magazine, 2001.

This astounding quote comes from the president of Americans for Tax Reform, the group which is, as I write this, helping to hold California's budget hostage. It's Norquist's "no tax pledges" that have put fear in the hearts of otherwise reasonable Republicans who might be tempted to -- gasp -- compromise.

Late word comes from Sacramento that just one lone Republican vote in the State Senate is now needed to break this desperate deadlock. Of course it has not escaped me that had Hannah-Beth Jackson been elected, we would've had a budget by now.

And yet it was not to be. In a further ironic twist, it was none other than our former State Sen. Tom McClintock who helped solicit these "no-tax" promises and lit the fuse for this mother of all budget battles, according to the Sacramento Bee.  McClintock's newly elected protege, Tony Strickland, who told voters he was an "independent thinker," has carried on this mission with gusto.

Passing the current budget package requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate and Assembly -- at least three GOP votes in each house. But it's been difficult to get these pledge signers to renege. They fear for their political lives, and with good reason.

"Four GOP assemblymen were denounced as traitors seven years ago when they broke party ranks, in exchange for millions in district incentives, to side with Democrats on a state budget that raised the sales tax by a quarter-cent," the Bee wrote.

LET'S JUST ALL BE HONEST.  There is no fiscally or morally sound way to close the state's $42 billion budget deficit without a tax increase of some kind.

Indeed, the Republicans' own "no tax" version of a budget was resoundingly ridiculed by many for not adding up and pushing even more debt.

"In short, the GOP plan would worsen next year's budget deficit so lawmakers could avoid tough decisions this year. That's not fiscal responsibility. That's not leadership. Nor have GOP leaders been honest about how their plan would work," the Sacramento Bee wrote.

BUT WHO IS BEHIND THIS GROUP, Americans for Tax Reform, which has so powerfully entangled itself in our state's politics? According to the Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW), Norquist's group has been heavily funded by both the alcohol and tobacco industries.

And they further write:

"An examination of Norquist's activities over the past decade shows a pattern: He has maintained a highly visible public persona as a crusader on behalf of the average taxpayer, but his work has also benefited some of his biggest donors who have specific interests."

According to the New York Times, Norquist is also a friend and longtime associate of Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist now serving time for fraud and other crimes.

This group also had a heavy hand in the 2000 election of George W. Bush.

OUR CURRENT STATE BUDGET is like a sore allowed to fester and ooze over time by ignoring both real reforms advocated by Republicans and sound revenue measures advocated by Democrats.

Had we done a few temporary tax increases long ago instead of putting it all on the state MasterCard, the current bundle of increases would not look as oppressive as it does today.

The Vehicle License Fee should have been raised long ago. This is a $6-billion annual state spending program because the state is locked into reimbursing local governments for the revenue they lost when Schwarzenegger cut the VLF the day he got into office.

The Democrats have done their part in compromising with $15.1 billion in expenditure reductions, even if there is more work to be done in the area of reforms. And the money coming to our state from the federal stimulus package may soften the blows all around.

To the brave Republicans they're throwing under the bus to get this budget passed: I will remember you all with a contribution should you run for re-election. You stared into the face of extreme special interests and you took the high road.

To download details of the current budget bill click here:
Asm Budget Floor Report 2008-09.doc