Our wonderful state of California was once considered a paradise, or so I'm told. Now it is a jumbled mess of run away taxes, un-business friendly tactics, and overcrowded prisons. Lack of leadership in Sacramento has led the state into a disarray.

Many have been arguing that a constitutional convention should be had to make certain needed changes. Two changes that are seriously being looked at include changing the two-thirds majority requirement for raising taxes and the intiative process.

Democrats seriously want the supermajority vote reduced to a simple majority. Dems need two thirds to pass taxes and approve the budget. A simple majority only requires fifty percent plus one, which the Dems already have. Republicans would be brushed aside and the sliver of bipartisanship that is still alive in Sacramento, will be gone.

The initiative process also wants to be tackled because of the fact that anyone or any group with a million dollars laying around can put a vote to the public. The initiative was originally created by the Progressives as a way to pass legislation during a time when special interests ruled the legislature. Unfortunately, those same special interests took the intiative process and ran with it. The most notable and recent intiative was Prop 8; the intiative that defined marriage as that between a man and woman, there by banning same sex marriage. Other famous intiatives include Prop 13, the limit on property taxes, and Prop 187 which banned undocumented immigrants from schools and was later found unconstitutional.

In conclusion, the state does need a constitutional convention. Besides the two changes listed above, the state is in a futile mess. Serious changes need to happen in Sacramento. I say change the two thirds majority to a simple majority. Then when Californians are up to the eyeballs in taxes, worse than they are now, we will vote those Dems out of office. The second Republicans rising is coming. And on the intiative process, lets just scrap the whole thing. Throw it in the trash. Lets let the legislature legislate. Just like teachers need to start teaching better, the government needs to start governing more efficiently. Let's wake Sacramento up.  

With 2009 coming to an end, that means it is almost time for the 2010 election cycle. The biggest race in California undoubtebly will be that for governor. Already, a couple candidates have stepped forward from both sides.

On the Republican side we have three candidates. There is Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner, and Tom Campbell(pictured below). Meg Whitman is the ex-ceo of Ebay, Steve Poizner is our current state insurance commissioner, and Tom Campbell is a former Congressman.

Democrats currently have Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown heading for a showdown. Gavin Newsom is current mayor of San Francisco and had an affair with his campaign manager's wife(ouch!). Jerry Brown has also been around the block. He was Secretary of State, Governor, Mayor of Oakland, and currently holds the office of Attorney General. 

If you're not sure who to vote for, don't worry you still have plenty of time. I'm not sure myself who I am going for. George Skelton had a nice write up of Tom Campbell and his centrist views. A lot of local republicans are lining up behind Meg Whitman. But how you can not vote for someone who has been putting up with the insurance companies. 

So whats a young Republican to do?

Early last week, the Republican Senator from South Carolina had some sharp words for his colleagues and President Obama. Senator Jim Demint said "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him." So if the Republicans could stop Obamacare from moving forward, they could stop the President, and in fact it would be the beginning of the end for him.

--

Like everyone else, I would like to see healthcare for all. The system is so flawed though it could create more mess than needed. The pace at which Congress is trying to pass healtcare is just too fast.  President Obama wants his healthcare reform bill passed before the end of the year because he knows that once the new year rolls around, most of his luster will be gone. Anything as huge as healthcare reform needs to be done while people are still starry-eyed with the President.

It is not only Republicans who are shying away from universal healthcare. There were grumblings from conservative Democrats who say too much money would be spent.

--

Concerning large amounts of momney, you can not just shore up $26 billion. Like the last California budget, I am just waiting for this new one to fall apart at the seams. It is really a shame too because so many people are losing services and funding for any number of particular projects. As California will continue to brace for impact in these shaky economic times, lets see if the "leaders" in Sacramento can begin plotting a new course for our state.

 --

Food for Thought: If we spent $3 trillion in Iraq over 6 years, is it worth spending $1 trillion on healthcare over 10 years?

Well its our favorite time of the year. No not the 4th of July. Its time to pass the budget in California. Maybe it's just my favorite time of the year.

Well any-who. The budget was due June 30. I don't see it being passed anytime soon. Last year's budget took almost the whole year and then what was passed, was rejected on the May 19 by the voters. Democrats are trying to pass taxes in the form of fees and Governor Schwarzenegger says he won't sign anything that resembles a tax. We will see about that. Republicans again stand strong on their call for no new taxes. We will see about that too.

Not to fear though, there are about a dozen other states that are having problems solving their own issues. Unfortunately, California is the one with the worst cases.

--

On the sports front, Dodger's all-star Manny Ramirez returns to the line up Friday night against the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers did pretty well in the two month stretch with Juan Pierre filling in for the suspended Ramirez. Pierre excelled and hopes to continue seeing playing time.

--

Finfally, if you are in the mood for some fun, here is an article with a lot of events happening around the county this weekend.

Over the last few weeks a rift has been brewing between the U.S. and Israel. The Obama administration is asking Israel to stop developing settlements in the West Bank. For those who do not know, the West Bank is a disputed territory between Israel and Palestine. As Palestinians try to achieve statehood, many clashes have come about because of the continued growth through settlements. It seems that Palestine is now ready to work with Israel, unfortunately it does not seem Israel is ready to work with Palestine.

--

On Sunday, several bodies of victims from the Air France disaster began to be recovered. Pieces of the plane, including the tail have also been discovered floating in the ocean. Now the hunt continues to find the black box and figure out what went terribly wrong on that stormy night.

--

Its Californias favorite time of the year: budget time. And of course our buddies in Sacramento are doing what they do every year, arguing over what to cut and who to tax. Governor Schwarzenneger continues to cry wolf and say that if cuts are not made the state will fall apart. It was even reported today that the Governor is contemplating cutting all welfare as a way to save the state and get it out of its $24 billion debt. Unlike businesses, the state can not file for bankruptcy.

--

On the war front, Monday marked the beginning of the new surge in Afghanistan. As reported, about 7,000 troops were deployed into Afghanistan. This is only the beginning with an additional 14,000 being deployed throughout the summer. Much of the surge is to chase out Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The new surge hopefully will work like it did in Iraq especially with presidential elections happening in Afghanistan later this year.  

So as we all know, the state finally has a budget. And what I really love about the budget, besides the 11 billion in new taxes, is that fact that it still needs to pass that May 19 special election. There will be two measure for the people to vote on, and if they don't pass, we get to pretty much tear up the current budget and start anew.

Hooray to solving problems!

I do have to give credit where it is due though, and so cheers to Senator Abel Maldonado. He stuck to his guns and got what he wanted. What was funny was some people were saying he was trying to divert democracy by calling for open primaries. That person was actually Art Torres of the Democratic Party. Wow! Abel Maldonado was trying to divert democracy by calling for open primaries? That Art Torres sure is a goofy one.

So the lawmakers up in Sacramento finally got too work. Over the weekend, many of the legislators were locked in the capital building so that a state budget could be reached. Was a deal completed? Of course not.

The budget is very close to being passed though. How close you might ask? One vote away.

One Republican vote in the state Senate is all that is needed and the Democrats are looking to Abel Maldonado (R - Santa Maria) to supply it. Senator Maldonado is holding out though for a list of his own demands which include not paying state legislatures if the budget is late. Now that is a great idea. It motivates the people in Sacramento to do their job and do it one time. Not 100 days late, and counting. Well of course the Democrats fiercly opposed this idea so Sen. Maldonado has not given in.

The great thing about this budget mess is that as soon as this one is passed, the next one will be here and we can start all over again.

Just have a couple articles to link to.

First, there's been all this talk about releasing the prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, well what about all the prisoners held at Bagrams Air Base. The prison is located at the American base in Aghanistan. There are reported to be about 600 prisoners there who if released, will almost immediately return to fighting. So what do we do about them?

Afghan Prison Poses Problem in Overhaul of Detainee Policy [New York Times]

And LA Time's op-ed discusses a new way to handle the state budget. The article talks about a hard cap spending budget. It was introduced by Republicans but has been gaining little traction in the Democrat controlled legislature.

Strangling California's Budget [LA Times]

 Lately Governor Schwarzenegger has been barking up the budget tree so people have started to take it seriously. So yesterday, after a summer of budget woes and a few special sessions there was a plan.

Governor To Veto Budget Plan by Timm Herdt

So the Big Guy up in Sacramento today announced a fiscal emergency. Oh wait, didnt he ring this bell already this year. YES! About three times. Well this time Governor Schwarzenegger hopes the outcome will be different. So with the announcement of the fiscal emergency Governor Schwarzenegger has called for another special session of the legislature.

"Without immediate action our state is headed for a fiscal disaster and that is why with more than two dozen new legislators sworn in today - I am wasting no time in calling a fiscal emergency special session," Governor Schwarzenegger.

The continuing economic crisis is not bringing in the funding that the state needs. The state deficit is projecting to be short $28 billion in the long run. Just last year the deficit was projected somewhere between $11-18 billion dollars. Again, the continuing economic crisis is making the deficit grow as the state continues its spending spree. The only real solution can be to cut spending. But again how?

I propose making cuts to education by repealing Proposition 98. Prop 98 was passed in 1988 and says that a certain percentage of the budget be allocated towards K-14. Already the system is failing and throwing money at the problem is not helping. Too much money is being thrown at education when it needs to be allocated all around. This will make students, teachers, schools, and districts evolve and have them do more with less. It is possible. Instead of having teachers complain about their low wages, they will have to teach more, and more, and more. Aren't they teachers because they want to teach, not because of the salary.

This is the first step towards actually doing something with that thing the state calls a budget. Lets budget people. 

Schwarzenneger Declares Fiscal Emergency [SF Chronicle]

Schwarzenneger Calls Fiscal Emergy in California [Bloomberg]

Attention: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

As a fellow Californian, I urge you to approve the budget. I know you want reform, we all want reform. The truth is though that the budget is almost three months late. We need to put the budget in play already.

You duked it out trying to get somewhere. You started to late though Governor. Next year's budget will be right around the corner. I say you hit both sides hard. This years chances have come and gone. It is time to move on.

Please approve the budget Governor Schwarzenegger, California depends on it.

In all honesty,

Daniel Goldberg 

California's fiscal year begins on July 1. Today is September 3. Two months after the beginning of the fiscal year, the state of California still has no budget. What is interesting is that this is nothing new. For the last several years, the legislature has been fighting over the budget, and its problems, without ever really creating a solution, or a budget on time.

This year is no different. With a gap of $15 billion dollars, Republicans and Democrats are fighting over how to shore up the difference. Republicans want to cut programs, roughly $10 billion worth. Democrats want to raise the sales tax. Governor Schwarzenegger is stuck somewhere in the middle, leaning more towards the Democrats.

In the meantime, the Governor has cut the state employees wages to the federal minimum wage level, which is $6.55 an hour. Try living off of that.

Oh and this year has set the record for longest without a budget.

So lets give a big THANK YOU to all our elected state officials!

As you might have heard, the California State budget is about two months overdue. It was originally due on July 1. Here we are August 26 and still nothing but infighting between the Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento.

To add to the mix, Governor "I Will Not Raise Taxes" Schwarzenegger has recently proposed raising taxes temporarily to get over the problems we are having with the budget. The Governor said he would take a tough stance on passing the budget as well by not signing any bills until a budget was finally passed.

Well that was until today when Governor Schwarzenegger announced he would be signing several bills concerning a high speed rail measure and a water bond measure.

So first he said that he'd never raise taxes, then he said he wouldn't sign any bills until the budget got passed. Whats next?

Seriously, its no wonder why the legislature does not take the Governor serious.