Had Enough Yet?

Other harsh setbacks in this plan  that our Governator has deemed "a budget the people of California can be proud of"  include cuts in spending for the treatment of drug offenders, the repealing of a tax break for teachers designed to let them write-off school supplies they paid for and the postponing of a small cost-of-living increase for many of the state's disabled residents. To get the Assembly Republicans to sign onto the bill, Speaker Fabian Nunez even decided to pass a series of rider bills that would've created a $600 million tax break  supposedly to encourage Hollywood to pump out more movies and to grant large corporations tax reductions.

Fortunately, Don Perata, President Pro Tem of the Senate (which has yet to approve the bill), has vowed to kill this last minute deal, blasting it as "an irresponsible action to take in the dark of night, without any debate or discussion." While he supports the rest of the bill, this impasse could result in the budget plan not being ratified until after the legislature's month-long recess unless Arnold successfully intercedes to twist a few more Republicans' arms (which he appears to have little chance of doing).

It's sad to see that legislators still can't seem to differentiate needless spending (which our national government has been doing to the tune of over $9 billion a month) from worthwhile investment.

Photo by svanes via flickr