You may think it's primarily about solving a deficit. Sure, that's a factor. But with our state's insane two-thirds vote requirement, it often isn't the primary issue in play. MediaNews Sacramento reporter Steve Harmon explains the ambitions of the Republican legislative leaders:
Even as state officials are preparing today to issue IOUs to state vendors and certain taxpayers, Hollingsworth and Blakeslee -- and their caucuses -- are demanding reforms that would undercut labor gains, shrink the social safety net and relax regulations on business. The two leaders said they see the crisis as a chance to instill more discipline on the state's appetite for spending -- and to lift the Republican philosophy of a small-government, entrepreneurial-based economy.
Yes, no need to win those pesky things called "elections" to lift your philosophy. With a base that includes just a little more than one-third of the legislature's members, they get to impose their Norquistian drown-the-rest-of-government-in-the-bathtub philosophy on the state.
The anti-democratic two-thirds vote requirement is at the heart of California's dysfunction. Until democracy is returned to our budget process, the state will continue to falter.
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