The politics of the Governor's latest budget proposals is coming into full view. Below is a quote from today's Contra Costa Times from former Senate leader John Burton on how he views the current battle.

Here's the link to the full story: http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics/ci_12788136?source=rss

The media has been giving significant coverage to the Governor's latest proposals on CalWORKs. Almost every story has featured a response by the county welfare directors or WCLP that contradicts and challenges the Governor's assertions. As of this morning at least 12 outlets covered the issue. Pro tem Darrell Steinberg posted to his Facebook page the article from the Ventura County Star that we shared yesterday.

In addition, the Democrats yesterday posted a new video on You Tube linking the Governor's latest proposals with a comment he made in the New York Times that he doesn't stress out about the budget because he can climb into his jacuzzi and smoke a stogie. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYyB34qh6E 

As for the budget, discussions seem to be going nowhere with both sides engaging in a public relations war. The Legislature is trying to compete in the public square with a celebrity Governor with a large microphone. Speaker Bass, in particular, has taken a lot of criticism for not going to a Big Five Meeting this week because she was tired of hearing the Governor ask for items not related to the budget. Effectively, the Governor is attempting to hijack the state budget crisis to impose policy proposals, like full family sanctions for CalWORKs families, that have been repeatedly rejected. Usually for very good reasons. The Speaker is right to demand that the Governor turn his attention to the present crisis before it gets worse. Each day the Governor holds out increases the deficit by about $25 million.