Pundit Calls GOP Assembly Leadership Change "Suicide"

Of course, if you would like for the voters to understand why they should eliminate the requirement for supermajority approval of the budget, an obstructionist, far-right GOP is exactly what you need to illustrate the point. A troll in the headlights is much scarier than a deer.

#

A "troll in the headlights"? Oh, yeah, I forgot that you liberals dislike personal put-downs only when they are targeted at homosexuals, transexuals, liberals, certain ethnic minorities and people who vote along left-wing lines. But if you're talking about a conservative, you just lob insults like troll, caveman, Nazi and other tried-and-true favorites. For the record, Villines is a very personable, intelligent man, and he seems like a great choice to be a spokesman and leader for the Republican lawmakers and the constituents whom they were elected to represent. And before you get too worked up about "obstructionists" in the budget negotiations, you might want to consider that if Gray Davis had taken the advice of the Republican budget negotiators during his term, he never would have been recalled, and our budget would be in much better shape. But he and the Democrats didn't believe in the bipartisan cooperation that would have been needed to pass responsible budgets.

#

Mea culpa. I should not have referred to those who defend the rule permitting as little as 1/3 of one house (as few as 14 out of 120 legislators) to have veto power over the state budget as "trolls." I should have referred to them as "enemies of representative democracy."

#

Come on.. taxpayer. You’re honestly not using the word “responsible” to describe Schwarzenegger’s first action as Governor -- single handedly leveeing a $14 billion budget deficit because it was the popular thing to do. It’s hard to take Republicans seriously when they claim fiscally responsibility. If there is anything that we Dems have learned (the hard way), sometimes the responsible way is NOT the popular way.

#

Well, its not only suicidal, but also amazingly devoid of logic. First, how could the GOP assembly caucus blame Plescia for not picking up any seats? Look, its no secret that Bonnie Garcia is, shall we say, a few fries short of happy meal, and, as such, quite vulnerable. However, there is no way Plescia could have predicted she would screw up so bad that he would have to divert funds away from the parra race, the one seat they had a shot at, to help Garcia win. Secondly, if one thing was made clear on November 7th, it was that the country was tired of right wing nut cases. Why the GOP would respond by throwing out a centrist for a conservative is beyond logic. But I do agree with david_t, that this might turn out to be a blessing for us Dems by allowing us to make a concise argument for eliminating the supermajority requirement to pass budgets.

#

Shaniqua, as a matter of fact, I didn't mention Schwarzenegger at all. Please read what I actually wrote, which was that if Gray Davis and the Democrats had followed the advice of Republicans during the Davis administration, the budget would be in better shape and he wouldn't have been recalled. As for the other comment about "enemies of representative democracy," that's just ridiculous. What are the Republican legislators supposed to do, just decide to not use the voting power that the people have given them, so they can be "friends" of democracy? Something tells me you wouldn't feel that way if the Democrats were in the minority, and were able to use the two-thirds requirement to protect some of the things they and their constituents hold dear. If not for the two-thirds requirement, the state budget would be even more screwed up than it already is (see the comments above about how Republicans were better at budgeting than Gray Davis).

#

The two-thirds majority allows for both sides to posture and for no one to take responsibility, to the detriment of us all.

#

I would feel no differently about the two-thirds rule if Democrats were in the minority. I am in favor of a level, fair playing field, and letting the chips fall where they may. Not only should we eliminate the requirement for a two-thirds vote on the budget, but we should also pass a proposition providing that any future initiative that imposes a two-thirds voting requirement on any subject is inoperative unless it is itself adopted by a two-thirds majority. Permitting simple majorities to enact supermajority requirements is undemocratic on the face of it.

#