Posted on 07/02/2004 7:31:36 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
The familiar sounds of partisan gridlock overtook the Capitol Friday, as efforts to get a state budget agreement broke down with Democrats and Republicans choosing sides over a plan to revise how local governments are financed.
The air of optimism that had characterized negotiations all week has all but dissipated. And expectations that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could still step in like a kindergarten cop and settle the flare up seem far fetched as the governor struggled with his own difficulties.
"At this point, this budget is being held up and it isn't by Democrats," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles. "For the last couple of days we've been going through issues _ we've given up a significant number of things in this budget to try to accommodate our Republican friends. But the fact of the matter is that there are folks who are holding out." Republican Assembly leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakerfield pointed out that his is not the majority party and that Democrats are to blame for the impasse.
"We are not the majority party; we realize that the recall only recalled the governor," McCarthy said. "But these are the same individuals who gave us the last five budgets, the same architects with the same plan."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
payback is a bitch... but so is living off of the sweat and hard-earned money of hard-working taxpayers and businesses.
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