Day: June 3, 2011

CA State Controller Threatens to Dock Legislators’ Pay If They Miss Budget Deadline

Jon Ponder

John Chang
John Chang
It’s true. And this is not partisan. The controller is a Democrat and Dems control the Legislature:

California lawmakers will start losing their pay in two weeks if they don’t make further progress in balancing the budget, says state Controller John Chiang.

Chiang, the state’s chief accountant, is citing a ballot measure voters approved in November in justifying his plan to dock legislators of their pay absent a balanced budget. His interpretation of the measure differs from that of legislative lawyers, who had previously opined that a budget bill lawmakers passed in March — which still left the state with a multibillion-dollar shortfall — met the conditions set by voters needed to keep salaries flowing once the Legislature’s June 15 deadline for passing the budget arrives…

“In passing Proposition 25 last November, voters clearly stated they expect their representatives to make the difficult decisions needed to resolve any budget shortfalls by the mandatory deadline, or be penalized,” Chiang said in a statement. “I will enforce the voters’ demand.”

Chang has the support of Gov. Jerry Brown, who is also a Democrat:

[…]

Republican Path to Victory in 2012: Take Down the Economy

Trish

Boehner-ObamaWe get that Republicans don’t care about folks like us. We know they are willing to stop Social Security payments, and payroll for the members of America’s armed services rather than raise the debt ceiling. We get it, we really do.

But to tank the American, and likely the global, economy just to give their lame candidate (whoever it might be) a chance at taking down Obama in 2012? Exactly that is starting to look to like their best strategy.

The Economist: ‘America is undermining its economy for no good reason’

It’s not just Americans drawing a line between a House vote not to extend the debt ceiling and economic setbacks. Our friends across the pond are making the same observation.

Blogger “R.A.” at Britain’s The Economist predicted with exact accuracy on June 1 that such moves would mire economic growth, and decried these self-inflicted wounds. Our stock markets dropped that same day.

R.A. begins with the big picture, the one tea partiers and FOX News miss.

[…]

Listen, My Children, and You Shall Hear Sarah Palin’s Version of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Buck Banks

Transcript:

PALIN: He who warned, uh, the…the British that they weren’t gonna be takin’ away our arms, uh, by ringin’ those bells and um by makin’ sure that as he’s ridin’ his horse through town to send those warnin’ shots and bells that uh we were gonna be secure and we were gonna be free…and we were gonna be armed.

Weiner’s Odd Behavior Explained

Buck Banks

Sending a picture of himself in his underwear to an adult is not a crime. Lying about it to federal investigators is. Which could be why he prefers to hire a private firm rather than letting the U.S. Capitol Police or FBI agents do their job.

— Politico’s Roger Simon, suggesting “it could be perilous” for Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) to ask the FBI to investigate the alleged “hacking” of his Twitter account.

Erratic Behavior Is Palin’s Achilles’ Heel

Buck Banks

Palin’s greatest vulnerability is the impression that she’s erratic. A well-orchestrated campaign like the one that Karl Rove rolled out for Bush ahead of the 2000 primaries could have mollified some skeptics. Like Palin, Bush was regarded as callow and not quite up to the job. Those doubts mostly vanished after a carefully arranged regimen of policy conferences, thematic speeches, and personal appeals to major GOP donors. By contrast, Palin’s support among Republicans has declined steadily since the last election. As her bus zigzags between national landmarks, trailed by an army of reporters mystified about her plans and intentions, she seems more erratic than ever.

— Josh Green, writing in the Atlantic.