The elephant in the room -- new taxes will cost you

The state budget is hemorrhaging red ink, our schools and social programs face massive cuts, and the elephant is the room is a looming tax hike to bridge to gap.

The other elephant in the room seems to a bloc of Republicans in the legislature who plan to leverage their support of rescue bills in exchange for absolutely unrelated rollbacks of things like pollution controls for the dirtiest diesel engines, or rules that force employers to actually give their employees lunch breaks. Evan Halper has the details:

None of those laws has any direct connection to the state budget; changing them will do nothing to close California's $15.2-billion deficit. And the Democrats who control the Legislature already have rejected Republican proposals to delay or eliminate the laws through the regular legislative process.

But as pressure mounts on lawmakers to resolve the budget crisis, the GOP's renewed requests could get some traction. Republican clout grows along with the state's financial problems -- at least during the summer budget season.

"We think the budget is an appropriate place to talk about these issues," said Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster). "We are setting them on the table for discussion."

What is the difference between a threat and a promise, anyway?

--Veronique de Turenne

Comments

[jaime]

Where are these reporters found? This is like reading a report plagerized by a sixth grader. Please ask your reporters to check spelling, punctuation and basic grammar before printing things. You look like a bunch of idiots.

[Jimbo]

I agree with Jaime. There really are too many errors in this article. Not only that, but how many elephants can you have in a room?