PolitiCal Roundup: Jerry Brown hobnobs, warnings of ‘Armageddon’

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Gov. Jerry Brown is not neglecting relationships with lawmakers in his bid to balance the state’s budgets with cuts and taxes: He is hobnobbing with them daily in stark contrast to his predecessor.

The Times’ George Skelton is among those who’ve taken a seat at the picnic table at the governor’s loft. Skelton calls the five GOP lawmakers who have been negotiating with Brown ‘courageous,’ and predicts political ‘Armageddon’ if the talks fail.

And, in perhaps an early taste of the chaos that awaits, dueling protests collided in Modesto this week. Angry college students accidentally swarmed a press conference of angry mayors. The students were decrying cuts to education; the mayors, cuts to redevelopment. It appears the students won.

Also, denouement in Wisconsin. The bill to curb collective bargaining by public employee unions clears both houses as jeers ring out in the chamber, and lawmakers climb through windows to get back into the statehouse.