Dan Walters: Revised state budget is still a sham

Sacramento Bee ^ | 9/19/8 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

Yes, that was a puff of white smoke floating over the Capitol Thursday afternoon; nearly 100 days past the state constitutional deadline for enacting a state budget and after false starts and detours too numerous to list, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed on a spending and revenue package.

Unless there's another political hitch – and one can never discount that possibility – the deal will be ratified by the Legislature today and legislators can go wherever they go when they're not fouling up things in Sacramento, including an assemblyman who's scheduled to marry a television anchorwoman on Sunday.

Both legislative houses passed a hastily drafted budget package early Tuesday morning, only to face a veto threat from Schwarzenegger, and on Thursday he and legislative leaders had two brief meetings and agreed on a slightly tweaked version. But it's really no more than another get-out-of-town budget that will, more than likely, begin falling apart as soon as it's signed.

The new deal changes one major revenue source – increased income tax withholding for California's workers – that had raised hackles in the media and public, substituting tougher penalties on corporations that underreport taxes. And it tightens up access to a so-called "rainy day fund" aimed at smoothing out future income-outgo gaps, if that fund ever grows big enough to be useful.

[twistedwrench]

California is a dead body, stood up in the corner that no one has noticed yet.

[NormsRevenge]

JAAA!

Sham Sham Sham

or is it Son of Sham? 2 3 4 ;-)