[Sabertooth]

AAARRRGGGHHHH....BUT THE DEBT HAS TO BE PAID. What part of that don't you understand. He can cut everything 50% and we'd still have to pay off this debt.

You should have voted for someone else, then.

McClintock outlined ways to get back in the black without borrowing, and without 50% cuts.

I'm totally OK with a full fledged government shut down, if that's the best that Schwarzenegger can do. It needs to happen.

[Southack]

"I'm totally OK with a full fledged government shut down, if that's the best that Schwarzenegger can do."

To be honest, the Dems have far more at stake over this issue than we do. This state is "theirs" by numbers of Registered voters and by numbers of elected officials, after all, so if the public chooses to blame them for a June bond default and a government shutdown, then it is their entrenched powerbase that will get hammered.

At most, Republicans can lose their non-controlling interest in the state...i.e. a completely meaningless loss.

So with little to no downside for us Pubbies, and complete downside potential for Dems (should the voters so choose to be swayed that way), I say go for it. Shut down the state government if need be.

But in all fairness, this isn't all Arnold's doing. He is going up against a hostile opposition Legislature, after all.

Of course, that fact not only gives him an alibi should things go wrong for him, but it also opens up numerous ways to "win" politically. For instance, if Arnold makes reasonable budget proposals that all get shot down by the Legislature, then no doubt the public at large will sympathize with the Governor rather than with the Legislature. So Arnold doesn't even have to get his own budget passed to "win" here.

Likewise, the public is probably going to be pretty favorable to whatever budget that Arnold puts on the next ballot election, whenever that next option may be available.

Frankly, it's going to be difficult for the Dems to play hardball and still win the sympathy of the voters should the state government shut down.

Their current behavior indicates that they haven't correctly judged the new political climate.

If so, then hand them some more rope... as they are about to run headfirst off a cliff with a noose around their collective necks.

[Pro-Bush]

McClintock outlined ways to get back in the black without borrowing, and without 50% cuts.

BUMP!

[Torie]

One thing that is for certain, is that the existing illegal debt will not be paid off in one year. Burton is right, the bond issue is rolling over previously incurred debt from previous deficits, not financing future deficit spending. Probably some interim measure will be passed when the state runs out of money as the existing debt becomes due, pending the shoot out over Arnold's intiative, and a Dem intiative, on the November ballot. I suspect the Dem intiative will dump the two third's vote requirement for raising taxes, and have a very porous and meaningless spending cap that is based on tax revenues. It should be fun.