Free Republic

Mr. President: Let me begin by placing these bonds in perspective, and since Pat Brown’s administration is being looked back upon with nostalgia by politicians in both parties, let’s compare his program to the one now before us. We all agree that from 1959 to 1967, Pat Brown presided over the most breathtaking period of public works construction in California’s history. During those years, we built the finest highway system in the world, one of the largest water projects in history, and the foremost university system in the country. At a time when the population grew twice as fast as...

I'M ALMOST tempted, given the bad behavior of politicians in Sacramento over whether to upgrade California's decaying levees, roads, reservoirs and other infrastructure, to just sit back and hope a nasty 500-year flood inundates the Capitol with thick muck. Too bad few politicians would suffer. Instead, thousands upon thousands of far-too-blissfully ignorant residents would lose their homes, and even their lives, if a catastrophic flood should strike Sacramento ... As if taunting the heavens, local Sacramento politicians have insanely allowed developers to construct thousands of residences on the bottomlands of floodplains. What's needed is a measure that focuses like a...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers Saturday attempted to pick up the pieces of a historic bond package for new schools, roads and levees and restart negotiations after a bitter defeat of the plan at the hands of Senate Republicans early Saturday morning. While time may again be running out -- the official deadline was Friday for placing bonds before voters June 6 -- lawmakers agreed that Schwarzenegger's plan isn't dead yet, even for June. After meeting with him Saturday, Assembly Republicans and Democrats agreed to keep negotiating today. The Senate voted 24-12 along party lines -- three votes short...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on Friday were trying to agree on what would be the largest bond issue in California history, pressing to meet a March 10 deadline for placing a proposal on the June ballot. Any agreement between the governor and leaders from both parties requires support from two-thirds majorities in the Assembly and Senate. The governor has vowed to work through the weekend if necessary, even though the secretary of state had set Friday as the deadline to reach an agreement. Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin, said Senate Republicans were ready to vote for a...

Today and over the weekend, high-level nogotiations are taking place among the legislative leadership and the Governor - the focal point of these discussions - infrastructure investment. LOOK CAREFULLY at what comes out of the negotiations. Were the Republican Governor and Republican legislative leaders able to hold the 'line in the sand' against the big-government, spend-a-holic Democratic leaders? Does the plan: 1) HAVE A SIGNIFICANT PAY-AS-YOU-GO COMPONENT FOR FY '07-'08 AND BEYOND?2) HAVE A 6% BORROWING CAP?3) CONTAIN CEQA AND OTHER NEEDED REFORMS?4) LIMIT THE BORROWING TO MORTOR-AND BRICK REAL INFRASTRUCTURE?*From Senator McClintock:5) LIMIT GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDING TO STATE SCHOOL...