Free Republic

A group of Senate Republicans who have been involved in budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown today released specific demands they want included in any deal that garners their support for a special election on taxes. The list, issued by Sens. Anthony Cannella, Tom Berryhill, Bill Emmerson, and Tom Harman, details concessions the group is seeking on a spending cap, state pensions, environmental protection laws and state regulations. With just two days until the June 15 deadline for the Legislature to approve a budget, Brown has yet to secure the two Republican votes in each house needed to ask voters...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Perhaps one of the most dangerous sentences in the English language is: "It can't get any worse." Anyone who doesn't know that should not be trusted with sharp objects or political power. And yet there are California Republican Party convention-goers who made that claim in a city where everyone else asks what's wrong with the Republicans. On the one hand, hard-liners want to punish any GOP lawmaker who cuts a deal to put Gov. Jerry Brown's five-year car-fee, income and sales tax extension on the ballot. On the other hand, few Republican lawmakers voted for spending cuts...

UPDATE: This post was updated with a response from the governor's office. One of the five Republican senators who had been involved with budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown said yesterday that his talks with the governor remain at a standstill. Sen. Sam Blakeslee, said the governor's office has made "no effort to reach out" since he called to request a meeting on Wednesday. "I've been waiting for a call," said Blakeslee, adding that the silence "surprised me after weeks and weeks of work" to reach an agreement. Blakeslee and Sens. Tom Berryhill, Anthony Cannella, Bill Emmerson and Tom Harman...