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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped by The Chronicle this week and made it clear his future is wide open. Asked if he has taken a position to ''never again'' run for political office, the Republican governor told us that if he can finish the job by delivering on tough issues like the state budget, the water supply and then environment, then ''I think I can do anything I want.'' But one thing he won't do -- even in light of his current friendly relationship with Democratic President Obama and harsh criticism the state GOP is leveling his way -- is...

State GOP won't pay to support tax backers By Peter Hecht California Republican Party delegates passed a resolution Sunday to deny funding for campaign mailers for six state lawmakers who voted for a budget with tax increases. But the party action, approved in a voice vote at the Republican's state convention in Sacramento, didn't include a formal censure of the lawmakers as originally drafted. The vote may be mostly symbolic because only two of the six targeted legislators are eligible to run for re-election in 2010. But Jon Fleischman, a state party officer and a conservative firebrand who publishes the...

Sacramento, CA (AP) -- A California Republican Party committee has voted to reprimand six GOP lawmakers who voted for a compromise budget plan that boosts taxes. The measure, which was endorsed Saturday during the party's spring meeting in Sacramento, also denies the lawmakers any financial support from the party during the 2010 elections.

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- California Senate Republicans’ ouster of their leader for negotiating a budget agreement with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats posed new challenges to a deal that would close the state’s $42 billion shortfall. The new Senate Republican minority leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta said $14 billion in tax increases included in the budget package must be removed and negotiations over how to fix the deficit reopened. The governor rejected the call. “We don’t want to see taxes increased,” Hollingsworth told a growing number of reporters as the five-day, around-the-clock session continued. “We have to get spending more...

The game of chicken in Sacramento just claimed its first victim, one that has to send a chill down Democratic spines.  Republicans in the state Senate ousted their leader, the man who crafted a deal with Democrats to resolve the budget standoff with massive tax increases as part of the package.  The GOP has apparently accelerated their car, and the Democrats will have to decide whether to swerve or crash: A state budget deal to close a $41 billion shortfall has been put further into question early this morning after Senate Republicans ousted their leader who had helped negotiate the...

Reporting from Sacramento -- As California's government continued its grinding downshift toward insolvency, efforts to close the state's nearly $42-billion budget gap hit a new snag late Tuesday as Republicans in the state Senate ousted their leader. Around 11 p.m., a group of GOP senators, unhappy with the higher taxes that Senate leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto agreed to as part of a deal with the governor and Democrats, voted to replace him in a private caucus meeting in Cogdill's office. Shortly before midnight, it was still unclear who would replace him. Cogdill's ouster could be a major setback to...

California legislators trudged through a second day of trying to close a $40-billion hole in the state's budget this afternoon, still one vote Republican vote short of approving a package that contains $14.3 billion in tax increases. State Sen. Abel Maldonado, a moderate Republican from Santa Maria, indicated in an interview with The Bee that he was willing to consider casting the decisive vote if he was satisfied with the final version of the tax proposal. "I'm very concerned with the tax package, said Maldonado, who in the early morning hours had been quoted as saying he was adamantly opposed...

SACRAMENTO — One vote shy of a budget deal, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday pressured reluctant Republicans in the Legislature to pass a complex plan to close the state's $42 billion deficit. The head of the Assembly locked down the chamber, forcing members to remain as the measure stalled in the Senate. Republicans are unwilling to raise taxes to deal with the state's historic deficit, but at least three GOP votes were needed in each house for the two-thirds majority required to pass the budget. Senate leaders thought they had enough votes lined up to ensure passage, which meant...

"Fresno, Ca.-Dozens of out-of-work construction workers picketed outside the offices of state Senator Dave Cogdill and Assemblyman Mike Villines to encourage them and other California lawmakers to resolve the budget crisis before its too late."

SACRAMENTO – Seven years of deficits have left the state budget so far out of balance that a Republican legislative leader is saying that closing a huge budget gap with cuts alone is unworkable. Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto said he remains staunchly opposed to tax increases and is now proposing that the state borrow – possibly from funds for local government, transportation and other programs – and quickly repay the loans with money from bonds backed by the lottery. “What we would like to do is see the state get its spending in line with its revenue,”...

Saying the ailing economy is putting enough stress on taxpayers, Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill said Tuesday that Republicans will oppose any tax hikes to bridge California's budget deficit. Cogdill suggested the deficit, which he pegged at $16 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1, could be wiped out through service cuts and tapping into the reserves of voter-approved initiatives intended for early childhood education, mental health services and transportation. Taxpayers already are grappling with "record gas prices (and) food prices going through the roof," Cogdill, R-Modesto, said during a meeting ... "They're very concerned about their mortgages, and...