Free Republic

SACRAMENTO — Known for battling carbon emissions, Californians are dealing with an environmental degradation of another kind this spring: pollution of the airwaves. Wave after wave of high octane, negative political advertisements have crowded out any hope of thoughtful discourse in the Republican gubernatorial primary, the outgrowth of an unprecedented $100 million poured into a tightly contested campaign by two wealthy masters of the Silicon Valley universe: Meg Whitman, billionaire ex-chief executive of eBay, and multimillionaire Steve Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner. "The more money you have, the more poison you can buy," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose ending furloughs for state workers at the end of June but seek permanent pay cuts and higher employee retirement contributions in their place, administration officials said Thursday. Those two measures, which require legislative approval, would equal a 10 percent cut in gross pay, compared with a 14 percent reduction that state workers now face with three monthly furlough days. State employees would resume a full workweek in July. Schwarzenegger will ask the Legislature to approve those changes as part of his budget proposal today, which is a "Furlough Friday" for state workers. His plan seeks...

Elnora Fretwell, a state employee for two decades, has lived it before: furloughs, layoffs and IOUs. "Every year, there seems to always be something," she said, her words flowing quickly, her voice reflecting frustration over the latest furlough proposals and a state budget crisis that just won't go away. "It's Christmas. I have to pay my bills. I'd be taking a $300 to $400 pay cut. I've got a mortgage to pay," said Fretwell, a supervisor at the California State Teachers' Retirement System. "These furloughs? All of us are fair game." She knows there's a $40 billion budget gap. She...