Free Republic

<p>WASHINGTON - Gov. Gray Davis pressed Washington on Tuesday for federal money to plug California's record budget gap, saying the state and others are ``being shortchanged'' by shouldering increased costs for Medicaid and domestic security.</p> <p>The governor, joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, also complained that eliminating the tax on stock dividends -- the centerpiece of President Bush's $674 billion economic-stimulus plan -- would drain $1 billion to $1.5 billion from California's coffers unless the state figures out a way to tax dividends separately.</p>