<p>As California begins a new fiscal year without a budget -- to the utter surprise of no one -- Democrats and Republicans are exchanging rhetorical fusillades over who is to blame and how the deficit-saturated budget can be fixed.</p>
<p>The verbal barrages on the floors of both legislative houses and in the media are strong indications that the stalemate over a budget will continue for weeks, if not months. The various factions -- Democrats seem to be especially fragmented -- are implying that with agreement on a new budget not likely soon, they are concentrating on shifting the political onus to others.</p>