Free Republic

SACRAMENTO – After a partisan battle over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's failed “Year of Reform” initiatives last fall, the Republican governor and Democratic legislators yesterday wrapped up what could be called the “Year of the Deal.” They addressed long-neglected infrastructure by putting a record $37.3 billion bond package on the November ballot, produced a rare on-time budget and helped average Californians through a higher minimum wage and cheaper prescription drugs. They also increased school spending by 10 percent, moving a lagging California closer to the national average spent per pupil, and directed $3 billion in new spending over the next seven...

FOR CALIFORNIANS WEARY of voting, it is tempting simply to sit this special election out. Moreover, this election feels especially unnecessary; each of the issues raised in these eight ballot measures should have been taken up by the Legislature, and none is of such dire urgency that it couldn't have waited until next year's regularly scheduled statewide election. It was tempting for this editorial page, too, to ignore this special election. The Schwarzenegger administration itself is the product of a special recall election that was intended to send an outsider to fix Sacramento. Alas, much like its opponents, the governor's...

The cap on state spending that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants voters to pass in November is emerging as a centerpiece of a nationwide strategy by influential conservatives to slash government spending in state capitals across the country. Although the authors of the California proposal say they were not influenced by out-of-state groups, a loose affiliation of ideologically conservative organizations are hoping that the proposed California "Live Within Our Means Act" will help fuel a national taxpayer revolt they are working to coordinate in more than two dozen other states. "This is the next big thing at the state level," said...