George Skelton Is Shrill

The Royal and Ancient Hermetic Order of the Shrill has a new member, and he's particularly amped up about some of the little goodies tucked away in the state budget, which is once again too heavily constructed on the backs of the poor:

Anyway, it was about the time of the wine-tasting that the legislative leaders hatched their plan to roll California's most vulnerable.OK, maybe I'm guilty of a cheap shot. But it's no more a cheap shot than picking the pockets of the poor in order to bring spending and taxes closer into balance.

The victims list includes 1.2 million impoverished aged, blind and disabled, plus 500,000 welfare families, mostly single moms with two kids.

Skelton is particularly shrill about the delay in the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for seniors on state and federal assistance, and the cuts to public transit, which for many who can't afford cars is the only recourse to get around (although we need to sever that link between class and public transit, and soon). Skelton is particularly disappointed in some so-called progressive leaders:

It was a sign of scandalized Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's loss of political clout that he didn't personally fight for the transit funds, as he has for other L.A. causes in the past. "He has been AWOL," says one leading Democrat. "He's been wounded."

Democrats, however, haven't exactly been fighting for the aged, poor and disabled either. Republicans wouldn't be expected to. But Democrats are supposed to be the defenders of the destitute. Instead, they suddenly surrendered to Republicans last week after vowing to hold their ground.

Any budget is going to be a mixed bag under the 2/3 requirement. But it does appear to me that winners and losers were very clearly chosen based on their political clout. The blind, the elderly, the poor, they all don't donate to campaigns the way that teachers do (no slam on teachers, just reality). Drug offenders who saw a cut in Prop. 36 treatment funds don't host fundraisers at the halfway house. Where you stood in this budget depended upon where you sat, and if you didn't have a place at the table, forget it.

Maybe that has to do with the donations rolling in for the term limits initiative. Or maybe it's just easier to dismiss those who have little voice and little chance to mobilize.