Make It The Yacht AND Oil Party

So as expected, Assembly Republicans killed a bill that would bring California in line with every other oil-extracting state and charge obscenely rich oil companies for taking our natural resources out of the ground.

With gasoline prices soaring, legislation to slap the oil industry with higher taxes died in the Assembly late Wednesday in the latest party-line battle over the state's beleaguered budget.

Republicans killed the two-pronged oil tax proposed by Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, which they considered a threat to the state's economy as well as political gamesmanship meant more for public relations than problem solving.

In turn, Núñez said at a news conference before the vote that the GOP could not continue to push "knee-jerk, no-tax rhetoric" without coming to grips with its effect on schools and other public services.

Speaker Núñez is in a tough spot, faced with a recalcitrant Yacht & Oil Party who is wedded to failed ideology. The best he can do is to continue to offer these proposals, argue forcefully for them, and hold the opposition accountable for their votes in November. On a blogger conference call earlier today, the Speaker talked about PTA members from red districts coming to the Capitol to protest these extreme education cuts. The Yacht & Oil Party will absolutely face a backlash if they keep this up. Democrats are making the differences clear, and that's the best we can hope for at the moment.

Another thing - what exactly is up with this argument from the Yacht & Oil Party that the Speaker timed his proposal to coincide with layoff notices from school districts? I didn't realize that POLITICS was out of bounds in the political arena. Of course it coincided; the only way you get people in this state to pay attention to what's happening in Sacramento is by taking advantage of opportunities to show the stark philosophical differences. Saying that "you're not allowed to tell people the consequences of our policies" is a loser argument for a loser party.