Soft Yacht Party Underbelly?

Well this is kind of interesting. So the Yacht Party put together their "Let Them Eat Cake" budget in the Senate today, and predictably, it was voted down. What was not predictable is that two Republicans didn't vote for it, the precise number needed to flip to get a budget passed.

In the end, despite all Republican Senators being present, only 13 voted for the bill, AB 1793, and 21 Democrats voted against it. The two Republican Senators who did not vote, Abel Maldonado and Roy Ashburn, raised eyebrows as some consider their move to indicate they could conceivably be two votes in play for some compromise. Together with Democratic votes they could give the necessary votes to reach the two-thirds supermajority needed to pass a budget but gave no other outward signs that this would be the case [...]

Democrats are caucusing right now, after the vote. Senator Perata at the end of the Senate debate was clearly frustrated. He asked the Republicans necessary to pass the budget to contact him and let him know what was needed for their votes—or to do so publicly.

It's instructive to see what the Yacht Party budget would actually do, for the purposes of electoral politics. I'd love to see it mailed to independent voters in swing districts (call it the "Contract On California"). But in the short term, troops should be deployed to Sens. Maldonado and Ashburn's districts immediately. Ashburn has already proven himself amendable on a budget solution, as has Maldonado. Neither of them have to run again (the primary's already over in Maldonado's election) so that common Yacht Party threat is irrelevant. We need to end this stalemate as soon as possible, to literally save lives and end suffering, and so it's time to get it done. Fighting 2/3, or getting 2/3, is the medium-term goal right now.

Overall, I think we're seeing some coalescing on 2/3. High Broderist George Skelton came out for it today. Of course, a majority budget with a 2/3 rule for taxes is effectively useless. But at least the blame is being directed nominally correctly. Even multiple Republicans are quoted in the article agreeing on doing away with 2/3, for instances of accountability. I'm more than happy to have that argument because conservative policies are deeply unpopular.

Now, the corrections officers want to float a recall petition for the Governor, which I find hilarious (Arnold's laughing too). But it's hardly fair to blame him and not the structural problems that make California ungovernable. I agree that Schwarzenegger has been a horrendous chief executive, mainly because he lied about his ability to actually work within those ungovernable guidelines.

Pick off who you have to pick off to get the budget done. Then get 2/3. And make Republicans pay for their intransigence and anti-Democratic stances.