“The governor is digging in his heels and trashing the Legislature, the speaker says the Big 5 meetings are a waste of time and the state has gone to IOUs. Will this budget imbroglio ever be resolved?”

Not in our lifetime..

Well, um, yes — it has to be resolved.

“What happens now on the budget?”

Now that IOU’s are a done deal, they hammer out a compromise. It may take a week. It will involve structural budget reform and trade Cal Works and Cal Grant survival in a reduced form. It will be a total budget solution, probably with cigarette taxes.

“Juan Arambula, a lifelong Democrat from Fresno, has fled his party and re-registered as a Decline-to-State. Is this an isolated event or an indication that Assembly Democrats are in turmoil?”

Arambula is smarter than your average bear is. He also is a moderate CV Democrat who always has shown an independent streak.

“It’s clear that California’s budget fight, inevitably, has come back to new taxes vs. cuts. How can this be resolved?”

By overturning the two-thirds vote requirement on new taxes.

The Governor’s position determines the next steps. If the Governor stands firm against Democratic tax proposals, the Democrats will be forced

“The governor and the Senate’s leader predict a budget will be passed and signed by the end of the month? Wishful thinking or is a new era dawning?”

A new era has dawned — the Era of We’re Out of Tricks. The budget will be signed by the end of the month,

“So what’s with the Integrated Waste Management Board? It’s at the top of the governor’s hit list, as he made clear in his address to the Legislature. But why?”

You’d think he would’ve delayed appointing three former legislators to the Board if he intended to eliminate it since he has now built

 “The state Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8. What’s the next step? Another campaign on the 2010 ballot, a gubernatorial election year?”

California stays straight until kids in elementary school today grow up less homophobic than previous generations and register to vote. A World War III of politics, both in the gov’s

“What’s the first thing you would you do to fix the Capitol’s structural mess? Simple-majority vote for budgets and taxes? Eliminate term limits? Open primaries? Part-time Legislature? Something else?

Public floggings.

Open primaries.

All of the above. And then get a Governor who’s actually into the job rather

“What do you think will happen next Tuesday with the ballot propositions? If they fail, then what?”

They will just barely pass, but it won’t be enough to get the state back to even….

The first five will fail. Maldanado’s ransom will pass. Maldonado will then try to take credit

“The governor says it’s time for a debate on legalizing marijuana. What do you think?”

Judging by his press releases, I thought he was already high.

This is where the left and the right will come together. The true Libertarians on the Republican side and the liberals on the far