NEWS: Democrat Bustamante Opens Huge Lead In Calif.; CA to become the Repuke neoNAZI Waterloo
[ed: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I told you so.]
local6.com
The latest poll says Democrat Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has a significant lead over actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California gubernatorial recall race.
A Los Angeles Times poll finds 35 percent backing Bustamante, a Democrat, and 22 percent supporting Schwarzenegger, a Republican.
Previous polls showed the two neck and neck in their campaigns to replace Gov. Gray Davis if he's recalled Oct. 7.
Three other Republicans trail Schwarzenegger, including state Sen. Tom McClintock with 12 percent, former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth with seven percent and Bill Simon, who has since withdrawn, with 6 percent.
The poll of 801 likely voters was taken between Aug. 16 and Aug. 21. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Budget-Watchers Hearing Nothing New
Career budget-watchers say they've seen no ground-breaking economic plans from candidates hoping to replace Davis.
Veteran budget analyst Jean Ross, head of the nonprofit California Budget Project, says she's seen previously rejected plans, new taxes or spending cuts with little chance of Legislative approval -- even some things already in place, such as a state hiring freeze.
Says Ross: "There's no silver bullet...you either raise taxes or you cut spending."
But much of the budget is for education -- generally untouchable. So much for across-the-board cuts. Past tax amnesties have netted a fraction of the amount predicted. As for audits, that's already done by the Controller's 269 auditors.
The Legislature, needing a difficult two-thirds vote, recently passed a budget with no new taxes. But $8 billion of debt was simply put off until next year. |
