California, Welcome To Your Republican Future

Tonight, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is kicking back in the old jacuzzi and lighting a fattie. After nearly a year of holding our state hostage, Schwarzenegger and the radical Republican minority in the Sacramento legislature held the line and got nearly everything they wanted - no new taxes and deep cuts that will close public parks and beaches, lay off teachers,  and pretty much sever the social safety net for millions of Californians.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed Monday to balance California's $26 billion deficit by cutting broadly across state government, shifting costs into the future and capturing funds from cities and counties.

Despite the accomplishment, Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg said that "this a sober time."

"There isn't a whole lot of good news in this budget. We have cut, and we have cut in many areas that matter to real people," said Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "But I think we have done so responsibly."

State leaders believe their budget plan is credible enough to acquire billions of dollars in short-term loans that will end the states reliance on IOUs for only the second time since the Great Depression. California is in the throes of a cash shortage because it is relying on a February spending plan that assumed higher revenues and solutions rejected by voters in May.

The proposal includes spending cuts to programs ranging from schools to welfare-to-work to prisons. It takes money from local governments, including borrowing $2 billion that the state will repay starting in 2013.....

The compromise package is also filled with changes to state government not normally associated with budget deals. It increases sanctions on welfare recipients in an attempt to encourage more people to work.

California, welcome to your Republican future.