More State Capitol News

State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has a video posted on YouTube in which she addresses the state's budget problems. There's more than a little buck passing as she lays the blame strictly on the recession and the failure of the budget initiatives in the May 19 special election. Bass also warns of coming cuts in public services.

The fault, dear Karen, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. We are masters of our fate, Republicans, Democrats, and voters of all ilk. Voters want the services we want, but we don't want to pay for those services or take responsibility for the gridlock our voter initiatives have created. Nor do we want to acknowledge the level of idiocy we've allowed to rise to leadership levels in both major parties.

The day of fiscal reckoning is at hand. On the local level, that means a $2 million Claremont municipal budget deficit for 2009-10 automatically grows by a third.

Here's Assembly Speaker Bass: