Evans, recently blasted by KFIAM 640’s John and Ken for her comment that “living within our means is meaningless”, must not read any of them. Her entries, including today’s, reflect an entrenched, entitled approach to expanding state revenues to meet “moral obligations”.

Here is what she wrote today about Governor Schwarznegger’s latest proposals (which do reflect the comments section of Evans’ blog):

In addition, the governor is holding the state hostage. As part of a budget agreement, he has submitted a list of new demands – sweeping policy changes – which could have been submitted with one of any of his four May Revision budget proposals. Now, he wants to reduce what the state contributes in pensions for new hires, change state retiree health care, scale back eligibility for people in the welfare-to-work program, create rules to root out fraud in-home services, and change portions of Medi-Cal.

While I am not averse to discussing these issues, none of them are simple subjects with simple solutions. The governor can’t lose focus on the real problem. His new demands don’t solve the immediate cash crisis. We have 30 hours until California faces financial ruin.

If Evans and her colleagues are “not averse to discussing these issues,” why have they not seriously addressed them in the legislature over the past few months? Polling and voting results make it clear Californians want to see the state reduce demands on taxpayers to pay for public sector wages/benefits (including legislators’ expenses) and social services prone to fraud and abuse.

Check out Carol Platt Liebau’s commentary today on How Politicians Bankrupted California. Liebau challenges the rising chorus of media and political voices calling for an end to Proposition 13 and the two-thirds majority requirement for California tax increases. She also takes a big swing at Evans’ recent rhetoric on budget issues.

On my way to UCLA, from 3-4 in the afternoon, they read from California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring’s expense reports. Expecting the Republican Party to oppose ballot propositions raising state taxes, they were wondering on air what justified thousands of dollars in hotel bills (including one from a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee) and other expenditures paid for by California Republican Party donations. What on earth does justify them, and what justifies state government jobs given to politicians’ relatives and family members (as reported this morning in the LA Times)?

It must be just business as usual; although one would think that the magnitude of this economic crisis would be forcing even government and its associated sister industries to tighten their belts. Those who tell out of work job-seekers to look in the government sector know what they are talking about.

John and Ken went on to salute KNBC reporter and Glendale resident Conan Nolan, who confronted Governor Schwarznegger yesterday at a Monterey Park anti-gang rally, asking him to comment on his low approval numbers and on polls showing voters turning against the tax hike ballot propositions. John and Ken contended that this portion of the news conference was actually excised from the governor’s office transcript of the rally and news conference. It doesn’t appear to be on KNBC’s website, either.

On the way back to Glendale, I tuned in to hear about a small protest in Oakland in support of the memory of the criminal who gunned down four police officers there. This blog can’t do justice to the rhetorical skill with which the KFI commentators rebutted the spokesperson’s claims that racial discrimination justified their stand.

Those of us who don’t spend a lot of time battling traffic on the freeways fighting traffic may be missing some things…