Now that the State of California is finally being forced to face its budget crisis; the democrats are getting desperate. After over a decade of ignoring fiscal prudence and giving away billions of dollars on every social program one could imagine; the democrats are faced with reality.

And what do they do? They turn to republicans for support in fixing the problems. The irony is that until the last few weeks, everything the republicans proposed was met with a brick wall. The republicans were derided, insulted and ignored. Every proposal GAS proposed was shot down. The republicans were even branded as 'socially uncaring.'

Now, the only way to dig us out of the hole the democrats have dug for us is to increase taxes and make VERY painful cuts. And, they need the support of the republicans. What is worse, is that the entire Progressive Machine, including the Sacramento Bee, is going to attempt to tar the republicans if they don't roll over.

If Jerry Brown and the rest of the democrats expect the republicans to bail them out, they are sadly mistaken. If ANY republican agrees to tax extentions or increased taxes, they are committing political suicide. But don't expect the Progressive Machine to stop their war on republicans. Slander, innuendo and insults have worked so well in the past; why would they want to stop now?

Gov. Brown finally broke his silence on the dire fiscal situation the state of California faces. As I predicted, he did his best to tamp down any optimism that solutions are going to be easy to find.

It appears that he will be promoting extending the soon-to-expire tax increases along side cuts in spending. What a lot of people in the media are ignoring is the rough ride he is going to get from members of his own party who hold power positions in both the Assembly and Senate. Without their support, JB's proposals will go no farther than the previous administration's did.

I for one look forward to the 'debate' which is surely to occur in the next few months. California is not the only state facing daunting budget woes. One would expect JB to take notice of the changes going on in Florida and New Jersey; as well as the difficulties facing Illinois, Nevada and Michigan. He can learn a lot.

Governor JB announced the appointment of his wife, Anne Gust Brown, to the position of 'special counsel.' As a former business executive, we can only hope that she will have a business perspective that will assist JB in his mission of bring business and jobs back to CA.

My question is, that with Gust Brown's business background, and her obvious influence on her husband; will JB be willing to bash the business community while at the same time serving the interests of the unions. The dynamic will be interesting to watch.

The new governor has made no secret about his plans to shift 'power' (state programs) from the state to local governments. On Tuesday, JB started discussions with local leaders about how to impliment his plans.

Here is the rub!

For as long as I can remember, the state politicians have promised 'goodies' and freebies in order to curry favor with donors and voters. Then they had to figure out how to pay for them. In the last few years the legislature and governor have relied on creative accounting and budget gimmicks to 'balance' the budget.

Well, that house of cards began its collapse with the explosion of the 'housing bubble.' Now, the pols are getting desperate. Here is what I predict will happen next.

JB and his Democrat collegues will continue to mandate programs (education, welfare, corrections, etc) but stop paying for their costs. This will force local governments to pick up tab. That means that JB will get the credit for 'solving' the problem; but not have suffer the ill will of the voters for raising taxes.

Jerry Brown worked really hard to win the race for Governor of California, but I wonder if he knew what he was getting himself into. I am reminded of the zeal and optimism Arnold had when he was elected to replace Gray Davis. He thought he was going to solve the state's problems easily because he opposed everything that got Davis in trouble.

What GAS did not understand was that the monied interests rule the state; not common sense. There are too many forces at work in CA and it is almost impossible to appease one force without angering another. Until a majority of Californians accept reality nothing can get resolved.

Now Jerry Brown is in danger of making the same mistakes GAS made. During his campaign, JB promised to take any tax increases to the voters for approval. I think he will have a hard time getting any more tax money from an overburdened citizenry. His only hope is to use scare tactics to panic the voters. Or possibly by villianizing the 'rich.' But both of these tactics pose their own dangers.

On the other side of the equasion, Brown will propose to make massive social program cuts - cuts which are extremely unpopular with the Progressive Democrats who dominate both houses of the legislature. Then there are the Public Employee Unions who helped finance JB's campaign and expect favors in return. Brown has already made noises about pension reform which PEU's oppose. How he attempts to resolve these conflicts should be interesting to watch.