Steven Greenhut Left The Orange County Register for Sacramento, But His Poison Pen Still Stings Jim Silva
That's the takeaway from the opinion piece Greenhut filed for the San Francisco Examiner.
It takes a direct hit at Assemblyman Jim Silva (R-Huntington Beach) and two other Assembly Republicans for breaking party ranks and standing alongside--one dreads even typing this--unions opposing government cuts to In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), a program that keeps your grandma in her house and out of the nursing home.
"The three Republicans were perfectly comfortable standing in front of a union crowd that was chanting, 'No more cuts,'" fumes Greenhut, who was not too surprised by the participation of Silva and Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley), since "These men didn't betray their conservative principles, given that they always were fairly unprincipled sorts."
Me-ow!
The third amigo was Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert), the Assembly minority leader's top lieutenant, who had this to say after Governor Jerry Brown's State of the State address: "I stand firm in my commitment to not raise taxes, which is a critical component of the governor's plan to solve the $25.4 billion budget gap. We have to cut state spending to solve our fiscal crisis."
But pull up the websites of Cook, Silva and Nestande, Greenhut observes, and you'll "find all the usual Republican blather about limiting government and holding the line on taxes, but it's meaningless after this rally. If you can't cut programs, you have to raise taxes or increase debt, which is a tax on future generations."
He wonders what to do when Republicans act like Democrats, one imagines in the same tone Bill Murray's Dr. Peter Venkman uses in Ghostbusters when he vocalizes the notion of "dogs and cats living together."
Hmmm, we'll have to go put on our think tank cap for the answer.




























