George Skelton: Poll shows strong support for Jerry Brown’s tax hike proposal -- Voters overwhelmingly back funding for education and raising levies on the wealthy. “We're in a good place,” governor's strategist says. Skelton column in LA Times
Joe Mathews: The jesters sue King John – Can the state legislature take away King John's crown? When voters approved Prop 25 in 2010, they thought they were making it easier to pass budgets. But the measure also gave the state controller -- the fellow who signs the checks -- the power to withhold the pay of legislators if they don't pass a budget the controller judges to be balanced. Mathews in Prop Zero
Larry Gerston: Sinking the water bond – So, Governor Jerry Brown is thinking about postponing the $11 billion water bond scheduled for the November ballot. His reasoning is simple enough: If the water bond is taken off the list of ballot issues, perhaps the voters will be more willing to support his temporary tax hike package. Gerston in Prop Zero
Joel Fox: Trouble for Brown’s tax strategy in poll numbers -- Governor Jerry Brown’s hope of clearing the field of all other tax increase measures except his own ran into trouble with the release of the newest Public Policy Institute (PPIC) poll. The poll indicates that proposals that simply tax the rich may fair better than Brown’s plan of income and sales tax increases giving proponents of the tax the rich proposals incentive to carry on. Fox in Fox & Hounds
Sacramento Bee: State should put an end to plum patronage boards -- Before he asks voters to approve a tax increase, the governor needs to get rid of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and as many other obvious examples of outdated boards, commissions and government departments as he can. Sacramento Bee editorial
Visalia Times-Delta: Lawmakers set new high for arrogance -- Democratic leaders filed a lawsuit Tuesday charging that Chiang exceeded his authority when he withheld lawmakers' pay because they failed to meet a constitutional deadline to pass a state budget by June 15. The Democrats claim they are doing this to establish some constitutional points, not to get their money back. Regardless, they are revealing their stupidity, arrogance and utter disconnect with the voting public of California. Visalia Times-Delta editorial
Bakersfield Californian: Cuts to state parks would end up costing more -- Surely, Gov. Jerry Brown doesn't want to go down in history as the California chief executive who closed the state parks. Bakersfield Californian editorial
Dan Morain: A shallow promise of justice in housing scandal -- Before they proceed with their latest housing crisis task force, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ought to sit down with Jose Rodriguez. That would require that Holder and Schneiderman leave Washington and New York, and spend time in the unglamorous city of Stockton, which competes with Las Vegas for having the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Morain column in Sacramento Bee
ECONOMY
Jim Boren: Fresno County workers need to do the math – On the same day that striking Fresno County workers protested a 9% pay cut at the Board of Supervisors meeting, the county quietly paid $191 million into the unsustainable county pension system. A key reason the county has had to lay off workers and force other employees to take pay cut is to fund the overly generous pension program for those same employees. Boren in Fresno Bee Opinion Talk
Bill McEwen: Fresno County strike was not a wise decision -- I'm sure that leaders of a three-day Fresno County employee strike will declare it a success because that's what unions always do. But the truth is the walkout was ill-advised, poorly conceived and a slap in the face to the most vulnerable members of our community. McEwen column in Fresno Bee
LA Times: Engineering a jobs program -- Putting people from low-income neighborhoods to work on L.A. transit projects is worth a try. LA Times editorial
EDUCATION
Stockton Record: Testing into numbness -- Judging schools by test scores gets an “F”' from one of its creators. Stockton Record editorial
ELECTION 2012
Debra Saunders: Obama’s game plan -- do nothing -- Obama constantly carps about his lack of support from the Republican-led House. I think the president has decided that he cannot succeed in the face of political opposition. So he is not charging up those stairs. Unless Washington walks in lockstep behind Obama, he's not going to try to get anything done. Saunders column in San Francisco Chronicle
ENVIRONMENT
Sacramento Bee: San Francisco’s green ethos only goes so far -- Gee, do you think San Francisco could get any more hysterical about proposed alternatives to the city getting its water from a submerged and majestic canyon in Yosemite National Park? Sacramento Bee editorial
NATIONAL ISSUES
Riverside Press-Enterprise: Privacy overreach -- Legislative overkill is not the solution to online piracy. Congress’ initial approach to combating Internet copyright violations was a dangerous overreach that deserved to stall, as it did last week. Now Congress needs to develop a more carefully targeted way to protect intellectual property rights. Riverside Press-Enterprise editorial
OTHER AREAS
Orange County Register: ‘Narrow win’ for limits on police searches -- Supreme Court throws out warrantless GPS tracking; broader issues of high-tech monitoring put off for now. Orange County Register editorial
LA Times: Dude, LA’s not that rude -- L.A. is no longer nation's rudest city, according to a travel magazine survey. But is there a double standard at work with the new No. 1, New York? LA Times editorial
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