Tyranny Of the Minority: CA Continues To Rot

TW: Tyrannies of the minorities have really started to bug me. They are everywhere- Cuban-Americans preventing U.S. opening relations with Cuba, sugar growers preventing lower tariffs, Israeli right wing religious zealots driving the colonization of the West Bank and now here in the states Hooverite Republicans not understanding that all ideologies eventually will find a brick wall. Regardless the California saga continues in classic fashion. The Republican senate leader tries to compromise and what happens? The ideologues push him out of his position perpetuating the stalemate. I would populism left or right is usually a harbinger of poor governance.

From Economist:
"FOR days, California's State Senate has been embroiled in a battle over the state's next budget. Democrats control the body by a 24-14 margin, but decades-old reforms require them to cobble together a 2/3 supermajority to pass a budget or raise taxes. Almost every Republican in the Senate is a diehard supply-sider, adamantly against raising taxes—thus the battle has dragged on, and thus the party has ousted its leader because he was too open to compromise. The new leader, reports the San Francisco Chronicle, "is part of the conservative wing of the Senate Republican caucus and he has been adamantly against raising any taxes."

Leave aside the discussion of whether government by supermajority, which assigns all power to the minority party, makes any sense. Why won't any more Republicans break ranks? Because they've got firepower trained on them from conservative groups and talk radio, ready to oust anyone who makes a deal. Hugh Hewitt, a Southern California radio host, warns one Republican senator that a web site is ready to go up for a recall campaign against him if he breaks.The irony is overwhelming. Arnold Schwarzenegger, elected governor in 2003 thanks to a conservative populist revolt, is presiding over a complete disaster made worse by... a conservative, populist revolt."
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/02/terminated.cfm

Update: TW- A Republican "caved" so CA now has a budget...
From Bloomberg:
"Republican Senator Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria broke ranks with his party to cast the deciding vote in exchange for support for unrelated changes to election law. His support allowed the budget package to attain the two-thirds majority needed for approval.

“This could be a career-ender for me,” he told reporters in the Senate chamber in Sacramento before the vote. “In difficult times, you need to step up to the plate.”