As of last night California still did not have a budget - which has been going on since last May. This is entirely the result of Republican abuse of an essentially undemocratic state constitution. A two thirds majority is required to pass the state budget in California. The Democratic party is three votes shy of this majority.

So far the Republicans have used their position to force changes in our labor and environmental laws - entirely unrelated to the budget but sure to guarantee some "economic recovery" to their friends and donors - to extract billions in cuts to education, health and welfare spending and to get a particularly draconian set of spending caps written up as a proposition for voter approval in a costly special election. See the SF Comical for a full report here.

In return the Democrats got some entirely inadequate temporary tax increases.

Which was enough to get the vote of the Senate Republican leader who was the only Republican participating in the negotiations.

Wonks Anonymous expects that this petulance will be rewarded by open legislative debate on the budget during which the Republicans can spend days regurgitating favored talking points, making snide remarks about politicians and invoking unidentified and probably imaginary "waste and fraud".

Wonks Anonymous expects that they will continue this until the state stops payments on its vast debt - mainly accumulated in the past eight years at the urging of Schwarzenegger and the same Republicans. Some banks will probably fail as a result of this and we might even have another financial crisis.

At least it is finally raining.