The Maybe Memo
[This email was allegedly discovered in the trash by a maintenance worker who was subsequently laid off in another round of budget cuts. It seems to be a communication to Governor Gray Davis from his chief political advisor Garry South, though its authenticity could not be confirmed, or even reasonably inferred.]
Boss,
I think the stuff is hitting the fan. The bad news is that there seems no end to it. If there is any good news it's that you're not facing re-election. I mean, it was bad enough when you were bemoaning a budget deficit in the $20 billion range, with hints that it might be $24 billion, but when you started talking about the high 20's and suddenly it was 35, you pushed off into deep waters.
Your problems are made more serious by the fact that John Burton is a lame duck, and Herb Wesson is gone in two years. Actually, with what's coming their way, we might expect them to step aside before their terms are up; for fresh blood, they'll say. But you have to know that whoever might take their places won't have the baggage they did and you do. Even if they voted for the last couple of budgets.
What's so offensive about these guys, in or out, is that they were hand-in-glove with your election year budget. Wesson said last week that you could fire every state employee -- every teacher and highway patrolmen -- and still be in the hole, as if he had nothing to do with the last budget and it was all your decision. Every legislator who voted for that budget knew it was a lie. That the $20 billion deficit would maybe double before you ever got near to a handle on it, but they pretended that they were doing the right thing, just to get elected.
I don't know what the returnees thought they were getting into, but I bet they're going to wonder if winning was the best thing. You, too, but we still agree that it's better that you won, no matter how bad Simon would have been punished by the results. At least you can be here to take the punishment, instead of watching him bungling things worse and putting all the blame on you when you wouldn't have the forum to defend yourself.
Ironically, the Republicans are not going to be your biggest problem. They're going to have to cave on the tax issue; even though they say they won't. The fact is that there aren't nearly enough program cuts to make a difference, and they know it. The question is how long it will take them to accept that they have to eat what's been cooked. The longer they wait, the worse it will be for them, but that's not going to hurry them to the truth. By the time this all runs its course, party won't matter to the voters.
You asked me for options, and frankly I don't have any that you'll like. Politically, you can continue to take from those who don't vote, but they don't have much left. You can cut education and public assistance. You can push more of the bills back onto the counties and cities. You can even let non-violent offenders out of prison early, like a bunch of states are already doing. The guards will give you a hard time because it's going to mean lay-offs and they gave you a ton of money, but hey, you already cashed their checks.
I know it doesn't look pretty, but where you are right now, you have no where to go but up, if that helps. As I see it, you need to let the legislature hash things out for a while, and then come in with a plan when they fail. That's the way the process is supposed to work, anyway, sort of.
If you want to get gutsy, the timing may be right for a cut off of aid to illegals, i.e., non-Californians. Call it Prop 187 redux, but remember how much support the idea had, and the economy wasn't in as bad shape. The liberals will holler, but if it's a choice between the middle class being pushed into poverty or a million Mexicans deciding they would do better in their own country, public opinion could quickly push the Democrats to realize that their hold-out position is politically untenable.
It will come down to an issue of limited resources: should they take care of the people who live here legally or to those who consume the most, who contribute the least, and who don't even bother to become citizens. You can't say it that way, but others can and the message should fly.
Not that it would resuscitate your political career, but it might salvage your legacy. Political courage, going against tradition, best for California, et cetera. You could probably get Trent Lott to support it. Just kidding. It's not a racial thing, it's about citizenship, and Californians pulling together. It might work. If not, it may be time to move.
Yours ever, Garry.
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.
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