Greetings. Governor Arnold made it back into town from his global jaunts to sign the (late as usual, thanks to the GOP) California state budget. The result should make everybody involved ashamed of themselves, if those folks ever felt any shame.

It's a textbook case of further shafting people who are already down.

For example, while a widely lauded program for the homeless mentally ill (costing $55 million) was eliminated from the budget, the happy crew at the state legislature and a smiling Arnold managed to preserve a $45 million sales tax exemption for folks buying yachts, planes, and the like. Yeah, that's priorities in action!

Our state "leaders" are all gung-ho when it comes to ordering us not to drive with handheld cell phones (even though studies show that permitted hands-free phones are equally distracting), or dictating what sorts of light bulbs we should be allowed to use in our homes.

But when it comes to people who really need help, well, who gives more in campaign contributions -- the mentally ill homeless or yacht owners?

If the U.S. Supreme Court ever needs to find a workable definition for "obscenity" again, this budget would fit the bill very nicely.

--Lauren--