Calif. Republicans Oust Leader Amid Budget Talks

[depakid]

Source: Fox

Republican state senators upset with tax increases in the budget proposal agreed to by Republican Sen. Dave Cogdill have voted to remove him as minority leader, Cogdill said early Wednesday. The Senate's 15 Republican members voted to replace Cogdill with Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Murietta.

The late-night coup could derail already strained budget talks by requiring Democrats and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to renegotiate with a new Republican leader. Majority Leader Darrell Steinberg directed lawmakers to begin taking up the budget vote just before 1 a.m.

The Senate remained a single Republican vote short of passing a midyear budget fix in an attempt to stave off financial calamity for the state. "I did the best job I could," said Cogdill, who was applauded on the Senate floor after he was removed. "I felt sincerely when we took the budget to the floor the votes were there. Obviously, that wasn't the case. But that wasn't my belief when the budget went to the floor."

Cogdill, who served just 10 months representing a caucus that has grown increasingly conservative over the years, said he negotiated a spending cap, which the Republicans had been working for, and did all he could under the confines of the political system. New leader Hollingsworth had told Steinberg during a pointed floor exchange Monday that Republicans weren't going to let Democrats take from people's pocketbooks. "I don't want to see a tax increase passed," Hollingsworth said Wednesday. "I think the majority of my caucus doesn't want to see a tax increase passed in the package. We'll see what happens in the next few hours, next few days."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/18/calif-republicans-oust-leader-amid-budget-talks/

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I apologize for the Fox link- but I think it's appropriate considering the ideologues we're all dealing with. You cannot appease extremists- nor can you bargain with them in good faith.

They're spoiled children- and the sooner we all realize that, and start acting accordingly in our dealings- the faster we can set about fixing all of the things that they've broken.