"The big message," says Gale Kaufman, a strategist for Props 1A and 1B, "was that voters believe the budget is the Legislature's and governor's domain completely. They don't want to be responsible for voting on any part of it. They want Sacramento to do it, to get it done and get it behind them."
Never mind that California voters also are addicts of ballot-box budgeting.
Meantime, in Sacramento they were saying all the right things Wednesday.
"The reason these measures went down," Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) told me, "is that people have less money, they're hurting and they expect us to do what they're doing. And that is to do the best we can with what we have."
And it should be done expeditiously, he added, "to begin changing our relationship with the voters. The deficit doesn't get any better by waiting. In fact, it gets worse.
"I've got ants in my pants. I'm not going to let this linger."
Whatever works. Move quickly and get the job behind you, senator.
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george.skelton@latimes.com
