Local Government

Thousands of teachers and other union members rallied Thursday at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles to oppose state and local cuts to education that are widely expected to result in larger classes for students as well as layoffs and more expensive healthcare. Most of the rhetoric blistered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his proposed budget, but speakers also took aim at the Los Angeles Unified School District and schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines. "Mr.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday backed away from his plan to raid local governments for $1.9 billion to help balance the state's books -- a proposal that has drawn heavy fire from municipal leaders and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. "If both parties don't like to borrow from local government, then of course we won't borrow from local government," Schwarzenegger said, answering an audience question after a budget speech in Escondido.

The stimulus for this mill town turned artist's colony arrived in the form of green bills bearing sketches of herons, turtles and trees. A few dozen local businesses banded together this spring to distribute the Plenty -- a local currency intended to replace the dollar. Now 15,000 Plenties are in circulation here, used everywhere from the organic food co-op to the feed store to, starting this month, the Piggly Wiggly supermarket. Last popularized during the Great Depression, scrip, or locally created stand-ins for U.S. currency, is making a comeback.

California Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson lives in St. Helena and calls city officials there by their first names. The Napa Valley town also is home to a vineyard owned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and her husband. Yet the town spent about $150,000 during the first six months of this year on a Washington lobbyist, more than Philadelphia or St. Louis. St. Helena is just one of the cities, counties and states that have ramped up spending on lobbying as they look more to Washington for help in easing budget problems and getting a leg up on the competition in the scramble for federal funds.

As hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries have opened this year in a startling rollout across California, unnerved local officials have started to push back aggressively. Many cities and a few counties have banned them. Others have imposed emergency moratoriums. And some have started to sue dispensaries to force them to close. So far, the state's courts have sided with local officials. For marijuana advocates, who have seen over-the-counter sales become commonplace and watched the steady drift of California's vibrant weed counterculture into the mainstream, these setbacks are a discordant development.

Cynicism and contempt. Isn't there anything new from the state's budget mismanagers? Not judging by what local government leaders heard from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday. He told them to brace themselves for more. He said that he plans to release two summaries of his budget today. One optimistically assumes that the budget propositions on Tuesday's ballot will pass (something that is increasingly unlikely).

Marx Brothers fans will recall that the political philosophy of Rufus T. Firefly in "Duck Soup" boiled down to this: "If you think this country's bad off now, just wait 'til I get through with it." I've often considered that to be the secret slogan of Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration. (Just substitute "this state" for "this country.") After Tuesday's election, it's no longer a secret.