Earlier this week, California missed another constitutionally mandated deadline to pass a state budget. Policymakers are reeling from the enormous, seemingly impossible task of bridging an approximately $19 billion budget deficit.

In a Daily Show segment entitled "Respect My Authoritah", Jon Stewart criticized President Obama for his apparent hypocrisy on foreign policy and presidential power. 

The recent debate over further economic stimulus in the US Senate has produced a predictable round of new infighting over budgetary philosophy from both the Democrats and Republicans, albeit one with special relevance for California’s people. 

Given the US public's deep dissatisfaction with the Democratic and Republican parties, numerous political commentators and prognosticators have suggested that the current political climate favors outsiders and the Independent. 

For California cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, opposition to the Arizona immigration law has been strident.  Their reaction is quite typical, considering that their citizens and governments lean heavily Democratic.