In the classic MelBrooks film "Young Frankenstein," Baron Beaufort Von Frankenstein'slast will and testament loudly bemoans the fact that "there was a timewhen the name Frankenstein conjured dreams of virtue." The implicationis that Baron Von Frankenstein's name now conjures the opposite, andindeed, given what we all know of Mary Shelley's novel, this would be arealistic implication.

Those few deluded soulswho are hoping for a return to honesty, integrityand responsibility in government got a taste of "hope" and "change"this Saturday, with the confirmation hearings for incoming laborsecretary Hilda Solis.

The Los Angeles Times reportsthat recently, in response to the firing of a popular math teacher, SanFrancisco voters have attempted to recall not just one or two membersof the local school board, but the entire school board. It may be thefirst time that such a large recall measure has been put forward, andcertainly bespeaks the tense air of the moment, which makes the phrase"winter of discontent" look positively optimistic.

The new year is only two weeks old, and it appears the Democratshave already released a new book of talking points. At least, that'stheimpression one gets if one looks at the prevailing attitude towardRepublicansboth at the national level and in Californiaherself. Now that the old method of calling Republican tax andbudget policy "heartless", "soulless", "callous","cruel" and cut from the same cloth of Ebenezer Scrooge no longer hasthe same kick, the Left and its fellow travelers are trotting out a newtrope:small government individualism is racist.

While state and city officials throughout California gear up to dealwith serious budget shortfalls, officials are gearing for action. Surprisingly, the Republican governor of California and theDemocratic mayor of San Francisco are taking not dissimilarapproaches.

In the aftermath of the release of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, he has found himself blocked by an unlikely source.

In mid-December 2008, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order, mandating all California state employees take two “vacation” days off every month.

Sounds great, right?

The only problem is that the two vacation days will be unpaid. It is estimated that more than 200,000 state employees will be affected.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Governor Schwarzenegger has released his proposed plan to deal with California's steep budget deficit. The plan, the Times ominously reports, "proposes tax hikes" and "steep cuts" as a harsh bit of medicine for the profligacy that put California in the place it is today.

Legend in Sacramento holds that during Gov. Jerry Brown's tenure in the late 1970s-80s, a delay in the state budget and an impasse between then-Gov. Brown and the state Legislature led to some creative negotiating.

Because pressure from the capital's press corps made it tough to parse actual negotiations from posturing, Brown proposed that legislative leaders bypass normal channels and meet instead at the Virgin Sturgeon, a watering hole and restaurant five miles away from the capitol, on the Sacramento River.

GovernorSchwarzenegger's continued persistence in the face of Democraticdemands for higher taxes is, as already mentioned, one of the morerisky moves of the governor's political career.