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SACRAMENTO'S RECALCITRANT REPUBLICANS / They might as well be in Reno

California Republicans have served notice that they have no intention of making any difficult decisions to help bridge a $26 billion budget gap. They don't like the Democrats' blend of cuts and taxes, but they will not offer a balanced-budget plan of their own. They plan to block efforts to allow voters to make the call on a package of tax extensions.

They are hiding in plain sight. They might as well be in Reno, so empty is their contribution to the serious issues facing Sacramento.

In California, as in Wisconsin, there is a failure to cooperate. But here's the difference: In Wisconsin, the Democrats' goal is to preserve the long-established right of public employees to bargain collectively on a wide range of issues related to their workplace; in California, the Republicans' goal is to deny the ability of voters to decide whether an extension of tax increases would be preferable to even deeper budget cuts.

Read more: SACRAMENTO'S RECALCITRANT REPUBLICANS / They might as well be in Reno

"Pledges are interesting, they make good theater," Brown told legislators. "But the fact is we have to have a plan, we need a solution, and for those who say they don't want to vote, then why are you here?"

Good question: Why are they here, collecting their nearly six-figure salaries plus per diem, if they consider the state's predicament the other party's problem and none of their concern? Perhaps the more pertinent question is: "Are they really here at all?"

California Republicans, unlike Wisconsin Democrats, have not left the state physically. But they are just as surely leaving our state behind.