Republicans continue to struggle (look how they get what they want!)
Prominent in the news today is the story of the Democratic "victory" in California, where Republican candidate Brian Bilbray defeated Democrat Francine Busby for the state's 50th District Congressional seat. Of course, it's a moral victory, because Busby was close (4 points) in a Republican-leaning district. Closer to home, a similar bit of good news for conservatives has been spun as bad, namely that Bob Taft signed the TEL (Tax and Expenditure Limitation) into law. This is "bad news" for Republicans because the bill is less severe than a ballot measure proposed by Republican candidate for governor, Ken Blackwell. Creating legislation takes Blackwell's initiative off the ballot in November, the theory being that reaction to the TEL would be so negative as to drag down the ticket. Being a glass is half-full guy most of the time, I see a law that limits state spending increases to 3.5% per year a good thing. That it won't apply to local governments