Governor Jerry Brown, who returned to Sacramento saying he would be “an apostle for common sense” able to get lawmakers to work together to meet the challenge, finally admitted that he actually couldn’t this week. Brown wanted to solve the $26.6 billion budget gap with a mix of cuts and an extension of revenues set to expire in June. The cuts have already been enacted; but it still takes a 2/3 vote of the legislature to pass revenues, and even to get them on the ballot for a proposed June statewide special election. Republicans, who have no other leverage over the government in the state after being wiped out completely over the past decade, dithered and moved goalposts and eventually came with a 53-point plan (53!) with new demands for changes to the state regulatory structure and public pensions, the institution of a hard spending cap, and more. It took Brown a long while, but finally he had enough. In his letter to Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton, Brown lamented the new list of demands and the unwillingness to compromise. So he called off the talks, which were going nowhere.

As political candidates of both major parties continue to underwhelm as potential “agents of change,” ballot initiatives grow more interesting. According to BallotPedia, 90 ballot questions have been certified for 2010 spots in 31 sates. They estimate that if 2010 is an average year, another 130-140 will ultimately qualify. What measures are making their way onto the ballot in your neck of the woods?

In a ruling that portends the unwinding of multiple campaign finance laws, a DC appeals court using the Citizens United ruling opened up certain independent expenditure committees to unlimited spending.