OPINION: Budget Expediency Overwhelms Logic

Many factors go into making political deals – ideology, self-interest, expediency and emotion to mention just a few. Logic rarely enters the equation, and if it does, it usually dwells at the bottom in importance. Two cases in point are to be found in the final deal on a $213 billion state budget that was hammered out last weekend, just a few days before the June 15 deadline, by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders.