Give it up Arnold

Seriously man. I get that you really like your plan and that you wish the Republicans would come on. But it just isn't going to happen. You would have had a hard time getting them to play ball at the height of your influence with them, let alone now, when the level of cooperation is arguable at an all time low. I know that Speaker Nunez is bringing you the same message and it is the right one. SacBee:

But as Núñez notes, that's simply too many taxes and mandates for Republican legislators to accept, and the sooner Schwarzenegger acknowledges that reality, the better.

Nunez is still planning on bringing Arnold's plan up for a vote, where he predicts that he will be the only one voting for it, simply as a courtesy to the governor.

"I'm going to take him from the stratosphere, and I am going to ground him," Núñez told me in an interview in his Capitol office. "He needs a little grounding. Nobody likes his plan." [snip]

"I just want him to engage," Núñez said of Schwarzenegger. "Let's get it done. The governor has got the power to do it. He is either going to do it or not. If he doesn't do it, he's failed.

The Speaker also announced that he would support Arnold's proposal for a fee on hospitals as an add on to AB8, not something that would reduce the percentage of the payroll fee, as in Arnold's plan. He wants it to work towards covering more of the uninsured, not reducing the fees on businesses. The worry is that reducing the percentage of the payroll tax on companies will encourage them to drop their coverage to lower levels. Plus, AB8 needs more funding in general.

[Update] In a sign progress is being made. Nunez will not be putting Arnold's plan up for an embarrassing defeat.