Brown declares budget talks dead

So you can forget about the state legislature getting a two-thirds vote for a June ballot measure on extending taxes. And Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said he will not try sneaking in an election with a simple majority. So what else is there? "I will focus my efforts on speaking directly to Californians and coming up with honest and real solutions to our budget crisis," the governor said in a statement. Seems to boil down to two possibilities, neither of which is very appealing: Proceed with the so-called all-cuts budget that would require another $15.4 billion worth of slashing. Or, wait until November for a ballot initiative on the tax extensions Brown has been proposing. Of course, the fiscal year starts on July 1, at which point those taxes will have expired. That will make them tax increases in November - and there's no guarantee that voters will go along with that. Here's the LAT story.