John Burton

What may be most needed for this crisis to have a happy ending is a hero to lead these forces out of the dark ages. State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, wants to fill this role. Burton is co-author of the unions' "pay or play" approach (scheduled for a first hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Insurance Committee). He must work to balance all players' interests. State Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, has introduced a bill aimed at protecting consumers and employers by reining in unfair health care premiums. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, has an even bolder plan to insure all Californians through a single state-run insurance pool detached from employment. Gov. Gray Davis is missing in action.

Energy deregulation sucks,'' said John Burton, the state Senate's top Democrat, summarizing his support for the ''Repeal of Electricity Deregulation Act of 2003.''

The Gov. is desperately trying to show that there is no relationship between his fundraising and his pending policy decisions, but tell that to the more experienced kahunas in Arnold's $100K club like Pfizer, Inc. which paid for its membership yesterday. That's the same day the pharmaceutical giant announced that it would stop selling its drugs to online Canadian pharmacies that re-import to America; and of course Pfizer is also against two recently introduced bills, one by Senate Leader John Burton, that would allow Californians to re-import drugs from Canada.

A colleague just received a mass email action from California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton reiterating my call days ago on the Huffington Post to change the number needed to bust a filibuster.