GOP's 'math problem'

Dennis Hollingsworth, the new Republican leader in the Senate, believes that California can close its $41 billion deficit without raising taxes, which is what the current plan requires. To which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said this morning: "Anyone who runs around and says this can be done without raising taxes, I think, has not really looked at it carefully or has a math problem and has to go back and take Math 101." (Here's the LAT story.) Ousting Dave Cogdill last night as Senate leader was at first seen as a huge setback for getting this thing passed - three Republicans are needed to reach the two-thirds supermajority. But the Sacramento Bee's Dan Walters said on KPCC this morning that the dynamics haven't changed - it still comes down to a couple of GOP senators joining Cogdill. He suspects the impasse could be resolved in the next couple of days (though he quickly added that his suspicions have been wrong before).