It's really great to know that Maria Shriver is working so hard to help those her husband screwed over.  Today, domestic violence shelters all over the State of California are waiting anxiously to see if Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign into law a bill sponsored by Senator Yee of San Francisco.  This bill aims to restore (temporarily) the funding the governor eliminated for domestic violence shelters in the State of California during his line item veto spree at the end of the budget impasse.

Schwarzenegger eliminated (as opposed to cut) ALL funding for domestic violence in the State of California.  As a result, six shelters closed outright and all the others are suffering huge budget shortfalls.  On a practical level, that means employees are working their jobs and often the jobs of coworkers who were laid off... and doing so on fewer hours with far fewer resources.

On an even MORE practical level, this means women and children who might otherwise have had safe places to go either don't have them at all, or can't get the level of care they once might have.  Which means... people die. 

Senator Yee proposed legislation that would restore funding on an emergency basis THIS fiscal year (it does not restore the funding stream beyond that).  The first time it was submitted, it passed the Assemby with flying colors, but the Republicans played nasty little games in the Senate and refused to vote on it or a bunch of other stuff unless some of their legislation (most of it trivial) went through.

So... while that tanked, more jobs were lost, more shelters were lost, more women and children... were lost.

Now it got resubmitted in a special session.  Thank goodness, this time the Senate passed it by an overwhelming majority and it sits on the Governor's desk.  Meanwhile, there is this big press conference in San Francisco today with Yee and with the artist Moby, who is donating all the proceeds of his concerts to domestic violence shelters in California... and all of us are waiting on tenterhooks to see what the Governator does.

MEANWHILE, Maria Shriver--steadfast wife to Arnold--gets pulled over for yakking non-hands-free on her cell phone for the third time.  Wanna know what her response is?

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California first lady Maria Shriver says she's sorry for breaking a state law that requires drivers to use hands-free devices while talking on cell phones.

On Wednesday, Shriver said she will donate her favorite old cell phone to a program that helps domestic violence. She added: "That's my version of swift action with a higher purpose."

Well, that's fucking great.  Maybe we can pay our employees with cell phones.  That makes a huge fucking difference, there, Maria.  I've got an idea for you, why don't you use that Kennedy influence and LEAN THE HELL ON YOUR HUSBAND WHO ELIMINATED FUNDING ENTIRELY?????  Just a thought.

OMFG.

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