Editorialists take on Sacramento

At least eleven of Dean Singleton's California newspapers ran front-page editorials today criticizing the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for failing to resolve a months-old budget impasse. From the AP:

[San Jose] Mercury News Editor Dave Butler, who also serves as vice president for news for the chain's papers, said he thought the front page placement was needed to underscore the issue's importance. He said each newspaper's editor made an independent decision about whether to run the editorial out front.

Here's a sample of the outrage from the Los Angeles Daily News:

Californians should be furious. We are.

That's why the Daily News is taking the rare step of running an editorial on the front page. This inaction is so serious that it threatens the economic stability of every resident and business of this state.

We encourage others to raise their voices as well. The political cost of delay must become too high for lawmakers to cling to principles that grim economic reality have rendered meaningless.

It should be noted that most of these same newspapers shuttered their Sacramento bureaus within the last few years.