On January 26, California Arnold Schwarzenegger fired the opening salvo in the 2010 state budget battle, releasing a proposal that constitutes a direct assault on organized labor in the state and calls for a new round of draconian cuts to social services. The governor's proposals include privatization of California prisons, a reduction in in-home support services for sick, disabled and elderly state residents, and 5% across the board cut in the salaries of state workers-without even bringing public employees unions to the negotiating table. In the face of another ballooned budget deficit, what real alternatives to the Republicans' "slahs and burn" strategy will Democrats, unions, and progressives be willing to put forward and fight for? Can California's budget problems be fixed in a progressive fashion without challenging the powerful prison/police lobby, whose law and order agenda facilitates the mass incarceration of Blacks and Latinos and sucks up a huge portion of the state budget? What about the powerful highway lobby, whose own overbloated highway takes funds away from public transit? Willie Pelote, Sr, Political Director for AFSCME, one of California's largest public sector unions, raps with host Eric Mann.