(LA Times) ... Nuñez called the Schwarzenegger administration dishonest, saying the governor had repeatedly broken his word. Schwarzenegger, meanwhile, criticized lawmakers for proposing new taxes to balance the budget.

Nuñez's comments came a day after Mike Murphy, Schwarzenegger's chief political consultant, gathered reporters to say that the governor was considering backing a proposed initiative that could shrink the political influence of public employee unions.

Nuñez said the Republican governor had privately and repeatedly assured him that he had nothing to do with the "paycheck protection" initiative, which would require that public employee unions get written permission from members each year before spending their dues on political campaigns. The governor's support of such a measure would amount to a declaration of war on Democrats, who hold a majority in the Legislature, and some of their most generous donors.

"We've questioned him all along," Nuñez told reporters in a hastily called news conference. "People that are very close to the governor have been raising money for [the union dues initiative]. And we said, 'Governor, do you have anything to do with this? Do you have any ties to this?' And he totally distanced himself from it, saying he had nothing to do with it.

"I just took his word for it. And now we learn yesterday that not only is the governor … tied to it, he now has decided that he's going to go out and raise money to get this on the ballot and certainly to get it passed.