"The supporters, comprised mostly of college-age students presented ideas for balancing the budget that focus on rebuilding government programs that emphasize health care, education and industry, according to LaRouche campaign organizer Amie Acheson. ‘These end up being real life-and-death issues,' Acheson said. ‘There are solutions rather than picking the lesser of two evils. We want to say that cutting people and programs won't solve anything.'"

"Acheson compared the presidential hopeful's stance on the budget to New Deal programs created after the Great Depression because she said legislators need to restructure government programs during the similarly difficult times. ‘[Franklin D. Roosevelt] rebuilt government,' Acheson said. ‘He brought back the necessities that society needs to make it, and our legislators need to do the same thing.' Acheson said that the group's goal is to shift legislators' focus from extensive budget cuts to overarching moral, social and philosophical issues underlying political decisions. ‘Budget cuts will be murder,' Acheson said. ‘You can kill off and fire everyone in California, and it still won”t get the state out of the deficit.'"

"Robert Lucero, another LaRouche organizer, raised the issue of industry deregulation and how it resulted in devastating economic consequences for the country. Pedro Reyes, deputy policy director for state Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Culver City), said he was unsure of Wesson's stance on the issues. While he expressed support for some of the group's main points, hindsight is always 20/20 when determining what the best course of economic action may be. Reyes cited the more stringent safety and environmental regulations on more recent developments as well as the lessened cost-effectiveness of them as evidence of key differences in the economic feasibility of widespread government programs.

Additionally, while both Reyes and Lucero agreed that deregulation was detrimental to the economy, Reyes said it would be difficult to change legislators' opinions on budget solutions, especially during the current state of economic affairs. ‘I don”t know if anyone can say that their policy is right,' Reyes said. ‘There are going to be different perspectives on what people are passionate about.'"
"Reyes acknowledged that reconciling both sides of the issue, both within the Legislature and the state constituency, is an essential, but usually difficult task. ‘There is a shortfall, and something has to happen,' Reyes said. ‘We need to find a plan that will fit everyone, but it's always really hard to come to a consensus on budget matters.'"

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