Opinion: Don’t Stop the Presses

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Who on this wide green earth is surprised to hear this:

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s layoffs of thousands upon thousands of part-time state workers have meant that some state services aren’t getting served.

Among them is the DMV. One Saturday each month, 53 DMV offices statewide have been staying open to help people who can’t make it in Monday through Friday.

Not any more -- not with those cuts. No more Saturday DMV hours for, as they say during wartime, ‘’the duration.’’

With ... one ... exception.

There is one DMV office that is untouched by these changes -- but you’re not allowed to go in. The Sacramento Bee says that the DMV office in room 121 of the Legislative Office Building, across from the state Capitol, is there to serve only legislators and their staff. That part of the building is closed to the public, the Bee says, and security people wouldn’t even give a regular Joe directions to it.

My, my. What a surprise.

It’s the legislators who can’t get together a budget, but it’s full-time state workers whose salaries the governor wants rolled back to federal minimum wage, and it’s state part-time workers who got laid off.

Were the days of Jubilo upon us, and truth and justice were to prevail, the legislators would be the ones looking at minimum-wage pay -- and a maximum wait in line at a public DMV office, just like the rest of us.

A girl can dream, can’t she?