Speaking of the governor’s morning event… I asked Schwarzenegger to clarify his position on the idea of cancelling tax breaks to help resolve part of this year’s mammoth budget shortfall.

You may remember that last week, the guv created quite the buzz when it sounded as though he suggested he was willing to consider Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill’s suggestion to scrap as much as $2.5 billion in tax credits. Though Schwarzenegger later danced away from endorsing her specific ideas, both Democrats and Republicans are watching him closely on this issue. That’s because GOP legislators in particular define the cancellation of a tax credit as raising taxes.

So does Schwarzenegger agree with his fellow Republicans on that definition?

“We should not get caught up on what something is called,” the governor told me. “That doesn’t bring anyone any health care. It doesn’t bring anyone any education. It doesn’t hire teachers, it doesn’t expand our education program. What we need to do is fix problems.”

You can hear the entire exchange here.

That’s a safe answer that’s sure to please… no one. And at an event earlier in the morning (covered by my colleague Tamara Keith), Democrats made no bones about what’s needed to resolve the current budget crisis.

“Raise taxes,” said Senate President pro Tem Don Perata. “Is that clear enough? Raise taxes.”

And Perata took it one step further… hinting that if it takes a summertime showdown to do the right thing, he’s ready to wait it out. “This is going to be the fight of a lifetime,” he said. “We are not going to be going anywhere this summer.”

Something tells me that while the governor may hope otherwise, we’re going to spend a lot of time in the next few months arguing over what is… and isn’t… a tax increase.