We've talked in years past about the state budget essentially being placed on the ballot, but rarely have the stakes been as high as they will be in 2012 -- for either the state or the state's chief executive.

This week's Capital Notes Podcast looks at the ever sharpening budget debate of 2012... or is, instead, the rapidly entangling policy issues and political narratives?

I'm joined by Anthony York of the Los Angeles Times and Marisa Lagos of the San Francisco Chronicle. We also check in on the week's big court fight over redistricting, and a new chapter in the long debate over whether initiative titles and summaries are truly apolitical.

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