"The Legislature acts as if we had a $30 billion surplus," Schwarzenegger told a hastily called news conference at the Capitol. "When you have a crisis, the most important thing to do is make a decision."

Instead, the governor said, legislators accomplished nothing after he called them into special session the day after the Nov. 4 election to address a package of budget cuts, tax increases and economic stimulus plans he proposed.

"They met, they debated, they postured and they did nothing," he said. "They didn't deal with one of those issues, and that was after being three months late with (approving) the budget this year. If that isn't a shameful performance, I don't know what is."

Schwarzenegger stood beside a display labeled "Legislature's Failure to Act: Day 35," and said the date refers to the time since he called the special session in November. A device on the display continually ran up the amount of money the governor said the state was losing since July 1 because the deficit had not been addressed: $28,000 a minute, $1.7 million an hour, $40 million per day.

The governor said that because of the lack of a deal, the $11.2 billion deficit in the current fiscal year's budget has climbed to $14.8 billion. Administration officials said the deficit will balloon to the $40 billion neighborhood by mid-2010 unless corrective action is taken.

"I'm frustrated," Schwarzenegger said. "We have a system where we rely on the 120 legislators to make those decisions. I cannot make them stay here, I cannot lock them into the building, I don't have those kinds of powers.

"Believe me, I would do it otherwise."

Schwarzenegger said he would meet with the leaders of the four legislative caucuses tomorrow to present them with new estimates about how bad not only the current year's deficit is, but how much worse it will be in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The Republican governor also singled out GOP legislators for coming unprepared to negotiations over the mess. He called their contributions "always vague and not prepared." He also criticized statements made to The Bee Tuesday by Assembly GOP leader Mike Villines.

Villines said that Democrats and the governor would have to accept a long list of changes Republican lawmakers want in state workplace and environmental laws before they will even consider voting for any tax increases.

"That is not the way you negotiate," Schwarzenegger said. "... They have to start negotiating and they have to take this seriously rather than playing 'chicken,' which is what is going on now, this 'who blinks first,' that's a very dangerous game."

Call The Bee's Steve Wiegand, (916) 321-1076