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U.S. Sen. John McCain, not incredibly popular among fellow Republicans in Congress, has formed a team of House "whips" to build support for his possible bid for president. On the list, according to Roll Call, is former California Attorney General Dan Lungren, now a congressman from the Sacramento area. (Lungren also lost to Gray Davis in the 1998 governor's race.) McCain's team includes others from California, Roll Call noted: "Both McCain and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) share a penchant for government reform and at least two operatives from Schwarzenegger's 2006 re-election bid have migrated to McCain's presidential effort: Senior Adviser Steve Schmidt and Deputy Director of Strategy Sarah Simmons.
"California-based media consultant Fred Davis, who worked on Schwarzenegger's re-election, signed on to work for McCain in 2008. Lungren, a former California attorney general, served with McCain in the House in the 1980s. 'Honor is extremely important to him,' Lungren said. 'Both his own honor and the honor of the institution.' "
Somebody has a lot of time on their hands, including me. Click here for the freakiest Schwarzenegger video yet.
- L.A. City Council reaches deal with business, labor over "living wage" ordinance.
- Barack Obama hires California fundraiser.
- Touch-screen voting machines on their way out in favor of optical scanners in Florida.
- Watch governor's press conference on health care today. He acknowledges he's looking at a change in term limits, dodges question on whether he would take a third term.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's press spokesman, Peter Ragone, has been caught in a "nerd attack." The tough-talking Ragone has worked for some spectacular losers - Andrew Cuomo's bid for New York governor, the national Democratic Party during the Florida recount, and former Gov. Gray Davis during the 2003 recall. But he's found a winner in Newsom.
Now, Ragone is being swarmed. SFist, a blogger in San Francisco, has allegedly* exposed him for posting favorable comments about his boss on the website, along with slights about a "sad, sad" TV reporter covering the mayor. Seems Ragone's IP address matched the one from poster "John Nelson."
The "sad" TV reporter then produced a long and detailed hit piece on Ragone and his alleged "dirty tricks." The piece shows Ragone blocking the ABC camera when reporter Dan Noyes tries to interview the mayor. It also includes a reenactment of Ragone "trolling" the Internet to post favorable comments about the mayor and this exchange:
Dan Noyes, ABC7 I-Team: "I'm not the one who's looking like a jerk, Peter."
Peter Ragone: "Yeah, that's right. You are, actually."
Here is a list, from SFist, of the posts under the names "John Nelson" and "Peter Ragone." Including this: "who cares if he makes out with his girlfriend. he is just doing what normal people do." Ragone's denies posting under someone else's name, and says John Nelson is a good friend. "What can I say, we had a nerd attack. I've learned my
lesson," he told Matier & Ross.
*UPDATE: Ragone now admits posting for his friend and as his friend.
(Photo: ABC7)
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine has introduced bill to ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012. This was posted on DrudgeReport today. The blogosphere should pretty much go nuts over Crazy California again. In fact, a few have already started: Interior decorators say: ewww. The bill could destroy the country. Levine is evil. He is a dimbulb. Claims to know what's best for us. We have an overbearing Nanny State. Maybe we could spank our 2-year-olds with lightbulbs.
The FBI is asking hard questions about a land deal involving Inland Empire Rep. Gary Miller, Republican and Confederate officer in the 2003 Civil War flick, "Gods and Generals." According to a Times investigation, Miller possibly evaded federal and state taxes on a land deal with the city of Monrovia.
The land sale went something like this: Miller sold 165 acres to the city of Monrovia in 2002, and made more
than $10 million, his reports show. State and federal taxes would have taken up to 31% out
of that profit, the Times reported, but Miller claimed an IRS exemption that allowed him to keep his profits tax-free as long as he reinvested the money within two years.
Miller said Monrovia had forced him to sell his land under eminent domain, which allowed the IRS exemption. But FBI agents have requested a videotape of a 2000 city council meeting in
which Miller asks four times for the city to purchase his land, the Times reports today.
Scott Toussaint, a spokesman for the congressman, told The Times: "Congressman Miller is tired of all the rumor and innuendo that has
been in the press regarding his past real estate transactions." But Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, said: "It looks like this is not casual; it seems like quite a concerted effort. Miller has clearly acted illegally."
Miller seems proud of his efforts on behalf of the Confederacy, however. His government website has numerous photographs of him on the set of "Gods and Generals," which followed the exploits of Stonewall Jackson.
(Photo: Office of Rep. Gary Miller)
Annette Bening, the Oscar-nominated actress and wife of actor Warren Beatty, inadvertently provided a bit of comic relief during the 2005 special election when the couple tried to crash a rally with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Staffer Darrel Ng stopped them like a doorman from hell and asked Bening to spell her name.
Now the transmogrified governor has won over the couple, at least a bit. Beatty joked at the recent Golden Globes: "I asked Arnold to become a Democrat, and he did what I said."
And Bening says she has been encouraged by the bipartisan approach Schwarzenegger adopted last year," the AP reports, as she seeks more funding for the California Arts Council. (Bening was appointed to the 11-member board by her friend, former Senate leader John Burton.) At an Arts Council conference in Sacramento, Bening noted Schwarzenegger is taking on the environment and health care, and then pleaded her cause: "We are the folks in the corner who are quietly raising our hand, suggesting that we also need some attention
and we also need some funding."
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
"Beware the flying men! Beware the flying men! The Bird men are coming!" --San Francisco Hobo in "Around the World in 80 Days," with cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Branson.
Only a few months ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger cooed about helping to persuade Virgin America to open its U.S. headquarters near the San Francisco airport. "That means 1,700 new jobs in California and that is music to my ears," Schwarzenegger said in October. Luring Virgin to California became a signature example of Schwarzenegger's efforts to boost job creation in California. Nevertheless, Schwarzenegger's office carefully noted that all this was pending regulatory approval by the federal government.
 Indeed, those federal regulators appear to have grounded the infant domestic airline and those 1,700 new California jobs. The Dept. of Transportation tentatively has rejected the application, ruling that Virgin America probably would violate the 1926 Air Commerce Act, which requires all domestic airlines to remain controlled by U.S. citizens. (Billionaire Virgin founder Richard Branson, pictured, was to have a minority share of the airline but veto power over decisions.) The company reportedly has revised its proposal and removed Branson's veto power over the company.
Schwarzenegger personally pitched the California location to Branson, wrote letters on the company's behalf, appeared at the unveiling of their first jet, and helped round up more than $15 million in development money as a sweetener. (City officials and state lawmakers invested a lot of political capital in getting the company to California as well.) The two men are connected beyond the airline. Branson, who personally has supported Schwarzenegger's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, bonded with the governor on the set of "Around the World In 80 Days." Schwarzenegger played the lascivious "Prince Hapi" and Branson played "Balloon Man."
(Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)
The L.A. Times' Joe Mathews reports: Los Angeles voters favor keeping a new law extending the $10.64 an hour "living wage" ordinance to LAX-area hotel workers by better than 3 to 1, according to a poll commissioned by a nonprofit group affiliated with labor unions. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez had intervened to support hotel workers who had fasted to protest the referendum.
Continue reading "Poll: Voters Want to Keep 'Living Wage'" »
- California attorney general's office hides $103 million in contracts as "confidential." One included a $489,000 no-bidder with a D.C. lobbying firm operated by a top aide to former Rep. Vic Fazio--former A.G. Bill Lockyer's friend. Associated Press investigates, and opens records.
- Steve Forbes (pictured) says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's health care plan "underscores the abysmal ignorance of so many--including boatloads of business executives and entrepreneurs--about what it takes to bring rationality, productivity and lower prices to the health-care market."
- Columnist writes about how she spanked her 2-year-old, and gets royal treatment, sort of, on Fox News. "They needed a spanking spokeswoman who didn't sound like Mommie Dearest, and I fit the bill." The anti-spanking bill, still not introduced, won't go away.
- Is the California Republican Party deep in debt? Mike Spence thinks so.
(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)
The L.A. Times' Tina Daunt has the insider view of a Hollywood party for Hillary Clinton. The senator's guy, former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, charms the pants off Beverly Hills, with one iron fist tied behind his back. Daunt writes:
"Bill Clinton might forgive you if you give to other candidates," McAuliffe teases guest Nicole Avant, the daughter of the mega-political Clarence Avant, music industry guru. "But not Hillary. No way. She's tough."
Avant smiles coyly. She won't say whom she supports.
"How are you ever going to get the Paris ambassadorship?" McAuliffe continues. "Get on board."
(Photo: Matt Sayles / AP)
As the world gets creepier and creepier, it's nice to know the California Legislature is protecting us. Let's take cloning. The delicious cows we slaughter should definitely come from cows that had sex with each other, not from some sterile futuristic lab where everyone is wearing a purple jumpsuit.
 But because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seems intent on allowing humans to eat food from cloned animals, Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco, of course) has introduced legislation requiring the following label: "THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS CLONED ANIMALS--CREEPY!"
I made up the creepy part, but her legislation is locked and loaded. She also would force labeling on food made from the children of cloned animals, if those cloned parents/animals had sex with each other to make a baby cow. See how complicated the world is becoming?
This is very upsetting to Dr. Henry "Frankenfood Myth" Miller at the Hoover Institution, which gets upset about a lot of things in government. Miller says putting a label on cloned food would imply there is something wrong with it. His argument comes down to this: There exists no consumer "right to know" obscure information about food, and anyway fruits and vegetables are cloned and we shouldn't have bills against spanking children and giving people time off to care for sick family members and isn't the Legislature really dumb?
Seriously, that's his argument.
(Photo: Jason Turner / AP)
Robin Williams, recently back from rehab, says he thinks about Maria von Trapp escaping Austria every time Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about immigration. "I feel like, 'Get in the car, children. Come on, we're going!' " View video here.
 Former State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the failed candidate for California governor, is relaunching his political committee, Standing Up For California, and asking people to take a survey to guide its direction. Angelides (shown with his wife, Julie, packing up the treasurer's office) wants to know what people care about, which social networks they belong to, and their thoughts about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Angelides also wants to return to statewide politics, and recently formed an investment firm to build some wealth. "When a boxer falls down on the mat, sometimes they are out. But Phil was up before the count of 10," said Bob Mulholland, a Democratic Party official and Angelides friend.
"I am more committed than ever to the values we promoted during the campaign," Angelides wrote to supporters in a mass e-mail that went out today. "And through the relaunch of my organization, Standing Up For California, I am going to continue to work for them. But as Standing Up For California's agenda for the next year is being developed, I need your input."
Standing Up For California first publicly challenged Schwarzenegger in late 2003 when it ran TV ads attacking the governor's desire to balance the state budget with borrowing. Click on link below for the full letter.
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
Continue reading "Angelides Relaunches Political Committee" »
There is a nasty little fight brewing in Orange County between a law-enforcement union and a tough-talking supervisor. The animosity has descended into outrageously broad insults and vicious personal slights, which means it's now appropriate for Political Muscle.
 The central player is newly elected Supervisor John Moorlach, who famously predicted the Orange County bankruptcy in the early 1990s, and don't you forget it. Lately, he has been calling for a formal audit of the union's health trust fund operated by "union bosses" for the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs. Moorlach called them "thugs" and it pretty much went downhill from there.
The union rounded up nearly 900 retired and current deputy sheriffs who signed a form letter requesting that Moorlach be barred from attending academy graduations, award services, funerals and news conferences. To add insult, the letter writers also requested that Moorlach be barred from attending their own funerals should they die any time soon. (The obvious response: He cannot be barred from public functions.)
Now, a group that has worked to dilute the political power of unions is responding with its own campaign. Sunday, they ran a full-page advertisement (right) in the O.C. Register saying the union had sunk to a new low and called again for an audit of the health trust fund. The new group, Veritas Public Policy Center, is billed as a "project" of the California Foundation for Campaign Reform, the 501(c)(4) group that ran an unsuccessful bid in 1993 to bar union dues for political campaigns, Proposition 226.
The foundation was started by three O.C. businessmen, real estate developer James Righeimer, engineer Frank Ury and personnel company owner Mark Bucher. In an interview today, Bucher wouldn't reveal who is funding the anti-union campaign but said it was a broad group and not just one major donor. He said Veritas might run additional ads. "When they engage in campaigns to mislead the public, we want to be there to put forward what we believe is the truth."
The union hasn't fully engaged on the new ad campaign, but general manager Bob MacLeod told the Register that the ads would actually clarify the issue: "Anyone who wants to know what's behind this issue should know now. It's politics, and it's nothing more."
- Republicans tap into that frustration among the middle class and working poor over illegal immigration. Dan Weintraub.
"I want to spend very little time on that because it doesn't move us forward. What moves us forward is to solve the problem." --Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger interview about his health-care plan.
One more and we've got a trend! This morning, Schwarzenegger essentially repeated the above statement during an online chat with business executives in San Diego. The governor wants people to stop obsessing over whether his proposed health-care plan includes a "tax" or a "fee." (He would charge doctors, businesses and hospitals to boost insurance coverage in California.)
Click here to view online chat.
 The governor said today: "I am concentrating on getting health-care reform and insuring everyone in California rather than worrying about what is the definition of something." [Emphasis added.]
This is what's called a talking point.
But few things are more important, in fact, than whether Schwarzenegger's plan includes a tax or a fee. Schwarzenegger wants to define the surcharge as a "fee" because it allows the Legislature to approve the plan with a majority vote--bypassing Republicans.
But by doing that, Schwarzenegger risks running into the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Only the federal government can mandate health-care benefits, to avoid conflicting laws state-by-state. Attorney Mark Johnson, a national expert on ERISA, told The Times that Schwarzenegger's plan--if it is challenged in court--would violate ERISA. Johnson said, "This would be a direct attempt to manage a plan. I don't think it would pass muster."
Lawyers all over California are examining a federal court decision out of Maryland over its pay-or-play system. Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger's people say his plan does not single out individual health plans and does not mandate specific benefits, so it would not violate ERISA. The governor's online chat was organized to "address the estimated $14.65 billion in hidden taxes that business currently pay due to the broken health-care system."
Now, that's a tax we can talk about.
Red County appears to catch Trung Nguyen, a candidate for supervisor in Orange County, Photoshopped next to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an ad that ran in the Vietnamese-language Vien Dong newspaper on Saturday. The candidate seems to have grown a few inches and changed suits, judging from another photograph at the Schwarzenegger rally. He's also the only one in the photograph with sun on his face. Read the post here.
(Photo: OCBlog.net)
 "You can grab it, send it, link it, and at zero cost. Two hundred thousand people could see it in 24 hours." -- Matthew Dowd, a top strategist for President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign, on viral videos attacking presidential candidates.
The Times' Michael Finnegan reports that while filmmaker Robert Greenwald is producing videos showing McCain's alleged flip-flops, McCain is "planning his own Web version of reality TV. He has hired a videographer to record behind-the-scenes campaign moments of the senator in relaxed settings."
View Greenwald video here. And another about John Edwards (above) "feeling pretty" here.
- Rudy Giuliani coming to Orange County. "With the uber-rich political elites like Bren and Argyros signed up with McCain and nearly 1000 OC-ers already committed to Romney, Rudy is fighting an uphill battle for real support for president out of Orange County."
- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's welfare cutbacks are a "course correction, necessitated by federal mandates and a widespread failure" by some able-bodied recipients to get a job. Republican Sen. Jim Battin defends the governor.
- Moving presidential primary to February won't work and would only serve to strengthen power of a few key politicians. So says Randy Bayne.
- Christian Conservatives uses Nazi analogy on California's proposed anti-spanking law. "Letting these witless progressives supervise my family would be roughly akin to letting Adolph Hitler and Josef Mengele supervise a Jewish kindergarten!" Wow.
Scenario Alpha Foxtrot Zulu: Johnny Jihadi applies for a job at George Washington Carver Middle School in Pacoima. He gets the job. Seems like a nice guy. Mr. Jihadi starts teaching children how to overthrow of the government of the United States, by force and violence. The eighth-graders seem receptive. You're the principal, what do you do?
 Never fear, California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine -- author of the Red-baiting novel "China Attacks" -- has written AB 137 to deal with this problem. To DeVore (in photo, during L.A. riots of 1992), there is a "clear and present danger" that "extremist terror networks will seek employment with this state ... to inflict great harm on the citizens of this state, to raise money to support global terrorist operations, and to spread deceit and teach untruth."
Hmmmmm. "Teach untruth."
That sounds sort of squishy. I mean, we are writing law here. Whose truth, then? Well, one editorial board thinks "AB137 could be as much a tool for false accusations, witch hunts, xenophobia and discrimination as a useful legal provision." Some would say that sounds a bit like what happened when California tried to enforce it's own anti-Communist laws in the 1950s.
DeVore agrees. He wants those musty old laws ... updated. "As I considered California's anti-Communist laws I thought that rather than simply eliminate them, it would be make sense to update them by striking the prohibitions on the Communist Party and on teaching Marxism and replace them with a prohibition on membership in and financial support of, foreign terrorist organizations."
But what if Suzy Suicide, a member of the public, wants to use the school gym for a meeting? DeVore would require her to sign a "Statement of Information," which appears after the jump below. Indeed, all readers of this blog are requested to sign and return the form to Political Muscle immediately.
(Photo: ChuckDeVore.com)
Continue reading "Lawmaker: Terrorists Could Infiltrate State Government" »
Assemblyman Todd Spitzer wrote a column recently calling members of the Public Safety Committee "pro-criminal." Not surprisingly, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez thought this went too far. He printed out the column, confronted Spitzer about it and started yelling obscenities. And he bounced Spitzer (in lower photo) from the Public Safety Committee. The FlashReport, which helped start the whole mess by printing Spitzer's column, isn't holding back today:  "The real tragedy here is that Assembly Democrats will continue to treat their criminal constituents with the same level of love and respect that they afford to all of their other constituents (well, perhaps they do prioritize their convicted constituents over one group -- taxpayers) -- and you can be sure that the most effective, anti-crime ideas that are introduced as bills this year will languish in that committee, which once again has been stacked with a majority of Nunez's cronies."
But haven't tough-on-crime Republicans and Democrats completely failed in one critical arena? A new report by the watchdog Little Hoover Commission calls the California criminal justice system a catastrophe, with prisons swelled beyond capacity, inmates living in hallways and gyms, and critically: "The bulk of the state's prisoners are not succeeding once released. California’s recidivism rate, at 70%, is near the highest in the nation."
 Who is to blame? The report says 30 years of "tough on crime" politics and "political posturing," which has "taken a good idea –- determinate sentencing –- and warped it beyond recognition with a series of laws passed with no thought to their cumulative impact. And these laws stripped away incentives for offenders to change or improve themselves while incarcerated. ... Consequently, offenders are released into California communities with the criminal tendencies and addictions that first led to their incarceration. They are ill-prepared to do more than commit new crimes and create new victims."
Read the report here.
"It blew all of our minds." -- California prison inmate transferred to Tennessee to relieve overcrowding, happy about his new home.
The Times' Jenifer Warren uncovered an incredible promotional video produced by California prison officials that extols the virtues of prisons in other states. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered the transfer of thousands of prisoners to relieve overcrowding, but only about 600 have volunteered. The video is designed, as one union official said, to make California inmates believe they are headed on a cruise vacation. It's another remarkable admission from state officials about the Dickensian conditions in California.
Accompanied by music straight from a 1950s employee training filmstrip, the California inmates are seen praising "their new surroundings, including the food, the staff, the recreation and the job and education opportunities," she writes. "Footage shows inmates lounging in roomy cells with views, playing basketball and chess, lining up for hot meals and chatting amiably with smiling officers. Inmates of different races mingle — something unheard of on a California prison yard — and one convict marvels that 'we've already had dental exams,' which are hard to come by behind bars in the Golden State."
 California's air police have issued a $271,250 fine against celebrity rebel Jesse James, the host of "Monster Garage" and "Motorcycle Mania," saying that 50 of his custom-built choppers ran afoul of California's clean-air rules. "California Air Resources Board officials said their inspectors found that the monster bikes sold between 1998 and 2005 did not have state certified emissions equipment on their exhaust and fuel systems," The Times reports. At least he's wearing a helmet.
"We take our mission to enforce air quality laws seriously," said Catherine Witherspoon, executive officer of the Air Resources Board. An uncertified engine in a motorcycle can emit as much as 10 times more pollution than a certified one, the ARB said "California has the poorest air quality in the nation, so every ounce of pollution we clean up makes a difference." She said West Coast Choppers is now building emissions-compliant motorcycles.
(Photo: Al Schaben / AP)
 Ex-controller Steve Westly, who lost the Democratic primary last year, is still competing with Phil Angelides. Post-election, both men have formed investment companies focused on the environment. Westly, in photo, will run his firm out of Kleiner Perkins, the massive VC operation in Silicon Valley, the Bee reports.
Angelides stays in hometown Sacramento and, insiders say, wants to raise a load of cash to help self-finance any future political ambitions. (Angelides hired his former campaign manager, Cathy Calfo, as a vice president.) Both men have powerful connections on the CalPERS board, which itself is moving to invest more in green technologies and enviro companies.
"As for dealing with the uninsured - 6.5 million in California, 47 million and growing across the U.S. - I'd argue that coverage should be a basic right and would endorse a national single-payer system. But clearly, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Politically, it's a nonstarter. Yet so is the governor's plan. The reason is simple: Businesses big and small will knife it, just as they did in D.C."
- The L.A. Times' Rick Wartzman launches a new column in the business section feeling pessimistic about Schwarzenegger's chances.
Rick Jacobs wonders what would have happened to Howard Dean if California had switched to a February presidential primary for the 2004 election. In 2003, Dean had been crowned the virtual Democratic nominee before any votes had been cast. But Dean crashed and burned in the fields of Iowa and the snows of New Hampshire, two states that Jacobs says hardly represent America as a whole. But ...  "Now suppose that California's primary had been in February 2004 instead of March. Dean, with the most money and having been endorsed by SEIU and AFSCME (two of the largest unions in the country, but not heavily represented in Iowa), might have husbanded some of the resources for a state in which he outpolled all of the other candidates even on the eve of Iowa. Indeed, the Latino caucus of the legislature endorsed Dean the weekend before Iowa. SEIU alone has 650,000 members in California. The California Teachers Association, at 300,000 members nearly three times the number of those who turned out in Iowa, had endorsed Dean as well. Dean was just plain popular here, but we had to watch as 120,000 or so Iowans went through the bizarre ritual of caucusing rather than voting to decide whom they'd select."
Jacobs concludes that an early primary for California would allow well-known "insurgents" to enter the race and capture the nomination. It would, in a sense, be a more legitimate process of picking a presidential nominee than relying on a few small states and the media buzzsaw.
(Photo: Bizuayehu Tesfaye / AP)
To spank or not to spank?
Not to spank, says Emily Bazelon over at Slate, with a detailed article on some of the research about spanking children. As the world now knows, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber said she would introduce legislation this year to ban spanking children under 4 years old. The idea, as Bazelon points out, "isn't to send parents to jail, or children to foster care, because of a firm smack. Rather, it would make it easier for prosecutors to bring charges for instances of corporal punishment that they think are tantamount to child abuse" (but don't leave bruises or marks.)
The research is fairly split, but one U.C. Berkeley study of 100 middle-class families in the Bay Area found that frequent spanking could lead to maladjusted behavior. A little spanking didn't seem to matter. As usual, the world turns to Sweden, which has become either the model of perfected society or a socialist hell. She writes: "The grandmother of the bunch is Sweden, which passed a law against corporal punishment in 1979. The effects of that ban are cited by advocates on both sides of the spanking debate. ... Only one child in Sweden died as the result of physical abuse by a parent between 1980 and 1996. Those statistics suggest that making spanking illegal contributes to making it less prevalent and also to making kids safer. On the other hand, reports to police of child abuse soared in the decades after the spanking ban, as did the incidence of juvenile violence."
Finally, Bazelon tracks down all of the countries that already ban spanking: Finland, Norway, Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, United Kingdom, Denmark, Israel, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Bulgaria, Iceland, Romania, Ukraine, and Hungary. Canada, Switzerland, and Belgium have limited bans that depend on a child's age. Hardly a list of anarchist states with roving bands of hooligans (except for at soccer matches.)
Meanwhile, USA Today thinks the Lieber idea is poorly conceived because it draws "no distinction, however, between degrees of physical punishment, whether 10 lashes with a whip or a quick, mild slap to focus the attention of a child about to run into oncoming traffic. Nor could it easily do so." Let's wait and see what the legislation actually says.
Maryland could join 10 other states to adopt California's "clean car" emissions standards. But auto an industry lobbyist makes this assertion: "The truth of the matter is, the federal standards are very, very clean." Meanwhile, California's standards are put on hold by a federal judge who says the state needs a waiver. And meanwhile again, the PUC requires investor-owned utilities to purchase power that is at least as clean as that produced by the latest generation of natural-gas-fired turbines.
 "There is a way in which the governor's previous perfection, though awesome, was always a little bit unapproachable and a little threatening maybe, and it's kind of reassuring for us regular folks and fellow boomers to see that he has the same mortal coil as the rest of us." - Marty Kaplan, director of the Normal Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.
I have a piece in the real newspaper today about Schwarzenegger's deconstructing body. It's not designed as ridicule or pity for a man who devoted his life to the human form, but simple recognition of a moment that will happen to all of us. Schwarzenegger, who has always wanted to be an example to other people, is looking more like a fragile human than the hardened, gap-toothed young man whose body was his life and whose life was his body.
Christine Pelosi - Democratic activist, grassroots organizer and daughter of you-know-who - frets about spending tens of millions of dollars on a Feb. 5, 2008, presidential primary in California when the "poor and vulnerable" could use the government money. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, like the idea of a special election presidential primary so California's 55 electoral votes don't go to waste. Young Pelosi's solution: Set up a fund for "people" to pay for it. "Everyone wins: those who want an early push can give their money to fund a California primary, and no vulnerable Californians are left behind."
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has arrived in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, where he is a bit awed by the company he is sharing.  "I rubbed elbows with the likes of the prime minister of Kuwait, the president of OPEC, and energy secretaries from nations such as Chile, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Mexico. I also shared a table with the president of Azerbaijan (Ilham Aliyev, in photo) - not too shabby for a kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in San Diego."
Nunez said he talked about global warming, including legislation to curb greenhouse emissions in California, but "was surprised by the number of times foreign leaders needled me about the US presence in Iraq. There is genuine hostility toward the US from all parts of the world because of the war."
(Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP)
 Hillary Rodham Clinton is beating Barack Obama to Beverly Hills by a few days to suck up some Hollywood cash for their respective presidential exploratory committees. Variety reports that Clinton is planning a "meet and greet" Feb. 11 at the homes of investment banker Sim Farar and "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" mogul Haim Saban, also a supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On Feb. 20, the DreamWorks trio - Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen - are hosting a party for Obama at the Beverly Hilton, followed by dinner at Geffen's house for "co-chairs" who raise $46,000 from 20 people. Variety says: "One fund-raiser/donor described the method of raising money as akin to setting up Amway distributorships. Because each donor is limited to giving at most $4,600 per candidate per election cycle, a pyramid-like network of key fund-raisers is required to round up contributions.
 "As such, the process of organizing the events is said to be a balancing act of egos and logistics -- what one fund-raiser called "organized chaos." Holding the Clinton event in a hotel, for instance, saves the campaign from having to soothe the inevitable animosities that would develop if one donor's home is picked for a fete over another."
ABC News says the Obama events show Clinton is being snubbed by her old pals. But Andy Spahn, a political consultant to Hollywood types, told WilshireAndWashington that while Katzenberg has endorsed Obama, Spielberg and Geffen have not decided. Spielberg "also has relationships with Sen. Clinton and Sen. Edwards," he said. Clinton, meanwhile, plans to return to the Hollywood ATM on March 24.
(Photos: Larry Downing / AP)
L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, lower left, whose plane to Washington D.C. was delayed seven hours, appears to be catching a nap along with other dignitaries during President Bush's State of the Union address. Villaraigosa's office says the camera just caught him closing his eyes, which does happen when people blink while being photographed. Nevertheless, he looks just as tired as the rest of the Gallery. U.S. Sen. John McCain also appeared to be napping, although he's more likely reading the prepared text as Bush speaks.
In the front row from the left are Villaraigosa, District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
(Photo: Linda Davidson / Washington Post via AP)
"I think this is huge. And the unintended consequences could be even bigger." - John Weaver, a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. John McCain, about the possibility that four big states - California, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois - could move presidential primaries to early February.
 
 
 
(Photos: Rich Pedroncelli / AP; Jeff Chiu / AP; David McNew / Getty Images; Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has done it again: Gone and helped out the "invaders." Anti-immigration groups are upset about the Republican governor's decision to open one-stop assistance centers for agricultural workers, particularly one in Escondido, near the Mexico border. The centers will provide information on food stamps, health care and other government services.
 As LoneWacko surmises, Schwarzenegger is a corporatist "attempting to keep a workforce for corrupt growers around, rather than (for instance) Mexico stepping in and offering to repatriate their citizens who are here illegally." Digger says illegal immigrants will "once again be taking advantage of the generosity of California taxpayers."
And Immigration Watchdog offers this headline: "Socialist Schwarzenegger opening 18 freebie centers for invaders." A reader there bitterly asks: "Has such a thing ever happened when they closed down a car factory for example, or a missle factory, etc? oh yeah-those factories employed AMERICAN CITIZENS."
Well, yeah.
Schwarzenegger visits one of the assistance centers today in Dinuba, near Fresno, to discuss "what additional help may be needed due to the severe cold weather," his office reported.
(Photo: Dan Ocampo / The Bakersfield Californian via AP)
- New TV ad against Schwarzenegger health care plan by business group, CASE: if it quacks like a tax, it's a tax.
- California delegation to South America, which included Speaker Fabian Nunez and Schwarzenegger chief of staff Susan Kennedy, booked a visit to a swine farm.
- It was "hard to find another man to measure up to" Schwarzenegger. Arnold's first long-term girlfriend selling her book.
- Delegate elections to Democratic state party convention prompt complaints about the process. Were voters properly verified?
 Tom Arnold, who played Arnold Schwarzenegger's sidekick in "True Lies" and taught us how to laugh in "McHale's Navy," knows a thing or two about his powerful friend the governor. Arnold gamely spoke at a disastrous and poorly attended "thank you rally" for Schwarzenegger during the 2005 special election, and he provided some low-wattage celebrity to this year's inaugural. Now the unofficial court jester could be leaking policy information. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Heaven forbid the L.A. "By God" Times to print speculation or write headlines with question marks in them. So we'll just let other people do that! The Bay Area Reporter cobbled together some tea leaves, made a few calls, and discovered Schwarzenegger may be inclined to sign the gay marriage bill now that he's been re-elected.
The evidence: Arnold told John Myers after the inaugural: "When you're a lame duck, or whatever you call it, you can do whatever you want. ... Gay marriage. I want [it], and I know he feels the same way." The Associated Press got a similar comment. And: "Log Cabin California Director James Vaughn, recently returned from a Hawaii vacation, told the Bay Area Reporter Monday that he had not heard of Arnold's comments but that they mirror what he has been hearing from sources inside Schwarzenegger's administration." A tanned and rested Vaughn is also expected to meet with Schwarzenegger chief of staff Susan Kennedy, who has generally favored a go-slow approach to gay marriage.
(Photo: Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
Californians overwhelming dislike President George W. Bush and think going to war with Iraq was not worth it, a new Public Policy Institute of California poll shows. But voters think Gov. Arnold "Post-Partisan" Schwarzenegger is doing a good job - 58% approval rating, compared to only 29% for the president. The California Legislature is bouncing back too. Hate has turned to mild engagement.
 Think Californians don't like taxes? Sort of. Sixty-one percent said they would prefer a "universal health care system" where everyone is covered by a government program and "financed by taxpayers," over the current system. Of course, this is a two-option choice. But 63% supported raising taxes to "guarantee health insurance for all citizens." And 54% said they would generally favor higher taxes for more services. This is good news for lawmakers such as state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, who is attempting to do just that, but also gives a little breathing room for Schwarzenegger as he attempts to surcharge doctors, hospitals and employers for his universal plan. And even larger number, 71%, said they favored Schwarzenegger's plan for shared responsibility.
Schwarzenegger gets mixed reviews on education and health care in the survey. Voters were almost evenly divided on whether he was doing a good job on those subjects. But they generally liked how he was doing on transportation and the environment. And here is an interesting tidbit that Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate leader Don Perata might use: "When it comes to the tough choices involved in the state budget, both in deciding how much Californians should pay in taxes and how to fund state programs, whose approach do you most prefer — Governor Schwarzenegger's, the Democrats' in the legislature, or Republicans' in the legislature?"
- 38% - Democrats'
- 22% - Schwarzenegger's
- 21% - Republicans'
Of course, Schwarzenegger is a Republican, so you could say that 43% prefer the GOP when it comes to the budget and taxes. But then you have to subtract maybe 32% from the 43%, because Schwarzenegger is sort of 32% Democrat. Oh, never mind. Read the full report here. Full text of PPIC's release after the jump below. (Photo: Tim Sloan / AFP-Getty Images)
Continue reading "California Voters: Tax Me More, Give Me More" »
Political junkies will be interested in Rudy Giuliani's 140-page presidential campaign plan, complete with fundraising notes, liabilities and schedules. The juicy document was leaked to the New York Daily News and now is available for viewing here. Of California interest: a "thank you" call to Bill Simon, the financier who lost to Gray Davis in 2002, and a request for help from "LA Raiders" owner Alex Spanos. Spanos actually owns the San Diego Chargers, not the Oakland Raiders.
Did you know California was insane? All those fruits and nuts running around with their freaky liberal ideas like banning perfume and forcing government down our throats. That's pretty much the viewpoint (with a few notable exceptions) about the proposed anti-spanking legislation by Assemblywoman Sally Lieber. She is invariably described as a "childless" cat owner, therefore ignorant of the importance of hitting small children.
- "Cat Lady" Sally Lieber Offers Child-Rearing Tips. (OK, this is clearly satire, but it nicely sums up what's going on.) From TheNoseOnYourFace.com.
 "Who is going to care for all those kids in California while their parents serve their one-year term in jail for spanking?" Barbara Minze. Mexia, Texas, columnist.
- "Childless lawmaker classifies corporal punishment alongside beatings." WorldNet Daily.
- "Out of control and clueless Nanny State." The parents will be put in prison for a year and the kids will be put in foster care. Jennifer Roback Morse.
- "Never mind that Assemblyperson Lieber has no children of her own. She does have a cat named Snoop, and her vet told her it should never be spanked. ... This is the thing that grates on me with some liberals." Live Fire Ministries.
- "You shouldn't make the rules if you don't play the game. Sally Lieber, who is proposing this silly bit of nannism, is childless. Yes, it does matter." Ride Fast and Shoot Straight.
- A poll in the Courier-Journal in Kentucky asked readers what they thought of the proposed ban and included the question: "It's California, what do you expect?" Tampa Bay street doesn't really like it either.
- "If California seems permanently trapped in a 'silly season,' there are growing signs the rest of the country is becoming subject to ever-lengthening seasons of a similar stripe." Bob Barr in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (registration required).
Lieber responded to The Times about the "childless" charge: "Every time I've run for political office, the term 'childless' gets used, and I just think it's a little bit ridiculous. We legislate on a lot of different topics, like domestic violence, although I'm not in an abusive relationship; classroom teaching, although I'm not a teacher and I'm not in a classroom any longer."
(Photo: TheNoseOnYourFace.com)
Boy, former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante just can't win. Even when he's not Cruz Bustamante. Over in Orange County, the Feb. 6 special election for supervisor is splitting the Republican Party between "lesser-know" Trung Nguyen and ... Carlos Bustamante, a Santa Ana councilman.
 But it seems voters might be confusing Carlos with Cruz, pictured, who went Lone Wolf on fellow Democrats during the 2003 recall election, lost to Schwarzenegger, and then faded into lonely nothingness until his term ran out. Joe Giardiello, Nguyen's consultant, thinks just sounding like Cruz Bustamante might be hurting Carlos:
"Overall, (Carlos) Bustamante has name identification of 82%--a phenomenally high number which gives credence to the view that some voters may be mistaking him for the other Bustamante. He is viewed favorably by just 28% of voters while he is viewed unfavorably by an abysmal 35%. For a candidate who has not even been subjected to a vicious union attack yet, these are horrendous numbers."
Now, Nguyen is a pretty common name too. Are voters confusing Trung Nguyen with Tan D. Nguyen, the Orange County congressional candidate whose office sent a threatening letter to Latino voters?
But maybe another Nguyen will suffice: Martin Wisckol uncovered a mailer on behalf of Democratic candidate Tom Umberg, with this quote: "Tom Umberg has served us with honor and respect." The quote was from "Deputy Sheriff Trung Nguyen." No, not the candidate Trung Nguyen, who is an engineer and lawyer, but another guy with the same name.
(Photo: Kevork Djansezian / AP)
There's a new blog in town. No, it's not CapitolAlert, the $499 service by the Sacramento Bee, which executive editor Rick Rodriguez said was designed to "capitalize on our brand as a premier provider of information about California politics and policy." Notice Rodriguez diplomatically said "a" premier provider, not "the" premier provider.
That job goes to the anonymous but very gay and probably Republican "Land of Fruits and Nuts" blog, which has compiled a Best Dressed List for California lawmakers. Fabian Nunez, Willie Brown, blah blah blah. But LFN tells us about some unexpected lawmakers who are putting on the Ritz:
 "Kevin De Leon has a certain Eric Estrada feel to him. I don't know if it is his feathered hair, his casual way of ditching the tie and rolling up his sleeves, or some other je ne sais pas. He will be a legislator to keep an eye on this year."
- "Lloyd Levine (in an undated photo) has grown and shaved a very well-trimmed goatee, made good use of pattern and texture in his wardrobe, and wears very well-fitted clothing. He would be able to rank higher on my list if he paid as much attention to his hairstyle as he does to the rest of his appearance."
Meow!
Former California Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, a one-time candidate for L.A. mayor, shows up in Europe selling flexible solar panels. His company, Renewable Capital, is based in Wales.
 Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez - who will be polluting the atmosphere this week when he jets off to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum - paid some environmental penance by purchasing $136 in credits from the Davos Climate Alliance.
Nunez is attending to conference of world leaders, oil barons, environmentalists, plutocrats, corporate titans and celebrities to talk about his California global warming legislation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to attend because of his fractured leg.
Nunez used the Alliance's calculator, which reports that a round-trip flight from Los Angeles to Geneva will produce 9.06 tons of C02 on his behalf. This year, the money is being used to rehabilitate a mini hydro power plant in West Sumatra, Indonesia (in photo). That project is expected to reduce about 4,200 tons of CO2 per year.
(Photo: Davos Climate Alliance)
 "It's been my observation that plaintiffs in defamation cases can become so emotionally invested that it is very, very difficult for them to disengage. They will pursue libel suits beyond what any normal person would do." - Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in McClatchy.
Facing sanctions for possibly filing a frivolous lawsuit, Gary Condit's lawyer wants to be removed from Condit's defamation suit against author Dominick Dunne. Condit presses on with his claim, however. Chandra Levy's death remains unsolved.
 I still totally heart Jerry Brown's Myspace page. Our new Attorney General hasn't updated in awhile, but he can be forgiven on account of he's running a 5,000-person department with vast and dangerous powers over other people's lives. Nevertheless, it's cool that California's chief law enforcement officer (sorry, Arnold!) plays "Green Onions" by Booker T and the MGs, and he's got a rockin' group of friends.
There is "Meatrack," standing next to his tractor in a white jumpsuit ready to push the dead bodies into the food processor. And "Devin," who totally looks like this party sucks and wants to bail, along with "Nehemiah Saint-Danger" and someone named "John Garamendi" and "alfie numeric, aka dollface malone aka joy atari."
The "real st. danger" posted a cool photo of Jerry on a jet with Linda Ronstadt. Sweet. And it's so Jerry to start a "blog" on the site and then only post one item. He gets so distracted!
Let's hope Jerry keeps this page going post-campaign. In true Jerry style, he's setting up shop in a shoebox government office near his house in Oakland. (Makes his carbon footprint smaller, natch.) It's about 90 miles from where his huge staff actually does the work of attorneys generalling. But maybe he can use the Myspace page to check on legal briefs, approve settlements and monitor sensitive investigations. And quell the internal complaints that have already started about running the Attorney General's office by Blackberry, telephone and fax. Peace out.
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