« January 2007 |
Main
| March 2007 »
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has a scary new friend. "He has stopped taking medication prescribed to him, wears
purple latex gloves because he believes purple is a sign of divinity and
royalty, and believes police planted purple gloves in his car earlier this
month."
U.S. Sen. John McCain, the co-father of modern campaign finance reform, has a rich rich rich group of influential people lined up to raise money for his presidential campaign.
Californians working on his finance team include media mogul Jerry Perenchio, Irvine company billionaire Donald Bren, builder George Argyros (the former ambassador to Spain), and Cisco Systems' John Chambers. McCain also has engaged Marty Wilson, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief moneyman, to help him raise money in California.
There are 70 names on the McCain finance team list - two of them women. Read the full list after the jump. (Photo:
Kevin P. Casey / AP)
Continue reading "McCain's Heavy-Hitting Finance Team Big On California" »
When Riverside County activists questioned the results from last fall's election, supervisor Jeff Stone issued a challenge to skeptics of electronic voting machines. He would allow them to hack into a Sequoia Voting System machine used by the county.
"I'd like to set up an appointment with one of our machines and I'd
like him or her to verify that they can manipulate that machine," said Stone (pictured below). "And
I'm gonna bet a thousand to one that they cannot do it. ... I'll make that
challenge."
But California's elections chief isn't buying it. Secretary of State Debra Bowen has rejected Stone's request to participate in a "hack test" on the machines in Riverside County, one of the first places the nation to introduce touch-screen voting. And it's not because Bowen knows the Sequoia machines are safe and can't be compromised. She writes in a letter reprinted by Bradblog: 
"As you know, voting equipment is subject to tampering in a wide range of settings. This test you have proposed wouldn’t address the issue of whether
someone who can reach around the back of the machine undetected or can
bring a tool into the voting booth without being noticed by a poll
worker will be able to gain access to the machine."
With another presidential race nearing, Bowen is under pressure from critics of electronic voting machines. Those same people helped with a grassroots effort to unseat incumbent Republican Bruce McPherson, and Bowen herself ran a campaign built on fears about the manipulation of public elections through e-voting. Bowen now has begun a "thorough review" of California's electronic voting systems, part of which will be conducted in secret because the voting software is considered proprietary.
(Photo:
Steve Yeater / AP)
The war in California between progressive liberal Democrats and the moderate Democratic Leadership Council is explained by a progressive. "California is burning and sparks are gonna fly from this Wild West brush fire, so be prepared. Oh, and will the last person to leave the DLC please turn out the lights."
Meanwhile, Scott Whitlock at the conservative NewsBusters says CNN is encouraging the GOP to mimic Schwarzenegger's centrist path through compromise with Democrats. "This is not the first time that CNN has urged Republicans to embrace Schwarzenegger's liberalism."
The Times' Peter Nicholas witnessed a funny exchange between Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday. Schwarzenegger was wrapping up a visit to Washington D.C. when Feinstein peppered the governor with questions in front of the media. He writes in his story here: Feinstein was asked about the governor's "post-partisan politics," his
phrase for how Republicans and Democrats in Sacramento are hatching
ideas in concert, rather than working at cross purposes.
"Post-partum politics?" Feinstein said, perplexed.
The
discussion turned to Schwarzenegger's plans to strip state lawmakers of
the power to draw congressional and legislative voting districts. [Snip.] Feinstein didn't know those details and seemed skeptical about the project.
"Who would do it?" she asked.
"The people of California would draw the district lines," the governor said.
Feinstein: "The people would draw? How many people?"
Schwarzenegger: "So it's going to be fun."
Feinstein laughed. "Oh, yes. I think I ought to study it some more."
Nicholas e-mailed Political Muscle later with another exchange at the end of Feinstein's meeting with the governor. The senator and Schwarzenegger started talking about Susan Kennedy, a former Feinstein aide who now works as the governor's chief of staff. Feinstein: "You've got a great chief of staff." Looking at Kennedy. "There she is."
Schwarzenegger: "I know. I believe you have to have Democrats and Republicans working together on your team. You get different positions; you get the best of the best.''
Feinstein: "Well, it has certainly changed YOU!''
Schwarzenegger: "I didn't change. ... I just needed to learn a little bit more.''
(Photo: Associated Press, from 2003.)
To compensate for every pollution-spewing private jet ride he takes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to plant or protect trees. He is beginning his effort with the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation, which has 2,100 acres in Humboldt County. This "off-set" is designed to make Schwarzenegger carbon neutral - it effectively reduces the amount of global warming gases his travel is producing. See earlier post.
But he might want to read a report by the Carnegie Institution and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. They found that planting and protecting forests in subarctic Boreal zones may actual contribute to global warming. And they documented "little or no climate benefit when trees are planted" in temperate zones, such as California. Instead, tropical forests should be protected because they absorb carbon dioxide and produce clouds that cool the planet. By the year 2100, forests in mid and
high latitudes will make some places up to 10 degrees warmer
than if the forests did not exist, the report found.
"The darkening of the surface by new forest canopies in the high
latitude Boreal regions allows absorption of more sunlight that helps
to warm the surface. In fact, planting more trees in high latitudes
could be counterproductive from a climate perspective," said Govindasamy Bala, lead author of the research that will be presented on
Dec. 15 at the American Geophysical Society annual meeting in San
Francisco.
Another study found that forest fires in Boreal areas may in fact help cool the planet. U.C. Irvine researchers said
cooling may occur where burned trees - and reduced canopy
cover - "exposes more snow, which reflects the sun's rays back into
space. This effect may outweigh the climate warming impact of the
greenhouse gases released by forest burning."
For an individual with two homes and weekly private jet travel, Schwarzenegger is a big consumer of energy. The Carnegie-Livermore study recommends he best way to curb global warming would be to reduce consumption. "We must focus on effective strategies," said Ken Caldeira, a co-author of the study from the Carnegie Institution, "and
not just 'feel-good' strategies."
UPDATE: James Everett, the conservation finance manager with the Pacific Forest Trust, says the Carnegie-Livermore study doesn't apply to Schwarzenegger's plan. (The Pacific Forest Trust will manage the governor's carbon offset by protecting and managing the Humboldt County forest mentioned above.)
The Carnegie-Livermore was a computer model that looked at what happens when trees are planted on open ground such as grasslands. Open ground reflects sunlight and can help cool the planet through reflectivity; planting trees on grassland, for example, would help trap heat and possibly contribute to global warming. But Schwarzenegger's carbon offset through the Pacific Forest Trust simply allow the Humboldt County forest to grow larger - allowing it to absorb more carbon dioxide. "If you're just growing these trees older and larger, you are storing more carbon but you are having zero effect on reflectivity," Everett said.
(Photo: Shaun Walker / Times Standard via AP)
California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger made the rounds on Capitol Hill today seeking help
for his universal health care plan and lecturing Washington lawmakers
about cooperating on immigration, infrastructure and other issues. He held a press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (pictured) afterward.
(Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images)
- Court upholds California's stem cell initiative. L.A. Times.
- Schwarzenegger dodges U.S. Senate question again. Or rather, says he honestly doesn't know whether he would run for the office. S.F. Chronicle.
- New report based on Census data shows immigrants have boosted wages of California workers "It's certainly not a negative." SacBee.
- New legislation that would make companies developing genetically
engineered crops liable for damages if their work results in
contamination of other fields. AP.
- Full text of Chief Justice Ron George's state of the judiciary address. "Courts have been forced to shut down civil courtrooms — in some cases countywide — because criminal cases facing dismissal have priority under the law and there was an insufficient number
of judges to handle all the cases."
- President George W. Bush gets a laugh at governor's confab at the expense of his brother.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves a big environmental footprint for one man, specifically with his frequent use of private jets to ferry him throughout California and the world. His two estates are large enough to house small villages. And the champion of environmental controls to curb global warming pumps far more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than an ordinary citizen, by far. He is driven everywhere in a caravan of two black SUVs and, sometimes, a lead sedan.
Depending on the private jet he chooses from NetJets - usually it's a relatively large one, to include staff and CHP bodyguards - Schwarzenegger and his posse could dump as much as 8,700 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for a single one-hour flight from Santa Monica to Sacramento, according to data from TerraPass, the carbon retailer.
The governor has favored Gulfstream jets like the one pictured below, which he used in 1997 to promote "Batman and Robin." Helium Report has a chart showing how much private jets like that can pollute. By contrast, a single person traveling alone on a commercial flight from L.A. to Sacramento contributes 477 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Schwarzenegger is the most traveling governor in California history - sometimes twice-weekly flights to Sacramento and numerous weekend trips to his Idaho estate, to Maui, Las Vegas, Washington D.C. and other out-of-state places over the past three years. (His campaign picks up the multi-million dollar tab.) It should be noted that Schwarzenegger has unique security needs that probably require private travel. He is considered an icon of the Western world and he's married to a Kennedy. Enough said.
Given his needs, Schwarzenegger would have to spend a lot of money to be "carbon neutral." He has tried to make up for it in other ways. Schwarzenegger signed legislation last year, AB 32, to curb global warming through state government regulations. Schwarzenegger made the macho, polluting Hummer a success, but lately he has tried to make up for it by developing a version that runs on hydrogen. Yesterday, he signed an agreement with four other Western governors to set up a regional trading system to curb emissions.
Celebrities and politicians have been fretting about their carbon footprint in recent years. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, author of the global warming legislation Schwarzenegger signed, himself was mindful of his carbon output when he traveled to the Davos conference in Switzerland. He purchased $136 in carbon credits for his trip, which helped pay for a mini hydro plant in West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Schwarzenegger now has another plan: offset the pollution created by his private jet travel. Spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor is developing a program that would calculate his carbon emissions from Jan. 1, 2007, forward. Cal-EPA confirmed they are looking at putting the governor's travel on the California Climate Action Registry, which would offset his carbon emissions by planting or protecting trees and other efforts.
UPDATE: Cal-EPA says the governor will work with the Pacific Forest Trust to calculate the cost of his carbon emissions, including the damage associated with the crew, staff and anyone else traveling with him. The Pacific Forest Trust is included in the California Climate Action Registry. The cost of Schwarzenegger's travel then will be "annually invested" in sustainable forest management projects, starting with the Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation, which has 2,100 acres in Humboldt County.
Schwarzenegger is in Washington D.C. this week, but then flies to the Arnold Classic bodybuilding contest in Ohio. By private jet.
(Photo: Damian Dovarganes / AP; Charles Platiau / Reuters)
Presidential candidates don't just come to California because we're rich. They come because we spend more money on national campaigns by proportion than any other state. Dan Morain cataloged the examples: 
"A UCLA linebacker shells out $11,100 to help a Republican senator in Pennsylvania. A businessman from the small Northern California town of Eureka spends $515,000 to defeat a powerful Democrat in South Dakota. A Silicon Valley couple funnels cash to elect Democratic secretaries of
state in swing states like Ohio who will oversee voting in the coming
presidential election"
That's the gravy. Here's the potatoes: "Californians spent at least $502 million on federal campaigns in the
last four years, federal campaign records show — 24% more than
runner-up New York and about 13 % of all federal campaign funds raised
nationally."
Read the story here.
Political reporter Ron Brownstein, who has been on book leave from the L.A. Times, is joining the newspaper's opinion division to write a weekly column and longer pieces for Current, the weekend section, and for the website.
Publisher David Hiller said Brownstein's "mastery of both politics and policy, and his gift for taking the news of the day and framing it in a broader context, make Ron a natural columnist." This fall, Brownstein is releasing "The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America," published by Penguin Books. Former President Bill Clinton singled Brownstein out as the one reporter he respected the most in Washington D.C.
Other staff changes:
Peter Ragone, the embattled press secretary to S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom, is moving from his city job to the mayor's re-election campaign. Ragone (pictured right) recently admitted posting favorable items about Newsom on blogs under different names. Nathan
Ballard will start as the mayor's new press secretary on March 5. Ragone, reached by the Chronicle last night, said about his new job: "It's now getting to
be campaign season, and I always get drafted.''
- Darius Anderson, the political and business consultant who was chief fundraiser for Gov. Gray Davis, has been hired as the Northern California finance chairman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is running for president. The well-connected Anderson also served as best man in the commitment ceremony for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy.
(Photos: AP file; Cindy Chew / The Examiner via AP)
Someone at the International Herald Tribune needs to see "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
On a story today about Asian-Americans becoming a powerful force in California politics, the headline reads: "The sleeping giant in California politics." As many people will recognize, this is the phrase allegedly uttered by Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto after his forces attacked Pearl Harbor: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Nancy Vogel of the Times found a few more bills introduced this session.
- Governor cannot use emergency powers to seize weapons. AB 1645, Doug LaMalfa (R-Yuba City).
- A teacher is prohibited from writing "sexually suggestive or romantic" notes to students. Also, school officials are allowed to use the public Attorney General website to check if school volunteers are registered sex offenders. AB 1594, Sam Blakeslee (R-Santa Maria.)
- A portion of the Ma-le'l Dunes in Humboldt County shall be named the Senator Wesley Chesbro Coastal Trail, after someone who recently left the Legislature. AB 1568, Patty Berg (D-Eureka.)
- Computer technicians must report to police any depiction of child abuse or child sexual abuse that they find on someone's computer when doing repairs. AB 1475, Cathleen Galgiani (D-Merced.)
A pool of 160,000 voters from California would be used to create a Citizens Redistricting Commission every decade that would draw legislative and Congressional districts - taking the power from the state Legislature. Well, it would mostly remove their power. Read the complicated plan below.
The initiative is supported by Ted Costa, who helped spearhead the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis. "We are determined until we do it right, until we have meaningful reform," Costa said about the initiative, which was introduced this afternoon.
Costa (pictured) said he is attempting to convince other groups, such as Common Cause, to support the measure. Staffers from several do-gooder organizations helped draft the initiative but they have not formally endorsed it. The idea is to put pressure on the Legislature to produce "meaningful" reform, but Costa doesn't hold out much hope for that.
Democratic political consultant Steve Maviglio, whose boss Fabian Nunez is developing another redistricting scheme in the Legislature, described the newly introduced plan as a "poor man's American idol." Costa said it was more like jury duty.
Hold on tight. Here's how the initiative would work:
The Secretary of State would draw 2,000 voters from each Assembly district. All 160,000 people would receive an invitation and application to join the commission. Then the SOS would draw 10 names for each district from those who submitted applications. Members of the panel could not be an elected official, an officer of a political party, a lobbyist, staff member or consultant to an elected official, or have a financial interest with the governor, member of Congress or state lawmaker.
At this point, legislative leaders review the applications and can remove up to 20% of the nominees from the pool of 800 names. (They would not know their names, only their backgrounds.) Then, the pool would be reduced to 240 nominees chosen evenly among Republicans, Democrats and voters from other parties. Those people would be asked to attend a training seminar on redistricting. Another random drawing would reduce the pool to 120 nominees.
The Democratic and Republican leaders of the Assembly and Senate could strike members from that list as well. A final random drawing by the SOS would reduce the panel to 11 members - with legislative leaders able to object only if the panel does not represent the diversity of the state.
Phew.
Continue reading "'American Idol' Redistricting Ready To Go" »
- "Now who's the girly-man?" Conservatives react to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call for a firm deadline to end U.S. military involvement in Iraq. They don't like it.
- California Nurses Assn. goes on airwaves to critique Schwarzenegger's health care plan. "With your help, we can win real health care reform instead of political payoffs for big campaign donors."
- State Sen. Sheila Kuehl introduces her single-paying health care plan Tuesday, again.
- Bill Cavala wonders about new rules restricting press credentials for bloggers. "Are journalists 'licensed' by the state? Is there a special examination for journalists (as for attorneys and other professionals)? Should not journalists be required to take and pass courses in 'ethics?' "
- Maria Shriver, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston and galpals have drinks at the Polo Lounge.
In our continuing series on the 2007 California legislative agenda, we bring you AB 1066, which should be known as the We're Doomed Act. The legislation by Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) requires coastal communities to prepare immediately for rising ocean levels caused by global warming. The cities would have to submit their preparedness plans to the Coastal Commission.
 The Doomsday scenario in California: ruined water supplies, melting Sierra Nevada snowpack, the displacement of thousands of climate refugees and an increase in infectious diseases, asthma and other health problems. And hundreds of fabulous homes of fabulous people washed into the sea.
A recent U.N. report on climate change found that increased temperatures in the atmosphere has caused seawater to "expand"--it literally became bigger. In addition, the Fourth Assessment Report said melting glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica have "very likely" contributed to a rise in ocean levels between 1992 and 2003. By the end of this century, the global average sea-level will rise between 7 and 23 inches, the report found.
Pray for Malibu.
District attorneys in California have started their own blogs to counter media coverage deemed "unfair." Prosecutors call it a public service, but should taxpayers fund this? Read about it here.
Comparing himself to Edmund Burke and John F. Kennedy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in Washington, D.C., to promote cooperation among the political parties and offer a warning to Democrats in Congress and President Bush alike: "In the courtyard of the state Capitol, I have a politically incorrect smoking tent. People come by, light up a stogie and schmooze. How come Republicans and Democrats out here don't schmooze with each other? You can't catch a socially transmitted disease by sitting down with people who hold ideas different from yours."
 He ended with a pitch to Bush: "To the president, I say get yourself a smoking tent." To Democrats he said: "Stop running down the president."
This is Schwarzenegger's second major speech as he attempts to transform himself into a national figure on politics. The first was his 2004 address before the Republican National Convention, but this address is different. He wants to be the Realist Governor who tries to find common ground without jeopardizing political principles. He plans to travel around the country making a similar pitch to change the political discourse.
Of course, this is maddening to the die-hard believers in both parties. What is a principle if it can be bent and compromised? To this Schwarzenegger replied through his speech: "What is more principled than giving up some part of your position to advance the greater good of the people? That is how we arrived at a constitution in this country. Our Founding Fathers would still be meeting at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia if they hadn't compromised."
 In the question-and-answer session, Schwarzenegger said compromise can be found with "extremists" on immigration who want to ship every illegal immigrant back to Mexico. Offering an example of the pressure he faces from both sides, Schwarzenegger said California farmers complained about a 26% reduction in their workforce after he shipped National Guard troops to more closely patrol the border. This caused unpicked crops to rot on the vine, they told him.
This morning, Schwarzenegger met privately with Bush in the Oval Office to discuss health care, and attended a meeting with other governors in the State Dining Room in the White House. The guests included Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (pictured).
(Photo: File; Charles Dharapak / AP)
Continue reading "Schwarzenegger To Bush: 'Get Yourself A Smoking Tent'" »
 Struggling along with other Republican presidential candidates to attract conservatives, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has brought on California's Bill Simon--the financier who ran unsuccessfully against Gov. Gray Davis in 2002--as his new policy director. Simon has been helping Giuliani raise money in California and elsewhere.
In addition, U.S. Sen. John McCain announced today that a variety of California Republican lawmakers have endorsed his campaign: Senator Jeff Denham, former Assembly GOP leader George Plescia, Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia and Assemblyman Van Tran. Plescia said: “John McCain’s common sense conservative principles have anchored his decision-making process throughout his public service career."
As they like to tell the story, Giuliani and Simon were having breakfast on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks occurred. Giuliani helped campaign for Simon in 2002 (pictured), and they have been friends for years. Simon had a fairly uneventful stint working for Giuliani when the former New York mayor was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
The Giuliani campaign made sure to include this note about Simon today: "He has given speeches to numerous conservative organizations including the Heritage Foundation, Manhattan Institute, Conservative Political Action Conference and the Pacific Research Institute. In addition, he has appeared regularly on Fox News and written articles for the American Spectator and NewsMax.com."
Giuliani: Fair and balanced.
(Photo: Damian Dovarganes / AP)
"The voters almost feel like they have a duty to reject that kind of endorsement. They're thinking, 'What do I care what that movie star thinks?' I'm going to make up my own mind."-- Art Torres, the chairman of the California Democratic Party, speaking about the political obsession with Hollywood and its money.
 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers the luncheon address today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He is expected to outline his "post-partisan" agenda and talk about a global warming agreement with four other Western governors (see below).
Saturday night, it was a costume party to celebrate the 75th birthday of his uncle-in-law, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Yesterday, Schwarzenegger appeared on "Face the Nation" just before former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, Democratic candidate for president. On the program, Schwarzenegger repeated his call for a troop pull-out from Iraq, a notion that Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed last week.
And then Schwarzenegger, all smiles walking in, attended a White House dinner hosted by President Bush for the nation's governors. Beyond Iraq, the Republican president is being pressured by numerous governors this week to continue funding a health care program that provides coverage for children of the working poor. At the dinner Sunday, the California governor sat near Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (pictured).
While Schwarzenegger was at the dinner, German film director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who won best foreign language for the political thriller "The Lives of Others," gave a shout-out to the governor from the Oscar stage in California.
Today, you can watch the governor's Press Club luncheon speech at 10 a.m. Pacific time on C-Span. The National Press Club is also streaming it, but you have to register beforehand.
(Photos: Mike Theiler / pool, Getty Images; Karin Cooper, CBS Face the Nation via AP.)
California is teaming up with four Western states to set carbon dioxide emissions standards, track and "manage" the greenhouse gas pollutants, and install a cap-and-trade system for businesses to comply, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced this morning from Washington, D.C.
The alliance is similar to a nine-state program getting started in New England that requires power plants to reduce their carbon emissions 10% by 2019. There, each state receives an allocation of emissions credits, which power plants can bid on. But the Western agreement could extend even tougher standards akin to California's own greenhouse gas program signed into law last year.
The new program--for Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington--essentially combines two regional global warming agreements into one larger entity. Schwarzenegger's office said a "regional target" for reducing greenhouse gas emissions would be developed in the next six months, and a market-based program to spur businesses to comply would emerge after 18 months. A five-state registry would track the entire program.
Schwarzenegger's office, citing the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the West has been hit particularly hard by global warming, with "prolonged drought, decreased snowfall, increased and earlier snowmelt, and more severe and devastating forest and rangeland fires in recent years as a result of changes in the climate."
With the federal government mostly disengaged on global warming, the state alliances represent a emerging and powerful new form of government--regionalism. Historian Gar Alperovitz says Schwarzenegger's moves on global warming "point to the kind of decentralization of power which, once started, could easily shake up America’s fundamental political structure."
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Schwarzenegger, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire signed an MOU to jump-start the program.
"In the absence of meaningful federal action, it is up to the states to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this country," said Napolitano. "Western states are being particularly hard-hit by the effects of climate change."
"I contributed to the polarization in California and so it was us versus them. Even though the initiatives were good ideas, I went the wrong way." --Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, on "Face the Nation" this morning, about the 2005 special election and his political transformation.
Schwarzenegger pitches post-partisanship in Washington, D.C., this week, including a speech Monday at the National Press Club. He'll miss the Oscars tonight and instead attend a dinner at the White House with President Bush. He said an end date to the Iraq war should be set, but also believes Congress should either cut funding on Iraq or leave Bush alone to run the war.
Asked by host Bob Schieffer about the pressure on Hillary Clinton to apologize for her vote authorizing the Iraq war, Schwarzenegger replied: "With Hillary Clinton, I think people should when it comes to the war elevate the discussion and really not pick on things like that and try to get along in Washington, whether it is the war or anything else."
Schwarzenegger said he will "try not to" endorse a presidential candidate before the 2008 GOP convention, but that he likes U.S. Sen. John McCain.
- Governors warn about troop buildup in Iraq putting pressure on National Guard units already stretched beyond their limits. Schwarzenegger in Washington, D.C., to discuss. L.A. Times.
 Pressure from Washington over California's redistricting. The new dynamic in Washington, with Californian Nancy Pelosi as House speaker, threatens to thwart an effort by state political leaders to overhaul the way voting districts are drawn. L.A. Times.
- A Trojan horse primary for the GOP. "With other big states considering moving their primaries to Feb. 5, California Republicans may be on the receiving end of a sucker punch if the current legislation is not revised to make it a one-time experiment." L.A. Times.
- Hot air and ego threaten global warming efforts. Sacramento Bee.
- The public Schwarzenegger and the private. How do we trust him? "When the trust rots away, when what's said publicly-–or privately--contains only "truth" for the relative moment, then watch your wallet, bar the door, huddle your children and stash your cash in your mattress because all's fair when nothing's reliable." O.C. Register.
- California not as great as people think: "Perhaps it's time to ditch the celebratory rhetoric and take a closer look at the sober realities. Our magnificent state may still be the home to Silicon Valley, Hollywood, the nation's largest port complex and the world's richest agricultural valleys, but by many critical measurements the state is slipping." S.F. Chronicle.
- Schwarzenegger talks the talk on the environment. How to sell carbon emissions standards through metaphor and emotion. Gristmill Blog.
- Seven governors already have made endorsements in the early 2008 White House race, and pressure is growing on the others. Schwarzenegger says McCain and Giuliani appear to be the best fit for moderate California. Associated Press.
Times staffer Nancy Vogel had the unhappy task of slogging through hundreds of bills introduced before the deadline Friday in the California Legislature. Lawmakers, as the world knows, introduced bills to prohibit hitting children with switches and shoes, and to outlaw incandescent light bulbs by 2012. But a few others are worth noting:
Veggie libel. Would allow farmers to sue for defamation if someone makes disparaging remarks about the safety of their agriculture products and the farmer suffers damages. Similar efforts failed in 1995 and 1997. In Texas, beef producers sued Oprah Winfrey for negative remarks she made on her show, but the most powerful force in the universe prevailed. AB 698 by Assemblywoman Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks).
- Sexist words. Require any use of the word "workman" in the state labor code to be replaced with gender-neutral terms, or add feminine forms to make the code applicable to women as well as men. For example, see here. AB 734 by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (D-Napa).
- VIP at the DMV. The Dept. of Motor Vehicles must give priority customer service to California National Guard veterans. AB 866 by Assemblyman Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles).
- Prison weightlifting. Inmates assigned to fighting wildfires and other "fire suppression efforts" would be allowed to use weights in prison. AB 932 by Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore)
- Fetal Pain. Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2008 would require a doctor performing an abortion to counsel the woman about fetal pain. The Dept. of Public Health would have to write a brochure and a waiver for the woman to sign. AB 1009 by Assemblyman John Benoit (R-Palm Desert).
- Don't eat racehorses. This bill allows horse farms and trainers to sell a racehorse valued at less than $4,000 if the owner of the horse fails to pay board-and-care fees. But it also says buyer cannot purchase the horse if "any part of the racehorse will be used for human consumption." Selling horses for human consumption was already outlawed by initiative. AB 1016 by Assemblyman George Plescia (R-San Diego).
- The names of married men. Would require marriage licenses to include a space where men can change their last name to their new wife's maiden name. AB 102 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco).
Arianna Huffington has some weekend reading for Schwarzenegger on Hillary Clinton's Iraq war vote. The governor called the vote "that one little thing." Huffington replies: "One little thing, governor? (Roger) Simon says you are 'no longer on painkillers' but perhaps there is some residual dulling."
Meanwhile, amid the four-day National Governors Assn. conference in Washington D.C., Schwarzenegger is scheduled for CBS's "Face the Nation" this Sunday with Bob Schieffer.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels beat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger by barely 30 votes out of 20,000 in the Environmental Defense 2007 global warming awards, or "Globies," for work on cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
Nickels helped spearhead a climate protection agreement among 393 mayors to cut carbon dioxide pollution 7% below 1990 levels by 2012. The cities are home to about 57 million Americans. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley received honorable mention for their efforts on California's AB 32, which Schwarzenegger signed. That legislation requires an estimated 25% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 in California, home to 37 million.
Nunez, in a statement today, said he had accepted his award wearing "a sharkskin-inspired navy blue Hugo Boss suit and black lace-up Bruno Magli Oxfords. ... I do also want to congratulate Gov. Schwarzenegger for his close second-place finish in the Globies. And while it may not be the first time he's gone empty handed on awards night, I want to say on behalf of the legislature that governor, we really, really like you."
Of course, all of this is environmental extremism over an "alleged" link between human behavior and climate change. At least to some.
(Photo: AP)
It's official. Assemblyman Mark Leno is challenging Sen. Carole Migden for her state Senate seat, which governs some of the wealthiest, most liberal areas of the state: San Francisco, Sonoma and Marin counties. Voters can expect a nasty fight and the possible entrance of Marin County's Joe Nation, a former Assemblyman who could run up the middle while Migden and Leno split the S.F. vote. Capitol Weekly.
Bloggers would have to receive at least 50% of their income from media jobs to qualify for access to many Capitol press conferences and secured areas of the legislative chambers, according to new rules proposed by Sacramento political reporters. Gaining entrance to the Assembly and Senate chambers, where lobbyists and the general public are not allowed, is considered an important perk that allows reporters to mix freely with lawmakers and staffers.
Bloggers could be required to prove their media-related income to receive the legislative press credentials. The governor's office only credentials reporters who "regularly cover" Schwarzenegger and work for an accredited news organization. Those passes are approved by the California Highway Patrol.
Read the proposed bylaws for legislative credentials here. Steve Geissinger, president of the Capitol Correspondents Association, said the group "sought input from bloggers, other states, D.C., the California Newspaper
Publishers Association and the First Amendment Coalition, among others. The
product - a first step anyway - is now before you."
Meanwhile, some political bloggers are worried that sock puppets will infiltrate their sites. "With big corporations now hiring public relations firms to pay fake
bloggers to plant favorable opinions of the businesses online, many
political bloggers are concerned that candidates, too, will hire people
to pretend to be grass-roots citizens expressing views." This has been happening for years in letters to the editor in newspapers.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton should not be judged solely on her vote authorizing the Iraq war, and that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Sen. John McCain are the most appealing Republican candidates for moderate California. He also doesn't rule out running for U.S. Senate or L.A. mayor.
In an interview with Politico.com: "Schwarzenegger said that while he believes politicians should be
honest about admitting their mistakes, 'people are too tied down with
analyzing' whether Hillary Clinton’s vote to authorize the Iraq war was
a mistake or not.
" 'Is that what makes the country operate well, if she becomes
president?' he asked. 'How you twist that or spin that? We should look
at what has she done as senator. What has Barack Obama done as a U.S.
senator or [a state] senator. What has Rudy Giuliani done? What has
McCain done? You've got to judge people not by this one little thing.' "
Elsewhere on the Web:
- The planned Feb. 5 presidential primary in California: "And that leads us to the second ugly truth about this rescheduled primary: it's going to backfire, as it always does," says Bill Whalen in the Weekly Standard.
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
California's tourism commission is unveiling a new $10 million advertising campaign during the Oscars on Sunday. Of course, the TV ad features Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, and his Hollywood friends, such as Clint Eastwood and chef Wolfgang Puck.
The 30-second TV spot called "Fast Lane" will air throughout Oscar night in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and Denver. The commission, which is funded by fees from the travel industry, said other celebrities would appear in the TV spots: Jeff Gordon, Misty May, Tony Hawk and Teri Hatcher. They were described as "A-list." The commission also is advertising on cable and in print, including Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine and National Geographic Traveler.
Schwarzenegger has done a variety of TV ads sponsored by the commission, including a spot last year promoting the California ski industry and one walking on a Southern California beach with another friend, Danny DeVito. Our Glorious Leader showed up in Tokyo in November 2004, beaming down at pedestrians. The travel commission says Schwarzenegger appears in the ads because he is a mega-celebrity and attracts attention, but the TV ads also serve to promote the governor and his ego with no expense to himself.
(Photo:
Koji Sasahara / AP)
The Diocese of Orange (as in Orange County, not the Diocese of Orange in France that was dissolved in 1801 - so don't get confused!) is asking Catholics to fast during Lent for "comprehensive immigration reform." The week-long fast should end March 30, the Friday before Palm Sunday, the bishops said.
What do Catholics want? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for an improved economy in Mexico, a broad legalization policy for the estimated 10.5 million Mexicans now in the U.S., visas to allow some workers to become permanent residents, a new temporary worker program for most others that guarantees wage levels and employment benefits that are "sufficient to support a family in dignity."
The bishops also said that "alarmingly, migrants often are treated as criminals by civil enforcement authorities. Misperceptions and xenophobic and racist attitudes in both the United States and Mexico contribute to an atmosphere in which undocumented persons are discriminated against and
abused."
Randy Thomasson, the president of the conservative Campaign for Children and Families, is sort of the Ned Flanders of California lobbying - the smiling, polite point man for religious conservatives in the Capitol.
Thomasson has been dogging Assemblywoman Sally Lieber's legislation to ban spanking. Even her watered-down version, which would ban the use of belts and switches to beat children, is upsetting him.
He says mothers, for example, often are too weak to inflict enough pain without the use of aids. Times reporter Nancy Vogel and a few other reporters ran into Thomasson today after Lieber introduced her bill, and he said: 
The legislation "is banning mothers from spanking their children, because most mothers want to use something that causes a little bit of pain - that is a switch or a stick, some parents even use a paddle. Now these are being called abuse and will be criminalized.
"My father could spank me with his hand, but my mother's hand was too weak, she did not have the strength of my father, and she used the stick.
"How dare we say that our grandparents who had a switch or even a shoe training them to respect authority and obey the rules - that they were abused. You meet a lot of Americans who are glad they were spanked because they needed it when they were little rebels. This bill bans a lot of spanking and it especially targets mothers who need to use an instrument or little implement to cause some pain that a hand ordinarily wouldn't.
"There's too many moms who know if they spank their young boys with a hand, it doesn't cause the sting that they need to reform their behavior."
Cafe Press lets designers sell t-shirts, coffee mugs, posters and whatnot in a centralized location, and it has became a major shopping mall for political memorabilia.
Hundreds of Arnoldalia items can be found featuring Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's past steroid use, his fight with California nurses, his "girlie man" comment, his race for governor, the 2003 recall, the impossible campaign for president, his views on immigration, his contract with a bodybuilding magazine, and the movies "Terminator," "Total Recall," "Twins" and "Predator."
The governor's attorneys at Lavely & Singer used to bulldog the unauthorized use of Schwarzenegger's image, but in a political context it's impossible to stop.
    
The spanking bill that garnered Assemblywoman Sally Lieber international attention finally has been introduced, and it's softer than expected. But it still addresses child abuse.
Jimmy Camp is the tattooed, hard-charging Republican political consultant from Orange County who has worked for Steve Poizner and is expected to help out Rudy Giuliani. As mentioned yesterday, Camp has a psychedelic history that includes a story about dirty hippies getting thrown down stairs. (Read that story after the jump.)
Camp just released the first CD recorded solely on an iPod. He bought a Belkin microphone for his video iPod, hooked up a basic mixer and recorded "Captain America" with no editing. But Camp isn't getting much love from the mainstream media about this technological feat. He writes this week on his blog: "I'm like Neil Freakin' Armstrong! The Wright Brothers! Thomas Freakin' Edison! GIVE ME SOME LOVE!"
Camp's folk-rock album includes "White Trash Weekend" and "Crazy Little Thing Called Hate," which has these lyrics: "Well there's lots of Jews and Mexicans.
You got Japanese and lesbians,
people rolling around without no legs.
"There's candidates who won't shut up,
rich girls that drink from silver cups,
people with 12 items in a line that's meant for nine.
"Well, there's hippies smokin' pot all day,
children gettin' in the way,
somebody on my telephone.
Well, he's got a deal for me."
It's a song about facing demons, and ultimately compassion, if I heard it correctly. Listen here for yourself.
People surprise you. Ultra-conservative blogger Steve Frank likes the new Camp album. He calls him a poet. "Though Jimmy told me about his song 'Captain America,' it was the words to 'Crazy Little Thing Called Hate' that struck me as a realistic approach to the double standard of today's mainstream society."
(Photo: JimmyCamp.com)
Continue reading "'You Got Japanese and Lesbians'" »
U.S. Sen. John McCain and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tour the BP Carson refinery, the 710 freeway and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles by helicopter. On the ground afterward, McCain tried to put some distance between himself and President Bush. Michael Finnegan reports from the field.
(Photo: Kevin Chang, pool - Getty Images)
"He's an attorney. I wonder what he was doing during constitutional-law class."-- Matt Gray, lobbyist for the Free Speech Coalition, on efforts to revive a tax on pornography in California.
 Gray tells Capitol Weekly that the Constitution won't allow specific taxes on content. But legislation being considered again by Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Montebello) could authorize a point-of-sale tax on adult materials, probably the biggest industry in California after the marijuana cash crop.
It wouldn't be the first this year. A Tennessee lawmaker has proposed a swap: taxing pornography so the state can eventually eliminate its 6% sales tax on groceries. (Wow, they spend as much on porn as they do on food in Tennessee?) The proposal would cover online and cable videos, books, magazines and sexual devices, as well as escorts and lap dancing, the lawmaker said.
In California, the porn tax is going to be a real dilemma for Republicans: They hate raising taxes but they also (publicly) hate porn.
Still, for some, there is great benefit to Calderon introducing the bill: Porn stars will invade the Capitol. Nearly 10 years ago, Mike Horner and Juli Ashton (pictured) appeared in Sacramento to protest Calderon's efforts to impose a 5% sin tax on pornographic materials. Then a state senator, Calderon said the money would be used to help support rape crisis centers and battered women's shelters. The bill died in committee.
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
As if voting weren't dangerous enough, a California lawmaker is adding the specter of molestation to the democratic process. For some, it seems, your neighborhood polling place is a dangerous gateway to sexual perversion.
 A bill just introduced by state Sen. Bob Margett (R-Glendora) would prohibit California from using the homes of registered sex offenders for voting on election day. And it would ban them from working in any capacity at polling stations. Margett (pictured in the Senate with Flat Stanley) says that one-third of polling places are public schools, "leaving ample opportunity for exploitation by sexual predators seeking to come into contact with young children."
Margett doesn't offer any examples of sex offenders working polling stations. Of course, Margett probably won't be able to ban child molesters from schools altogether. Late last year, a federal judge suspended an Indianapolis ordinance that banned sex offenders from going within 1,000 feet of "child-friendly" areas. He said it interfered with a sex offender's right to vote at his polling place, which was in a school.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to formally endorse his "great friend" U.S. Sen. John McCain during a press conference at the Port of Los Angeles this morning, but the Republican governor certainly added a political boost to the Arizona senator if he decides to run for president.
When a reporter asked if today's event - with a dramatic backdrop of ships unloading and an environmental theme - was an edge toward endorsing McCain, the senator jumped in and joked: "I think it's the endorsement, yes."
Schwarzenegger responded: "We are not doing presidential politics here. We are here to talk about the environment." He also said McCain was a good friend and "a man who has been fighting many, many years to protect our
environment." He later called McCain a "great Republican fighting for the environment."
Endorsements of presidential candidates are virtually meaningless to the final outcome. Still, Schwarzenegger's active campaigning helped re-elect President George W. Bush in the 2004 campaign, when Schwarzenegger appeared at an Ohio rally just before the election. Bush won the critical state by about 118,000 votes.
(Photo: Nick Ut / AP)
OMG. Elizabeth Hill's fabled Blue Book is out today. I rushed back from Obama in L.A. because the brick-sized, detailed analysis of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2007-08 budget would be waiting in my in-box holding secrets to be unlocked. Hill really delivers on Blue Book Day.
According to the busy bees at the Legislative Analyst's Office, the Schwarzenegger budget:
Contains a $726 million deficit instead of a $2.1 billion surplus that Schwarzenegger predicted. Hill is less optimistic about tax revenues coming in because of a modest economy, and predicts higher spending for schools under Proposition 98.
- Should eliminate a tax credit that reimburses public school teachers for classroom supplies they purchased. It's not "cost-effective," Hill says.
- Unfairly increases fees for students at the University of California and Cal State universities by 7% and 10% respectively, when expenditures are increasing only 2.4%. But Hill agrees that the method of setting CSU and UC faculty salaries is based on a "misleading" methodology and should be changed.
- Spends too much money on building prisons, which could lead to "surplus capacity."
- Unfairly cuts $160 million to fix state parks, especially since California's parks already have a $900 million list of broken toilets, torn up trails and other problems.
- Needs to cut $19.8 million in overtime funding for the California Highway Patrol because the money no longer is needed for "tactical alerts" five years after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Read every page here before lunch.
Frank Mickadeit has a fascinating profile over two days of Republican political consultant Jimmy Camp, California's punk rockin' political "gym rat" who drank to excess, took a lot of drugs, was stabbed in hotel room and would disappear for days.
Now, Camp is working for Janet Nguyen, monitoring the recount of her race for Orange County supervisor, and expects to work for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. The saga during the Steve Poizner campaign: "Camp's well-known penchant to pull campaign
all-nighters is not just borne of a desire to win. He has chronic
insomnia. This led to near-disastrous results last fall while he was
running Steve Poizner's campaign for state insurance
commissioner. I would go to political events and would hear people ask
each other, 'Have you seen Jimmy Camp?' Nobody did. For weeks.
"As
Camp explained it over breakfast Monday, he hadn't slept for five days
when he found himself watching a TV newscast in which the reporter was
saying Camp was being sought by police for theft. Camp immediately
packed his guitars, put them in storage and fled into the Sierra,
telling no one. 'I ended up in Yosemite, hiding out for three days,' he
says."
OC Blog has a pix of Camp here. He sounds like a legend in the making. Check out Mickadeit's story. Part One. Part Two.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with singer Wayne Newton and Newton's wife, Kathleen McCrone, last weekend at the NBA All-Star game. Diddy sat on the other side of the governor and Maria Shriver. More photos after the jump, if you're so inclined.
 (Photo:
Lisa Blumenfeld / Getty Images)
Continue reading "Foreheads" »
- "Ask a Mexican" gets a question about our governor. "Dear Mexican: Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger keep putting his foot in his mouth and talking smack about MEXICANS?" Caution: foul language (from the governor.)
- The "Schwarzenegger Plan" for global warming appears headed for passage in Maryland. And gets introduced in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger uses state government website to promote his meeting with Republican Sen. John McCain, a possible candidate for president, where they will "discuss" California's already-approved global warming statute.
- Former Attorney General Bill Lockyer, now treasurer, gets the Wall Street Journal treatment for hidden contracts: "State attorney generals have become an unchecked source of
government abuse in recent years, combining political ambition with the awesome
power to prosecute. They need to be reined in, and a good place to start is by
exposing their sweetheart contracts with their trial lawyer friends and campaign
contributors."
Barack Obama spent about 25 minutes lecturing Hollywood donors about their "enormous power" and giving his stump speech. Jennifer Aniston found him "lovely." Obama collected about $1.3 million at the event. Read the "pool" report from Carla Marinucci of the S.F. Chronicle after the jump.
Continue reading "'Don't Sell Yourselves Short'" »
| |
