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What has Dan Lungren done to earn your vote?
3rd Congressional District gas price watch:
When this man was elected to Congress, gas was $1.43 a gallon!
Recent price:
$3.17 gallon
Ask yourself why?
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Your tax dollars at work...
Senator's looking out for your kids... |
Prison Scandal...
Reader reaction...
"Mr.
Kelso belongs in a mental institution himself. He is mentally ill if he
thinks the Taxpayer needs to spend $96,000 annually on each of these
slimeballs. Mr. Kelso is the epitomy of a power-drunk bureaucrat."
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In the Governor's office:
Schwarzenegger orders a new round of unpaid furloughs
More than 150,000 California workers will be forced to take off three days a month — the equivalent of a 14% pay cut
By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times
More
than 150,000 California state workers will again face unpaid furloughs,
beginning in August, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday
declared a financial state of emergency and ordered them to take three
days off per month. Starting the second Friday in August, much of
California's government, including Department of Motor Vehicles
offices, will be shuttered three times a month at least until a state
budget is in place. The governor's critics called the order politically
motivated, intended to ramp up pressure on the Legislature to pass a
budget and on unions to make concessions on their pension plans.
Schwarzenegger pitched the move as a necessity to avert a looming cash
crunch.
Schwarzenegger vetoes overtime for farmworkers
Organic-farm owners contend that an eight-hour workday isn't practical in the agriculture industry
By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Saying
he didn't want to damage California's agricultural economy, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger on Wednesday vetoed a first-in-the-nation bill that
would have given farmworkers the same rights to overtime pay enjoyed by
all other hourly workers in California. Applying the eight-hour day to
agriculture would be burdensome to business and reverse longstanding
labor practices, Schwarzenegger wrote in a veto message. As recently as
1999, state lawmakers approved a bill that specifically exempted
farmworkers from the eight-hour day, he said, "recognizing that
agricultural work is different from other industries: it is seasonal,
subject to unpredictability of Mother Nature and requires the
harvesting of perishable goods." The veto message echoed arguments made
by both giant agribusinesses and organic-farm owners. They contended
that growers need special exemptions from labor laws because they
operate on tight profit margins and need to work long hours to harvest
crops quickly to get them to market.
Campaign and election news:
Poll: Governor, Senate races remain close
By the Associated Press, Sacramento Bee
Californians
are split between the Democratic and Republican candidates in the
contests for governor and U.S. Senate, with a large number of voters
still undecided in both races, according to a poll released Wednesday.
In the governor's race, Democrat Jerry Brown has support from 37
percent of likely voters, compared with 34 percent for Republican Meg
Whitman, but nearly one in four voters were undecided in the Public
Policy Institute of California's poll. The survey also shows 39 percent
of likely voters support Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer while 34 percent
support Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, with 22 percent undecided.
Political newcomers Whitman and Fiorina have forced established
Democrats into to tight races, even though Brown and Boxer are the
nominees of a party with a large voter registration edge in California
and enjoy high name recognition, said poll director Mark Baldassare.
"It speaks about the political turbulence not just in California but in
the nation," Baldassare said. "When you have so many people believing
things are going in the wrong direction and feeling unsettled by the
economy, it gives people pause for who they want to represent them and
I think it's pretty uncertain at this point."
Whitman strategy in doubt after pollBy Steven Harmon, San Jose Mercury NewsShe
has spent a fortune — $100 million and counting — and Republican Meg
Whitman has not moved the dial against Jerry Brown in the gubernatorial
race. Despite an aggressive summer campaign in which she went on the
offensive against Brown immediately after winning the GOP primary,
Whitman remains stuck behind Brown, 37 percent to 34 percent, according
to a survey released Wednesday night by the Public Policy Institute of
California. And her ramped-up attempt to appeal to Latino voters has
not yet paid dividends: Brown's lead over Whitman among Latinos is more
than double — 42 percent to 18. Brown also holds a slight lead among
independents, 30 to 28 percent. The numbers show, political observers
said, that Whitman's strategy of using the typically slow summer months
to attack Brown and cut into a core Democratic constituency may not be
working, raising questions over whether Whitman might have to
re-evaluate her overall approach. In a state with a 13-point advantage
for Democrats — 44.5 percent of registered voters are Democratic and
30.8 percent are Republican — Brown's built-in advantage is carrying
him so far, said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the Hoover Institution and
former aide to ex-Gov. Pete Wilson. "She's staying even in what is a
very hostile environment for any politician," Whalen said. "The burden
of proof is always for a Republican to prove they're mainstream."
 Both sides of the immigration fence for Whitman
GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman: "I don't think the Arizona law makes sense for California"
By Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle
California
Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who has heavily
advertised her opposition to Arizona's immigration law SB1070 on
Spanish-language media, told conservative Talk Radio's "America's
Morning News" Wednesday that "I would let the Arizona law stand for
Arizona." The appearance was noted by the Huffington Post blogger Chris
Kelly, who provided a link of the audio of her interview with the radio
station on the East Coast: Whitman's comments came as a federal judge
was poised to issue a ruling on the controversial Arizona law
Wednesday; Judge Susan Bolton blocked key portions of the measure,
setting off what's expected to be a prolonged legal battle over the
matter. Whitman was asked about her views regarding the law, and she
was also grilled about her thoughts on the impending ruling. Whitman's
campaign in recent weeks has heavily advertised on Spanish language
radio what it said has been her position on the issue: "NO a la
Proposicion 187 y NO a la ley de Arizona." (NO to Prop. 187 and NO to
the Arizona law.")
 Jerry Brown offers ideas on education, environment
By David Siders, Sacramento Bee
Coming
under attack for offering only a few specific policy proposals,
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown released plans Wednesday
to spend more money on higher education and to shift more K-12
decision-making authority to local schools. He also detailed positions
on the environment, including opposition to new offshore oil drilling
and support for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The
release of Brown's 12-point education plan and his environmental
platform followed by less than a week his issuance of a plan for
pension reform. Republican rival Meg Whitman is airing ads on TV and
radio claiming Brown has no plan for governing California. In his
education proposal, Brown said he would consolidate many of the state's
"categorical" funding streams, which allocate money to schools that can
be used only for certain purposes. He said he would allocate money to
districts based on students' specific needs. Brown also proposed
increasing funding for colleges and universities, reversing "the
decades long trend of transferring state support from higher education
to prisons."
 California Republicans shunning one traditional path to victory: the environment
By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times
For
decades, Republicans who won statewide office in California found
success, at least in part, by showing sensitivity to voters' commitment
to protecting the environment. But with state unemployment hovering at
more than 12%, the two GOP candidates at the top of the ticket this
year are betting that voters' concerns about jobs and economic
uncertainty will trump any desire for environmental crusades.
Republican Senate nominee Carly Fiorina has spent months charging
Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer with driving an extreme
environmental agenda instead of tending to jobs. She has been sharply
critical of national and state climate change legislation — deriding
Boxer's concern as being about "the weather" — and has argued that the
state should expand oil drilling off its shores. Gubernatorial nominee
Meg Whitman has been more equivocal than Fiorina, but she also has cast
the state's landmark climate change measure as one that kills jobs. She
favors delaying its execution for a year to allow further study of its
effect.
Proposition 23 backers sue over ballot language
The suit, filed against Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, says the wording describing the measure is 'false, misleading and unfair'
By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times
Backers
of Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative to suspend California's
2006 Global Warming Solutions Act, filed suit in Sacramento County
Superior Court on Tuesday against Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown for what they
called "false, misleading and unfair" language that would describe the
measure on voters' ballots. The ballots, which must be printed by
mid-August, would say that the measure "Suspends Air Pollution Control
Laws Requiring Major Polluters to Report and Reduce Greenhouse Gas
Emissions That Cause Global Warming Until Unemployment Drops Below
Specified Level for Full Year." The Yes on Prop 23 campaign said in its
court petition that the initiative's title and summary, drafted by
Brown's office, should not refer to "air pollution control laws"
because it does not apply to multiple laws, only the Global Warming
Solutions Act, known as AB 32. Nor should it refer to "major
polluters," the petition contended, because power plants and refineries
are not the only institutions affected by the law, which covers
emissions from universities, agricultural facilities, municipal
buildings, and other private companies and citizens.
Maldonado to attend GOP fundraiser with Breitbart -- and is ready to give him the what-for
By Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle
For
years -- even as we knocked down a beer with him at a recent GOP
convention -- Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado has talked about how he's a
moderate Republican. You know, post-partisan and all that. And that's
why Dems are going nuts with word that Abel will be sharing the bill at
a GOP fundraiser next month with Andrew Breitbart -- aka the
conservative media titan whose site presented the world with the
creative editing of comments made by former Ag Dept. employee Shirley
Sherrod. "So much for moderation," says CA Dem Party spokesman Tenoch
Flores. "Imagined or otherwise." Team Maldo, what's up? "We were going
to the function. We didn't even know this guy was invited," Team Maldo
spokesperson Brandon Gesicki told us. The GOP event is a "stop-by" for
Maldonado that night, he said. "But if we run into (Breitbart) we'll
tell him what we think of what he did to that woman (Sherrod)," Gesicki
said. Nope, Maldonado did not think it was cool.
Around the state:
California's city officials scramble to limit damage from Bell scandal
By Sam Allen, Abby Sewell and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
The
scandal over high salaries paid to Bell officials has city leaders
throughout the state scrambling to limit the political damage. City
halls have seen an uptick in residents calling to find out what their
local officials make ever since the story broke two weeks ago and
prompted widespread public outrage. On Thursday, city managers from
across the state will gather in Sacramento to discuss damage control.
Among the ideas on the table: launching an independent examination of
city officials' salaries and compiling a database of salaries for
municipal executives. The Legislature also is mulling several
Bell-inspired proposals, including a requirement that cities make
salaries easily accessible on websites. Many of the ideas are
designed to put political distance between Bell and the rest of
California's 480 cities and towns. "It would be really unfortunate if
anyone took the outrageous action of one city and generalized it to all
cities," said Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League of
California Cities, which is hosting the meeting. The stories of soaring
salaries come at a difficult time for cities, which are making cutbacks
amid a recession that has made many taxpayers ever more interested in
what services they get for their tax dollars. | Pot a budget balancer?
By the Orange County Register
If
voters in November pass Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana,
Californians will be inhaling a new tax and regulatory environment as
well. Voters are weighing it closely: A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in
late June found that Prop. 19 was opposed by Californians, 50 percent
to 48 percent. A key element of the "Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis
Act of 2010" is taxation, coming at a time when the state has
difficulty balancing its budget every year. The deficit for the
still-unpassed budget for fiscal year 2010-11, which began July 1, is
pegged at $19 billion. California NORML, a pro-legalization group,
estimates that legalization could bring in from $1.2 billion to $1.4
billion a year in tax revenue and reduced enforcement costs: But
a recent study by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center called such
numbers into doubt. It found: "The pretax retail price of marijuana
will substantially decline, likely by more than 80 percent. The price
consumers pay will depend heavily on taxes, the regulatory regime
structure, and how taxes and regulations are enforced." It also said
tax revenue could be "dramatically lower or higher than the $1.4
billion estimate."
Yet more furloughs? Why not a budget?
By the Sacramento Bee
Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's bullying tactics are tiresome, mean-spirited
and destructive. California needs a budget. Negotiations are drifting,
a month past the July 1 start of the fiscal year. Although a limited
number of furloughs served their purpose early in this crisis – to
avoid layoffs – they have outlived their welcome. Workers least able to
afford the pay cuts will be most damaged by continued furloughs. Small
businesses will be hurt as workers reduce spending to make up for pay
cuts. Difficult though it may be, Schwarzenegger needs to knock off the
cheap tricks and truly engage in budget negotiations.
California Senate leader offers pathway out of budget stalemate
By George Skelton, Los Angeles Times
An
eternal optimist, state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg believes he has
found a solution to this summer's annual budget standoff. It's
conceivable. He calls it "a pathway." Any pathway to a balanced budget,
however, still seems like a long trek. We're now four weeks into a new
fiscal year without a state spending plan. "We need a greater sense of
urgency," says Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat. No kidding. Also some
courage by Democrats to cut more spending. Here's his thinking:
Increase state income taxes for everyone and also raise the vehicle
license fee (or car tax).
Oceans protector gets tossed off ship
By Dan Morain, Sacramento Bee
Don
Benninghoven is an unlikely martyr to the cause of ocean protection. He
built a solid reputation for honesty as director of the League of
California Cities for three decades, retired a decade ago to Santa
Barbara, and was working on his tennis game when Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger enlisted this fellow Republican to become immersed in
ocean issues. Now 76, Benninghoven is a convert to the concept of
marine reserves – coastal waters where fishing is banned so depleted
stocks can regenerate, as required by the Marine Life Protection Act of
1999. "The act is horribly important. I want it to be successful,"
Benninghoven said. He won't be around to carry it out. Senate Democrats
who lay claim to be environmentalists should have embraced him. But
this is election season in a term-limited era. Legislators who
championed ocean protection in the 1990s are long gone. Facing a
well-orchestrated lobbying effort by an organization out of Virginia,
the Senate refuses to confirm Benninghoven to the five-member
California Fish and Game Commission, where he almost surely would have
cast a deciding vote in favor of greater marine protection. Senate
President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg ordinarily would push to confirm
someone like Benninghoven. There is no hint of scandal, and
environmentalists support him.
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And you thought the state was broke...$20 million in rebate funds remaining in the $31.7 million free money program
