Wed - July 26, 2006

Arnold gets hit from the right on immigration


I wonder whether he ever feels uncomfortable that he shares a party affiliation with these folks.

Posted at 06:35 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - July 25, 2006

Schwarzenegger's up by 8


I spoke too soon in the last entry when I mentioned that the California gubernatorial race appeared to be tightening up.

Posted at 10:21 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

The grinning skull of Gray Davis looks on with interest


The California Independent System Operator, CalISO, has a sweet utility on their website that allows one to compare forecasts of available electricity to forecasts of demand. You can check it out here.

What strikes me about the graph today is that demand seems to be very close to outstripping supply, which is the reason why several MSM sources are starting to soften up Californians for the possibility of rolling blackouts — one of the main albatrosses hanging around Gray Davis' neck before his recall.

Posted at 01:08 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - October 28, 2005

Special election: Rapid responders needed



Posted at 11:56 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - September 28, 2005

PCINO


The allegedly pro-choice Governor of California has just come out in favor of Proposition 73, a ballot measure that would make abortion illegal for minors unless their parents were notified in advance.

Posted at 10:02 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - August 25, 2005

2006 Fantasy Football


Almost broke a month streak without posting anything...I may be slowly creeping back into activity. This Photoshop contest on Fark.com stirred me from my slumber. The theme:

California Dems are looking for a celebrity gubernatorial candidate. Photoshop some possible campaign ads.

Lots of hilarious entries; one of the best is reproduced below. I'll post more over the next few days.

Posted at 08:59 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - August 3, 2005

Fistfuls of dollars


The off-cycle, no-candidate, ballot-measure-only 2005 special election may be the most expensive in California history.

Posted at 08:01 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Special election has no legal momentum


The California Legal Counsel has just issued a memo addressing whether Governor Schwarzenegger has the ability to cancel the special election now that it's scheduled.

Posted at 08:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - August 2, 2005

Prop 80 back on ballot, too...


I bet you never even missed it.

Posted at 08:05 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - August 1, 2005

Prop 77 back on ballot?


The mind reels. I just posted this morning about Prop 77 (the redistricting initiative) getting struck from the ballot.

Posted at 11:07 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Ixnay on Prop 77 redistricting


It appears that Governor Schwarzenegger's redistricting initiative, Prop 77, is dying a slow, painful (and in my opinion, richly deserved) death.

Posted at 08:05 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - July 14, 2005

Redistricting dogpile


The California Legislature's Democratic leadership is signing on to a lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Bill Lockyer, to prevent Prop 77 from appearing on the fall special election ballot.

Posted at 08:24 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

"There is power in a..." line-item veto


Don't get too excited about all the much-touted talk of bipartisan compromise surrounding the new California budget.

Posted at 08:15 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Liberal propaganda


...and how.

Posted at 08:01 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Whoops


The Governor called the special election. The Governor promised the state would pay for it.

But in the budget passed last week? No money for the special election. Guess who's left holding the bag?

Posted at 08:01 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - July 13, 2005

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?


(Who guards the guardians?)

Not a ton happening in last week's story about the California National Guard — Senator Joe Dunn's investigation, of possible domestic spying by the CNG, is ongoing — but the Guard is still making news, this week for some of the worst anti-Muslim bigotry I've seen attributed to a governmental organization at the state level.

Posted at 08:05 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

The death of a thousand (self-inflicted) cuts


Pardon the huge excerpt but if you're anything like me you'll be tickled by this long list of all of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's mistakes.

Print it out and carry it with you; it's a pretty decent set of talking points.

Posted at 08:01 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - July 12, 2005

Voter apathy and the special election


There are some news analysis pieces out that talk about voter fatigue and the likelihood that the fall special election will raise (and spend) a lot of money, but not move voters to any sort of passionate engagement.

That terrifies me.

Posted at 09:04 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Free fallin'



Posted at 08:58 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - July 11, 2005

Lockyer: Redistricting measure was "bait and switch"


Last week, we learned that Governor Schwarzenegger's Prop 77 (legislative redistricting) was under fire: Apparently, the version of the circulated on petitions to place the measure on the ballot wasn't the same as the version submitted to the Attorney General's office. (In other words, voters were signing petitions that described the measure differently than the way it would appear on the fall 2005 ballot).

Posted at 08:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Special election: The opposition is organizing


There's a great post at DEFEATARNOLD (Yahoo! Group; registration required) about organizing the opposition against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot measures in the 2005 special election.

Posted at 07:30 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - July 8, 2005

Military opens investigation into California National Guard


Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse.

Posted at 07:35 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Get a haircut and a real blog


Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub has a "blog" on the Bee website.

Why the quotes?

Because if you're getting paid by a company, and your blog is on the company web site, then you're a "blogger" exactly to the extent that you're "independent" when you move out of your room in your parents' house...into their basement.

(In Dan's case, he's keeping the upstairs room anyway.)

Posted at 07:33 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Budget deal frees reporters, pundits to speculate rampantly


We have a budget, which will come as a pleasant surprise to Californians who are concerned about things like paying schools' electric bills but who have grown accustomed to the knock-down drag-out tardiness of the past few years' budget wrangling.

One upshot of the new budget is that it will enable a weeks' worth of news analysis pieces about what it all means vis-a-vis the 2005 special election.

Pieces like the one excerpted below.

Posted at 07:32 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Left Coast blogwhoring


I'm stealing this idea from Shakespeare's Sister, who runs a tri-weekly regular posting allowing anyone and everyone to hawk their wares (i.e., brag on their own blogs or anyone else's blog they deem fit).

Posted at 07:32 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Redistricting reform: It never rains but it pours


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting proposal isn't having a very easy time of it.

And the measure seems to be taking it from all sides.

Posted at 07:31 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

And the contestants are...


The California Secretary of State's office has released numbers for the initiatives that will appear on the fall 2005 ballot.

Now they have names.

Posted at 07:30 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - July 6, 2005

California National Guard: Did Enron teach them nothing?


Last week, we reported that the California National Guard had formed a domestic intelligence unit that spied on Californian citizens, including a few people involved in a small Mothers' Day anti-war rally.

Posted at 02:56 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - July 5, 2005

Don't get lazy


Just a reminder. I've made this point before, and I think it's just as important now. The wind appears to be at our back, but it can shift. Remember, six months ago, Schwarzenegger appeared unbeatable.

Posted at 09:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - June 30, 2005

California National Guard is watching YOU


With the cooperation of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff, the California National Guard's new intelligence unit is monitoring the (legal, non-violent, First Amendment-protected) activity of peace activists, including the parents of soldiers who have died in Iraq.

Ironically, one of their surveillance targets was a rally that was held, in part, in support of of the California National Guard's troops who are deployed in that conflict. (see emphasis, which is mine).

Posted at 08:43 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - June 29, 2005

Poll: Voters don't support ballot measures


Well, they marginally support one out of three of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's pet ballot initiatives slated for the 2005 special election, but that's hardly a passing grade.

Posted at 09:25 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Audioblogging: Special election on "Forum"



Posted at 09:15 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - June 28, 2005

Another thing Bush and Schwarzenegger have in common...


...is that they're both enjoying the lowest approval ratings (and highest disapproval ratings) of their careers.

Posted at 08:24 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain


From Tom Meyer at SFGate:

Posted at 08:12 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - June 27, 2005

Support Netflix, support Schwarzenegger?


This is pretty sad, given how much I like Netflix and how little I like the special election (and in particular Governor Schwarzenegger's redistricting ballot initiative).

Posted at 07:39 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - June 16, 2005

Governor fires his first shot...in defense of Prop 13


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, apparently unsatisfied with the issues his cronies spent millions putting on the ballot, is hitting the campaign trail to speak out against changing a law that no one has suggested changing.

Posted at 08:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

"Live Within Our Means" initiative is not "real fiscal reform"


From a scholar at that bastion of tax-and-spend liberal thought, the Cato Institute — writing in a rag that might as well be an organ of the Democratic Party.

Posted at 07:55 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

8 ballot initiatives to rule them all


Just in case you're behind on your news-scouring, the Chron ran a nice review of the ballot initiatives that either have already qualified for the November 2005 special election or are expected to qualify.

I've just clipped out the titles and brief descriptions; the full article is here.

Posted at 07:54 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - June 15, 2005

Good news, sort of


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger won't be forcing the cost of the special election onto the counties and cities, as many had feared (and as at least one county clerk had said she wouldn't support without a court order).

He'll be pulling the money directly out of state coffers:

Posted at 09:23 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - June 14, 2005

Special election: Opposition response


Democrats and other opponents sound off on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2005 California special election:

Posted at 08:50 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

How times change



Posted at 08:45 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Special election: Announcement speech


Recorded audio footage of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's announcement of the 2005 California special election.

Posted at 08:42 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - June 13, 2005

It's official: Governor calls special election


After last week's leak this isn't surprising but now, finally, we're sure.

Posted at 06:03 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Special election: News roundup


As leaked last week and repeated again and again over the weekend, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will announce a 2005 California special election sometime this afternoon or evening.

Posted at 09:23 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Special election: Protest this afternoon



Posted at 09:23 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - June 10, 2005

Schwarzenegger timeline


(cross-posted at Daily Kos)

USA Today has a timeline of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's (plummeting) approval rating.

Posted at 12:53 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Provoking a "phenomenon of anger"


During a donor conference with Schwarzenegger aides, the LA Times learned about the Governor's plan to campaign for an anti-union ballot measure this fall: Make Californians angry at public-employee unions.

Posted at 08:15 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

The cat's out of the bag: Election 2005 is ON


While it will come as no surprise to anyone who's been reading this blog, Schwarzenegger has leaked that he's definitely going to announce a special election for the fall of 2005.

Posted at 08:10 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - June 9, 2005

Coingate continued: Arnold won't give back the money


Earlier this week, we reported that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been connected to the Ohio "Coingate" scandal.

Specifically, his campaign accepted $10,000 from Republican fund-raiser Thomas Noe, currently under federal and Ohio state investigation for (among other things) speculating in the rare coin market with $50 million belonging to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

Posted at 12:24 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Red California?


Among the few things that I accept on faith is that California is a blue state. We might elect the occasional Republican in a bizarre counterdemocratic recall election, but our Senate seats and electoral votes are sacrosanct.

Right?

Posted at 08:31 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - June 8, 2005

Same-sex marriage bill "dead for the year"


This is sad.

Posted at 07:04 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Schwarzenegger protest watch: Santa Monica College, June 14


Apparently he's an alumnus. Who knew?

Posted at 07:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - June 7, 2005

Phil Angelides picks up early endorsements


This is in comparison to not a whole lot of action for Steve Westly, whose primary endorsement seems to be that of a $10 million check to himself.

Posted at 01:18 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Top Democrats support financial abuse reporting to protect elders


I mention this because Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have done nothing more noxious than study the problem of elder abuse, so this might become a campaign issue in 2006.

Posted at 07:40 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

The long shadow of Coingate


A financial scandal that is rocking the Ohio GOP has ramifications in California as well:

Some of the dirty money made it into Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign coffers.

Posted at 07:39 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Protests, protests, everywhere


Anti-Schwarzenegger protests are becoming so commonplace that it's hard to keep up...

Posted at 07:37 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - June 6, 2005

Between red and blue...is green


Governor Schwarzenegger has come out with a bold pro-environment statement, going against the grain in his own party and taking what I'm somewhat chagrined to have to describe as the first real steps toward rebuilding support in the center and center-left of the California electorate.

Posted at 08:59 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - June 3, 2005

Friday open thread


What's shaking in California?

Posted at 10:08 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Why Arnold wants a special election


Two points. Not new, but it's nice to see them getting wide attention.

Posted at 07:23 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - June 2, 2005

"Boxer hospitalized after suffering seizure"


Yeah, I nearly a heart attack when I saw that headline too.

Posted at 09:31 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Well, that explains why he went to Florida


Back from the Red State ATM, Arnold finds that he's having trouble raising money for his California ballot initiatives from actual Californians.

Posted at 08:39 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Months in office: 18. Boxes blown up: 0


Debra Saunders at the San Francisco Chronicle threw Schwarzenegger minion Mike Murphy a slow pitch...and he let it sail by.

Posted at 08:20 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - June 1, 2005

Union dues and the right: A government small enough to duct-tape your mouth shut


Darrell Steinberg has a brilliant op-ed piece on the "paycheck protection" ballot initiative, which would prevent unions from using their member dues for political activities (but not, as I've pointed out before, in any way affect the amount of dues collected, giving the lie to advocates' assertion that this would save union workers any money at all).

Steinberg points out, quite rightly, the hypocrisy of the "small-government" conservatives in opposing the right to free association for their political opponents

Posted at 09:59 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

The best help money can buy


State Controller Steve Westly will officially announce his candidacy for governor next month.

His campaign director, Jude Barry, got written up recently under a headline that caught my eye:

Posted at 07:07 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

More dumb-ass speculation about Beatty candidacy


Warren Beatty's awesome commencement speech last week continues to fuel brainless speculation that the actor (who has no gubernatorial exploratory committee, has been virtually inactive in state politics, and whose box-office draw is smaller than that of trailers for Arnold's movies) is considering mounting a 2006 challenge to Schwarzenegger.

Posted at 07:05 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - May 31, 2005

¿Comienza la guerra?


When Governor Schwarzenegger started talking tough about closing the border with Mexico — and hopping into bed with the vigilante Minutemen — I speculated that he might be trying to manufacture a culture war, i.e., creating an issue that would exploit anti-immigrant fears to galvanize right-wing support and thereby benefit his ballot initiatives.

Posted at 07:20 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Product placement in Schwarzenegger's ads?


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has recently launched a series of TV ads promoting his ballot initiative campaign.

The ads contain prominent images of packaged refreshment items, many of which are products of major donors to the Governor.

Posted at 07:13 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - May 27, 2005

Friday "commando" blogging: Californians do not support special election (poll)


Which makes all the sense in the world, given that it would cost $80 million and we have a regularly scheduled primary election seven months later.

In the TMI department: I just got out of bed, and I'm not wearing any pants. Never let it be said that I spared you uncomfortable details.

Posted at 11:03 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - May 26, 2005

Anti-Schwarzenegger protests in Sacramento and LA


If you loved the April demonstration in San Francisco, you'll love the news of yesterday's actions in Sacramento and LA.

Posted at 08:38 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

CORRECTION: Arnold does NOT owe schools $2 billion


Damn it. Over the past weeks, I've frequently repeated that Governor Schwarzenegger reneged on a deal with California educators, "borrowing" $2 billion in guaranteed funding increases by deferring them for a year with a promise to return the money in the next year's budget.

Turns out I was totally wrong about the figures. It's nothing like $2 billion.

Posted at 08:31 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - May 25, 2005

Arnold's assholery on the legislative pay hike


After an independent commission decides to elevate California legistators' salaries by 12 percent — their first raise for six years, making the raise equivalent to a cumulated 1.5% salary adjustment per year — Arnold comes out shooting.

Posted at 02:09 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

A cautionary note


I've been generally been liking our chances lately: We have a Governor who keeps making mistakes, who's probably simply bad at politics, and whose behavior is mobilizing a coherent opposition.

Posted at 09:11 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Ask and we shall receive


Yesterday, I asked whether anyone could determine which Democratic candidate for Governor (Phil Angelides or Steve Westly) was raising more money.

Posted at 08:55 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - May 23, 2005

Arnold gets Beatty'd up


While Arnold prepared to dance with the Devil in Florida and Texas this week, Warren Beatty tore him a new one at UC-Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy commencement (triggering one of those non-story tempests in a teapot about whether Beatty himself plans to run for Governor; I'm not saying that would be a bad thing, I'm just so certain that he won't run that I think it's still to cover that possibility with any seriousness).

A transcript of Beatty's delicious speech, which wanders from the actor's boyhood to the obligatory Shakespeare quote, and manages to sound deeply gentle even as it excoriates Schwarzenegger and the American Empire, is here.

Posted at 01:43 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Schwarzenegger: Red state fundraising for a red state agenda?


Perhaps because Californians aren't willing to support his special-election ballot initiative campaign, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is barnstorming Republican strongholds, seeking support from wealthy GOP donors outside the Golden State.

Our "moderate" governor's first stop? To the crucible of the constitutional coup that brought George W. Bush to power, to get fundraising help from the President's kid brother Jeb.

Posted at 08:53 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - May 20, 2005

Legislature fails to reform ballot measure campaign finance rules


In the latest installment of the effort to prevent Governor Schwarzenegger from raising unlimited funds for ballot measures, the California Assembly this week attempted — and failed — to place restrictions on the amount of money that a single individual can donate to a ballot measure campaign.

The limits in the (rejected) bill would have been similar to the FPPC regulations, recently overturned in court, that restricted the fundraising behavior of candidate-controlled ballot-measure campaign committees.

Posted at 09:35 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Nativism, racism, conservatism


Every so often I like getting a reminder, in writing, of why I detest conservatives:

At their core, their rhetoric of ownership and self-reliance is a thin veneer over an oozing core of ugly racism.

Posted at 09:09 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - May 19, 2005

Ze cost of doing business


Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's special election, which has gone from a threat to near-reality, will cost $80 million (remember, that's according to the Republican Secretary of State, whom Arnold appointed).

That's a lot of money.

Posted at 12:13 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

From the elephant's mouth: Special election to cost $80 million


The cost of the California special election is unknown, but the figure most commonly bandied about is $70 million.

I'd been annoyed recently, trying to track down the original source, and coming up empty — I hate "sourceless" figures like that.

Posted at 08:43 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Republican SecState opposes Schwarzenegger on redistricting


California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson (a Republican, nominated by Schwarzenegger to replace the disgraced Kevin Shelley) has announced that he does not support the redistricting ballot initiative that the Governor is placing before voters in the fall special election.

In concert with what the measure's critics have been saying about the flawed and pointless measure for months, McPherson says he doesn't think there's enough time between fall of 2005 and the 2006 primaries to redraw district lines in a fair manner.

Posted at 08:38 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - May 18, 2005

What's in a name?


A union-busting ballot initiative, which will very likely appear on the fall ballot, is being sold to Californians as "paycheck protection".

Posted at 12:17 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Nuñez: Schwarzenegger lied about "paycheck protection"


After repeatedly asserting that his administration had nothing to do with a ballot initiative aimed at blocking the use of union dues for political purposes, Governor Schwarzenegger is now considering backing the bill with fundraising and campaign effort.

Posted at 12:11 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - May 17, 2005

Things are rough all over


Even as we excoriate Governor Schwarzenegger for immigrant-baiting and his support for the xenophobic Minutemen militia, the people of Mexico are having some problems with their own president, Vicente Fox.

Posted at 02:20 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

One (million) for me, none for you


Post scriptum to a point in the post immediately below, regarding the union-busting "paycheck protection" initiative that would prevent the use of union dues for political purposes.

Posted at 09:49 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Special election almost certain


For those of you whom the suspense was killing:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered his staff to prepare for a fall special election. Focus groups are being assembled and polls are in the field.

Of particular interest is whether the Governor's office will get behind the union-busting "paycheck protection" initiative, which would prevent unions from using dues for political purposes – and very likely weaken organized labor in its eternal struggle against big business.

Posted at 08:47 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - May 16, 2005

When more is less


Thanks in part to the tax amnesty, and in part to increased revenues from a robust California economy, there's more money to go around this year, and Schwarzenegger has released a revised budget that gives more money to highways and a bit more (though nothing like the $2 billion he owes) to education.

More is more, most of the time. But increased revenue is not necessarily good news for Governor Arnold.

Posted at 11:33 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

California gubernatorial primary: Money starts talking


Even though Steve Westly hasn't formally announced that he's running for Governor, he's already started to flash his money roll.

Should Phil Angelides be scared? I'm not so sure.

Posted at 09:11 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Sat - May 14, 2005

A routine clearing of the baffles


After completing a move, fellow California politics blogger Jeremy Thompson is once again posting away at Dropping the Gloves (and his national-focus site, Loyal/Opposition).

Posted at 11:43 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - May 13, 2005

Oh, Arnie, you shouldn't have...


I mean, you really shouldn't have used government employees to staff campaign events.

Posted at 09:16 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - May 12, 2005

Interview with Phil Angelides...


...at Basie ("constant political coverage and analysis of the nation, swing states and Oregon").

Blogger Jonathan Singer interviewed California State Treasure and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Phil Angelides by phone earlier today. Kind of makes me wish I had the stones to make a call like that. But because of Singer, I no longer have to.

It's a great interview, consisting mostly of Angelides' words and free of the extraneous posturing sometimes imposed by political interviewers. Check it out.

Posted at 03:55 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

A: Not if Freddie Oakley has anything to say about it


(Q: Will there be a 2005 special election?)

Awesome. Now let's see whether the rest of the county registrars follow her lead.

History has been made before by itinerant middle-aged women who were willing to do time.

Posted at 01:34 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Will there be a 2005 special election?


There has been much petitioning and signature gathering, many dollars paid to political consultants...but still no final decision.

The fall 2005 initiative-only "special election," which first made its appearance in Governor Schwarzenegger's "state of the state" address, is still virtual, and may remain up in the air until mid-June.

Posted at 10:17 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - May 11, 2005

Anti-choice group's lawsuit leaves stem cell institute (temporarily) penniless


Despite the overwhelming approval of Prop 71 by California voters (the one piece of good news, really, on an otherwise dark Election Day), the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is unable to raise any money:

A lawsuit filed by an anti-abortion front group is pending, and while that's the case, the bonds that will fund CIRM can't be issued.

Posted at 12:24 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - May 10, 2005

Lying fascists


Earlier today, I reported that the anti-immigrant vigilante Minutemen would be sponsoring a ballot initiative, aimed at creating a California state border police force.

I just wanted to point out a patent lie in one of the arguments that might support such a measure, to wit, the idea that it will save us money.

Posted at 12:17 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Nowhere to hide: Minutemen to sponsor a ballot initiative


I'm starting to see some convergence between the Governor's love of ballot initiatives and his recent praise for the white supremacist vigilante group, the Minutemen.

Posted at 08:22 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Arnold standing tough on schools


It's common knowledge, or at least starting to be, that Schwarzenegger broke a promise to add back $2 billion to the state education budget, after "borrowing" it in the first year he held office.

His failure to pay back the money is causing him no end of trouble, as teachers and students become firmly entrenched with the opposition.

Posted at 07:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - May 9, 2005

What is not growing is dying


After a three-day respite from constant newswire updates, I came back home last night and — of course — pored over a long weekend's worth of Google news alerts and other folks' blog entries.

And I noticed that very little has changed over the last week.

Posted at 08:03 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Un día sin Mexicano..


...is a day you don't win California.

Here's a hopeful thought: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent call to close the border, and his support for a group of white supremacist vigliante militamen, will help mobilize Latinos (especially Mexican-Americans) against Schwarzenegger and for the Democratic Party, both in this fall's special election and in 2006.

Posted at 08:01 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Stem cell institute to be in San Francisco


Long the flagship city of biotech, in California if not the nation, San Francisco has another pennant to fly from her mast: The state headquarters of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), established by Prop 71 (the "stem cell initiative") will be build here. (San Francisco Examiner)

(Apologies for that tortured boat metaphor, by the way. I'm going to let it stand as a tribute to the really bad writing of which I'm capable before coffee.)

Posted at 08:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - May 5, 2005

FPPC case: Finance limit NOT in effect during appeal


Earlier this week, we learned that the FPPC was seeking clarification from an appeals court, regarding whether its besieged campaign finance rule would remain in effect, pending appeal of a lower court ruling that had placed it under injunction. For an extensive background (i.e., for assistance in diagramming and decoding that sentence) start here.

Today, we find out that the campaign finance rule will not remain in effect during the appeal.

Posted at 02:10 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Governor still open to compromise on special election


Even as the ballot-initiative signatures are submitted, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still sending out explicit signals that he'd rather compromise than fight it out in a special election.

Posted at 07:29 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

À la minute


Before I run out of "minute" puns -- there's a great summary piece by Bill Bradley (no relation) in the LA Weekly, in which he addresses whether Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the vigilante Minutemen was spontaneous or calculated (I've argued the latter, but according to Bradley the jury is out).

Posted at 07:17 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - May 4, 2005

The "effective" Governor


Next time someone — an independent voter, or a Democrat who hasn't gotten with the program yet — casually refers to Schwarzenegger as an "effective" Governor who "gets things done," please remind them that this is a brand, not a fact. People say it (less and less recently) but it isn't and has never been true.

He's actually making the deficit worse.

Posted at 11:38 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Echo: Orcinus on the Minutemen


Dave Neiwert at Orcinus has two great articles about the Minutemen, placing this vigilante militia in a temporal and political context.

Posted at 11:29 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Update: FPPC case


Legal slugfests are hard to follow at the best of times, even with all of the briefs and news clippings organized on the same table at the same time. It gets harder when punch is separated from counter-punch by weeks or months.

With that in mind: There's news on a major court case, pertaining to the ability of California ballot-measure campaigns to raise money.

Posted at 08:01 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Lipstick on a pig: Schwarzenegger's new ad campaign


In an effort to boost his sagging numbers in the polls, and distract Californians from his recent string of policy reversals, the Governor is taking to the airwaves.

He's decided to take it easy on nurses and avoid any mention of his efforts to cut pensions for cops and firefighters, and to focus instead on accusing the legislature of obstructionism.

Posted at 07:25 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Our people use every part of the dollar


Last week Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that he would not be running for Governor, and instead plans to seek tthe less hotly contested office of State Treasurer.

Posted at 07:16 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - May 3, 2005

Now cry havoc


As we approach decision time on the special election, and the seemingly countless voter initiatives that may be featured on that ballot, wallets are bursting on both sides:

Posted at 12:09 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Schwarzenegger: Manufacturing a culture war?


Over the past two weeks, the Governor has attacked illegal immigrants, asserting that they're damaging to the California economy. He's suggested that the border be more heavily patrolled, and subsequently given his endorsement to the Minutemen, a vigilante militia that hunts illegal immigrants along la frontera.

Picking on immigrants is likely to be more popular than beating up on teachers and nurses.

Is this new direction an effort by Schwarzenegger to cultivate support on the right, and generate a non-issue issue to help him in the polls?

Posted at 07:48 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - May 2, 2005

Living within our means. Seriously this time.


In 2004, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Controller Steve Westly co-wrote and co-sponsored Propositions 57 and 58, measures touted to "make sure we would never face another deficit crisis." Arnold said, "Under Proposition 58, California would have to live within its means."

Now, the Governor (sans fairweather friend Westly) is pushing the Live Within Our Means Act, slated to appear on a ballot in fall of 2005 or the primary in 2006.

Critics are starting to point out that Schwarzenegger's last deficit cure-all (which included a $15 billion bond) didn't do the trick.

Posted at 11:18 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Just a Minute


Schwarzenegger's support for the vigilante Minutemen has continued to reap criticism from around the country and the world.

Our original story is here...

Posted at 08:55 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Schwarzenegger's initiatives will qualify for fall ballot


Despite earlier reports that Schwarzenegger's ballot initiative signature drives were struggling to meet the deadline, 3 out of 4 will likely qualify for a fall ballot — if the special election actually happens.

It turns out that the deadlines themselves are fluid to a greater extent than I had previously understood: If the signatures come in late, the Governor can roll back the date of the special election

Posted at 08:48 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Sat - April 30, 2005

King Conan


I think it's kind of nice that if Arnold doesn't run for Governor again (or if, as is looking increasingly likely though far from certain, he runs again and we whip his ass), he'll still have work.

Posted at 01:56 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Pumping Arnold


A very polished anti-Schwarzenegger animation is up at California for Democracy.

Check it out, and pass it along.

Posted at 10:13 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Fri - April 29, 2005

Arnold praises "minutemen"


Last week, Schwarzenegger was calling for the borders to be "closed" (rapidly amended to "secured").

This week, he's praising a group of private citizens that patrols the borders -- an organization that even W has denounced as "vigilantes."

Could it be any more clear that Arnold is courting the far right?

Posted at 08:32 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Polls


Polls tend to have an "echo-chamber" behavior, in the absence of real news

Various news sources continue to pick up the poll released yesterday, and put their own spin on it.

Posted at 08:11 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Thu - April 28, 2005

Qualifications, once the golden rule


Just thought of something, after absorbing the news that Bill Lockyer is running for Treasurer.

Posted at 03:36 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Lockyer to run for Treasurer


One of the three Democrats considered to be contending for Governor in 2006 has announced a change of plans:

He's running for the job vacated by one of the other contenders.

Posted at 03:35 PM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Arnold still below 50%; disapproval inches up


While this article makes it sound like it's news that Arnold's approval rating dipping below 50%, we know from previous data that it's been true for a month.

Less than a majority of Californians approve of how the Governor is doing his job, and his "disapproves" may now be slightly outstripping the "approves".

Posted at 08:20 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Wed - April 27, 2005

Bonfire of the insanities


Now that Schwarzenegger has retreated on his key ballot initiatives, who would benefit from a special election?

Not the Governor.

Not Democrats.

No one except...political consultants.

Posted at 11:54 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Rat out your friends and neighbors for Steve Westly


I'm on record in support of State Controller Steve Westly's tax amnesty program. It's a beautiful, elegant idea: the Franchise Tax Board allowed tax cheats to come in out of the cold, with no risk of prosecution, in an effort to recoup some of the billions of dollars of unpaid tax. And it worked: estimates of the take range in the neighborhood of $2 billion.

But his latest scheme — to pay off Californians to turn in their neighbors whom they suspect of evading state taxes — sucks. It's a trial balloon full of farts.

Behold:

Posted at 07:05 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Even supporters of Schwarzenegger agree: No on special election


As Democrats become more and more emboldened by the Governor's weakness, some of his staunchest supporters — not just moderates dazzled by his star power (or afraid that he will rip the flesh off of his arm and reveal that he is a killer robot from the future), but folks who actually agree with him on policy — are slowly moving away from supporting him on key issues.

Posted at 07:02 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Boxer: Fill prescriptions on demand


I realized I've been ignoring two of the most important figures in California politics.

Just in case you've been wondering what's going on with your fiery liberal Democratic Senator (as opposed to the staid conservative Democratic Senator, not that I've been covering her either): Barbara Boxer is fighting the good fight in DC, living up to every label the right wing can pin on her.

Posted at 07:00 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Tue - April 26, 2005

I vill zis one to ze voters take


Tom Meyer is churning them out this week.

Posted at 08:32 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Schwarzenegger's flabbiness


Since yesterday, the storm of negative press about the Governor's recent gaffes, misfortunes, reversals and defeats has continued.

Meanwhile, very little is happening: I think this is because the Governor's forces are regrouping, waiting for the storm to blow over. Whether or not they'll be able to do that depends strongly on whether they can address the fundamental problems that started things going wrong in the first place.

Posted at 08:25 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Mon - April 25, 2005

Arnold's downward spiral


No real news on Schwarzenegger from over the weekend, but after reviewing the op/eds and news analysis pieces, I just wanted to point out that the conventional wisdom is solidifying:

Everyone is getting a piece of the "Governor in trouble" action, and if only because press coverage has a certain amount of momentum, it seems likely that Arnold's recent problems aren't short-term.

Posted at 08:08 AM   | Read This Entry   |   | |

Westly to run, regardless of Schwarzenegger's decision


There is a quasi-interesting open question about whether State Controller Steve West