Treasurer
Phil Angelides called on the governor and legislative leaders to
look to user fees to pay the costs of infrastructure bonds expected on next year's ballot, writes Gary Delsohn in the Bee. "That could mean such things as
higher charges on companies shipping goods through improved California ports and
increased fees on property owners getting greater flood control from levee enhancements, Angelides said."
"'We can do this,' Angelides, a Democratic candidate for governor next year, said at a briefing for reporters. "We're not a poor society. We can finance what we need. We just have to do what any prudent family or business would do.'"
"'
Maybe the treasurer's getting smart,' [gubernatorial spokesman
Rob] Stutzman said. 'He has to decide if he's going to be basically him against the world (on) this bipartisan agreement that exists at the Capitol ... that we must be building for the future.'"
A coalition of business and labor leaders is expected to endorse an infrastructure bond proposal today. But the key piece in all of these plans will be how the state should pay for the bond. There has been talk about using Prop. 42 revenues as a guaranteed funding stream to finance the bond, while others have proposed a half-cent sales tax to pay for the state's infrastructure needs.
Continuing his series on the governor's missteps, Dan Walters
turns to the governor's "I'm not taking any money from anyone" pledge made during the 2003 campaign. "Professional Arnold-haters, mostly on the left, have incessantly hammered him for raising tens of millions of dollars from wealthy individuals and businesses to pursue his causes in four election campaigns, alleging - without proof - that he has been a hypocritical, pay-to-play governor, not a reformer."
"Schwarzenegger may have been clumsy in what he said and did, but he's done nothing dishonorable, and why he allows his critics to get away with slander is one of the many mysteries about him."
Maybe he's just used to the tabloid press.
Attorney General
Bill Lockyer sent a letter to the governor
rejecting pleas from Clarence Ray Allen to spare his life because of his advanced age and urging the governor to reject clemency, writes the AP. "In a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer's office argued against granting clemency to Clarence Ray Allen, who is scheduled to be executed Jan. 17 for ordering hits on three people in 1980 while he was behind bars at Folsom State Prison."
Secretary of State Bruce McPherson yesterday
rejected the certification of Diebold's voting machines until federal officials can test memory cards used in the machines, writes Kevin Yamamura in the Bee. "The move all but assures that Diebold voting systems will not be certified before a Jan. 1 deadline, putting at least 17 counties planning to use Diebold equipment at risk of federal sanctions."
"In a letter to Diebold on Tuesday, state Elections Division Chief
Caren Daniels-Meade asked Diebold to resubmit some of its equipment to independent testing authorities assigned with certifying equipment on the federal level. McPherson's office has 'unresolved significant security concerns' with codes used on Diebold memory cards, Daniels-Meade wrote."
"State Sen.
Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Rey, a candidate for secretary of state in next year's elections, criticized McPherson for moving Diebold testing back to the federal level. 'The secretary of state shouldn't punt the decision. ...,' Bowen said."
The nonprofit foundation trying to revive the California Journal announced yesterday that they have been unsuccessful and that the
journal will not be returning, writes KQED's John Myers in his weblog.
From our
About Face Files: The mayor of Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown is now begging the governor to continue
to allow his name to be used on the city's stadium. "Siegfried Nagl, mayor of the southern city of Graz, said he dashed off a letter to Schwarzenegger pleading with him not to return a ring of honor bestowed on him by officials in his birthplace in 1999 and reassuring him that most residents still admire him."
After some political leaders began discussing removing Schwarzenegger's name from the stadium, the governor responded by demanding that his name be removed from all promotional materials for the town.
"'
I hope that very soon we'll hear you say, 'I'll be back,'' Nagl told the actor-turned-politician, one of Austria's most famous sons."
In other words, "give me another chance and wear my ring."