If you're reading this, odds are you're a Democrat. Most Republicans, or the Republicans with political juice, fat wallets or a seat on the
Hemet City Council, are back in D.C. for the pomp and circumstance of the
presidential inaugural. With fears of terrorism surrounding the ceremony, D.C. is in lockdown.
Anti-aircraft missiles are in place, barricades are set up all over the city. And just in case, they've
called in the Terminator for backup.
While the Republicans whoop it up at the most expensive presidential party in history, Democrats will have to settle for a night at the Sacramento Radisson. That's where DNC bigwigs are gathering Saturday to talk about the
future of their party. (Somebody, please, wake us when it's over.) All seven would-be DNC chairs reportedly will be attending. According to a Hotline poll of about 180 of the nation's 400-plus DNC voting members, Howard Dean leads all rivals by a wide margin with about 30 percent of the vote. Former Texas Rep. and Tom DeLay redistricting victim
Martin Frost is next with about 16 percent, and the other five candidates trail in the single digits.
Dean out to an early lead in the polls?
Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.
The trust factor. Back on the homefront, no columnist has been more critical of the governor's tenuous relationship with the truth than George Skelton. Today, Skelton questions whether the governor's decision to
renege on promises to education may hurt the governor in the long run.
"Actor Schwarzenegger prospered in a world of make-believe. Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to deal in truth, even if most politicians do bend it. And the public reacts especially unkindly to politicians who don't keep their word," Skelton writes. "[Schwarzenegger] does seem to have promised too many things to too many people and now can't keep all his vows. This is beginning to take a toll on his image among insiders. For the first time, his credibility is being questioned."
Weintraub chimes in with some
criticism of his own.Meanwhile, the Bakersfield Californian ed board returns to
its favorite punching bag --
Nicole Parra. "Kern's Democrat Assemblywoman Nicole Parra heads the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, which is considering the state audit criticizing Shelley's handling of HAVA money. Although she vowed to leave no stone unturned in her pursuit of accusations against Shelley, she seems to have no more stomach for the investigation than her Democratic colleagues.
And
Ron Calderon's hometown paper takes some shots of its own, calling out the Assemblyman's
ethical "blunders." "We were disturbed during Ron Calderon's first term when he used campaign funds to treat his staff members and supporters to a lavish appreciation bash in Las Vegas ... But now, here we are, less than three months since he was re- elected, and another embarrassing event has occurred. His office sent out fliers promoting a $3,200-per-couple "banking and finance' reception touting that donors would receive not only food and fun but "friendship.' ... We hope this is not what Ron Calderon's loyal voting constituency expected of him. He owes them more."
In What's Good For the Goose news, there's one more way the fight over state pensions resembles the fight over Social Security:
Weintraub reports Assemblyman
Keith Richman is upset about a
CalPERS Web site that apparently uses state funds to campaign for maintaining state pensions. In D.C., Democrats are outraged that Social Security trust fund dollars are being used to launch a campaign for partial privatization of the program.
In budget salesmanship news, DOF director
Tom Campbell will discuss the governor's budget with the Silicon Valley business community. Maybe the sunny Mr. Campbell can do something about the region's
increased pessimism on the state economy.
Campbell's tour comes as the governor suspends his editorial board tour to party back east with the other elephants. Later today, Speaker Fabian Nuņez will hold a briefing with reporters to "outline budget priorities." Yesterday,
Don Perata joined
Sheila Kuehl in calling for
state-sponsored health care to help cover an estimated 6 million Californians with no health insurance.
Murray vs. Tech Geeks: The
technology community is steaming over a
Kevin Murray bill,
SB 96, that would criminalize the distribution of peer-to-peer, or P2P software (Kazaa, Limewire, etc), which can be used for legitimate purposes, but is also used to trade movies and music protected by copyright.
Why is this man frowning? Maybe because the LA Times has
lost that loving feeling they had toward
Antonio Villaraigosa in 2001. "[Villaraigosa] finds himself running against the high expectations he set in the last race. Some political insiders say his campaign seems to lack the electricity that made him a darling of the national media in 2001, when he captivated many voters with the dream that he might become the city's first Latino mayor since 1872."
Thanks, but no thanks. The Bee has a report on all the coastal land the state's Coastal Commission has failed to acquire and may be
lost to the state forever. The land, originally put aside by landowners to compensate the state for any damage other development may cost, has sat around untouched for more than 20 years, and now returns to the hands of the property owner. Hey, if nobody else wants it, we'll take it!
Died on the 4th of July: Finally, tipping its hat toward presidential history on this Inauguration Day, the LA Times reviews the modern day
Jefferson-Adams relationship emerging between
rivals in the mayoral race.