Once again, the relationship between
Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Antonio Villaraigosa -- the two men who would be governor -- is back in the news.
"The Villaraigosa-Schwarzenegger duet has essentially
deprived Democrat Angelides of the support of this state's most prominent Latino politician," writes Tom Elias in the Daily Breeze.
"The reason plainly is power. Schwarzenegger used his to hand the mayor's sister a high-value judicial sinecure. If passed, his bond package would give Villaraigosa billions in transit funds for the mayor's pipe dream of a subway from downtown L.A. to the beach. Similarly, Schwarzenegger will not stand in the way of Villaraigosa's school district power grab."
"Standing idle while Angelides runs against Schwarzenegger could work out well for Villaraigosa. Schwarzenegger will be termed out in 2010, when the mayor (if re-elected in 2009) would also be looking at term limits. It's no secret Villaraigosa thirsts to be governor."
"If Angelides should win this year, he would likely run for re-election in 2010, forcing Villaraigosa either to wait his turn or challenge a sitting governor in a divisive primary fight. But if Angelides loses, as he surely will if he doesn't get large-scale Latino backing, the path might be clear for Villaraigosa."
"So it's all about power. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."
No, little lower. Okay, now over to the left...
And now for something truly exciting. "You can tell the race for governor is heating up
when the perpetual Kabuki dance of politics begins over debates," writes Rick Orlov in the Daily News.
"Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a hefty campaign treasury and improving poll numbers, doesn't want many debates."
"Democratic challenger
Phil Angelides, faced with the need to get as much public exposure as he can, wants at least eight before the Nov. 7 election."
"Angelides says he has accepted invitations from organizations statewide. Schwarzenegger's campaign folks, however, are content to tightly handle their candidate."
So much for the big Phil and Hillary joint appearance over the weekend. "It was billed as a 'media availability' with Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Phil Angelides. Well,
Angelides was certainly available, but Clinton? Not so much," reports Mike Zapler for the Merc News.
"The New York senator and likely 2008 presidential candidate was in San Francisco on Friday morning for a $1,000-a-head Angelides fundraiser. But the former first lady stuck around just long enough for the TV cameras to get a decent clip of her singing Angelides' praises before she was on her way, ignoring questions from the phalanx of reporters as she left the swank St. Regis Hotel."
"He was instrumental in the campaign that my husband ran in 1992 here in California,' Clinton said Friday. Clinton said she admired Angelides for announcing he would challenge Schwarzenegger when the governor looked invincible.
Bill Clinton similarly began his campaign for president against a popular incumbent,
George H.W. Bush."
"'He's obviously unafraid,' Clinton said. '
He was unafraid when it looked like a hopeless cause because he believed California could do better.'"
What do you mean
looked?
The Union-Trib's Michael Gardner looks at how
federal laws are rolling back California's environmental and consumer protections. "Some of California's landmark consumer and environmental safeguards are in jeopardy as the federal government moves aggressively to override state laws in favor of more business-friendly national policies."
"California appears to have the most to lose because of its progressive trendsetting, but states across the country are beginning to protest what they claim has become an industry-mapped campaign to impose Washington's will."
The Oakland Tribune's Michele R. Marcucci looks at
how the state spending plan will affect the community care budget, and the 3 percent pay hike for care providers. "'We'll take it. But 3 percent doesn't adequately address the lack of funds we receive,' says
David Curson, executive director of Family Housing and Adult Resources Inc. in San Mateo, which provides housing and other services for developmentally disabled people."
George Skelton looks at the
prospect of redistricting reform in this legislative session. "Without term limit flexibility as a sweetener, it's not likely that Assembly Democrats will surrender the right to shape their own districts.
"'It's very difficult for members to give up any power,' notes [Senator
Alan] Lowenthal, who argued fruitlessly for his proposal at a Senate Democratic caucus just before legislators adjourned for a five-week vacation."
"'They say, 'We've got the power. We control it. Why give it up?' When you talk about fairness and reestablishing public trust, that argument doesn't sell enough.'"
"Opponents were only bolstered by a recent Supreme Court ruling that gave legislatures a license to redraw districts whenever and however they want — regardless of how gross the gerrymander — as long as minority voting rights are protected."
"Latino legislators, in particular, fear that voting rights would be weakened by redistricting reform. They're worried that Latino communities would be carved up into multiple districts, diluting voters' clout and reducing a Latino's chance of getting elected."
"'
This certainly isn't going to pass in its current form, and it'll be an uphill battle to get anything out this year,' says Sen.
Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley), who favors the Legislature keeping its power."
"When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger posed near Interstate 405 earlier this year, proposing to relieve congestion there as part of a statewide public works blitz, it seemed that, finally, some relief was in sight," report Maria LaGanga and Dan Weikel in the Times.
"But the state's transportation system — especially its crumbling highway network — has a
long list of unfunded needs with a price tag of at least $140 billion, said
Sunne Wright McPeak, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency."
"For now, the state expects to spend $21 billion on road maintenance and improvement over the next five years. Additional money could come from $37.3 billion in bond measures on the November ballot — the only new money proposed in the state's $116-billion infrastructure plan."
"In a move that could presage lower auto insurance premiums for many of California's 23 million drivers, the state's fourth-largest provider has agreed to
base its rates on how safely and how much its customers drive rather than primarily on where they live," writes the LAT's Marc Lifsher.
"The plan, to be announced today by the Automobile Club of Southern California and California Insurance Commissioner
John Garamendi, would slice as much as $133 million from the annual bills of the club's nearly 1 million policyholders. More broadly, it could compel the club's rival insurers to follow suit."
"The shift is a victory for consumer advocates, who say that rates based largely on ZIP Codes saddle city dwellers with higher premiums than suburban and rural drivers with similar records. It also is a coup for Garamendi, who has been working to force insurers to comply with requirements approved by voters with the passage of Proposition 103 in 1988."
The AP's Lisa Leff reports that the gay marriages performed in California in 2004 that were struck down by the courts will
once again be up for review."A state appeals court in San Francisco on Monday will consider whether a trial judge erred in declaring the state’s existing marriage laws unconstitutional. The First District Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear six hours of arguments in as many related cases - four of them filed by the city and lawyers for 20 couples seeking the right to wed, and two brought by groups that want to maintain the status quo barring same-sex unions."