Well, so much for that idea. Nancy Vogel and Jordan Rau report on
the collapse of the term limits/redistricting deal.
"The lawmakers conceded that despite a pledge to relinquish the power to determine their district boundaries, they had failed to produce a plan that could be placed on the November ballot. Long-pending legislation remains alive in the Senate, but it faces little chance of going to voters before 2008. Additionally, lawmakers declared
an effort to ease term limits dead for the year.
"Given the tremendous impact any proposal crafted by the Legislature this year could have on politics and policymaking in our state," they said, "we feel it is the best course not to pursue a sweeping reform package in the waning hours of the legislative session."
OK, now that that's settled, let us be the first to ask: Who are the new Speaker and pro tem going to be?
The Bee's Peter Hecht joins the piling on in
Angelides' bad press week. "In the summer doldrums of the political season, a wrenching question now facing Angelides is
whether he has the hearts of average voters in his own party.
A Field Poll in July showed Angelides with a lukewarm 63 percent support among fellow Democrats -- with only 35 percent saying they believed he could defeat Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. A Public Policy Institute of California poll was less optimistic for Angelides, showing him with 54 percent of the Democratic vote and Schwarzenegger ahead in the race by 13 percent."
In the piece, Barbara Boxer employs Roundup Rule No. 31:
When all else fails, blame Steve Westly. "But Boxer acknowledged that Angelides, a former state party chairman, has struggled to find his political footing and sell himself to Democratic voters. She blames his current standing on having to survive a bruising primary challenge from state Controller Steve Westly "in one of the most negative primaries I've seen in a long time."
Which reminds us, if you're having trouble receiving your Roundup via e-mail, you can check online at
www.capitolbasement.com or call (916) 445-4868 and ask for "Steve." Moving on...
Hey, look. Now Democrats are attacking
Arnold Schwarzenegger for
not being Republican enough! The Chron's Carla Marinucci explains.
"Here, in a state that leans decidedly blue, Democratic Party officials have in recent days made every effort to remind voters of the ties among Schwarzenegger, the Republican statewide candidates and Bush.
"Torres, standing with Democrats including state Treasurer Phil Angelides, who polls show is trailing Schwarzenegger in the campaign for governor, said Schwarzenegger is unlikely to appear in a similar setting with statewide Republican candidates because 'the governor wants to run away.'
'He can try to masquerade as a Democrat, but he is not,' Torres said of Schwarzenegger. 'Californians will not be fooled by his charade.'"
"Everyone on the Republican (statewide) ticket supported President Bush and supported the war,'' said state Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres at a news conference Tuesday surrounded by Democrats running for statewide office."
Right, so the govenror's race is about the war in Iraq...
Actually, it's about
the war between Israel and Hezbollah. LAT's Robert Salladay reports how the guv has angered local Muslim leaders.
"Muslim leaders on Tuesday called Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger disrespectful and insulting for ignoring their request to meet about the war in Lebanon so he could explain his appearance at a rally supporting Israel that was attended by thousands.
Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa spoke at the July 23 event in front of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles building on Wilshire Boulevard.
On Aug. 6, two days after Muslim leaders held a news conference to complain that the mayor and governor had ignored several requests to talk, Villaraigosa met privately with 10 Muslim leaders and apologized for initially disregarding their invitation.
Schwarzenegger and his aides have not returned repeated phone calls asking him to explain his appearance and get the "other, equally important side" of the Lebanon-Israeli conflict, said
Shakeel Syed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California.
See, governor? Hanging out with that mayor friend of yours is going to get you into nothing but trouble.
Test scores, test scores everywhere! And just what they mean depends on who's doing the analysis. The Chron notes California students
scored above the national average on the ACT college entrance exam this year, as the national average increased the most in 20 years, according to scores released Tuesday.
However, "
Fewer than half of California's students can read or calculate at grade level nearly a decade after the state began its top-to-bottom overhaul of public education -- but new test results released Tuesday show steady progress among all ethnic and income groups.
State wildlife officials voted Tuesday to create a network of fish refuges from Half Moon Bay to Santa Barbara, forging
the most ambitious marine-conservation program in the nation," reports the Chron's Glen Martin.
"The proposal will protect about 110 square miles off the Central Coast by banning most human activity, from recreational and commercial fishing to scuba diving. The plan approved by the state Fish and Game Commission also gives varying levels of protection to about another 94 square miles of ocean, including some areas where fishing would be limited to recreational anglers or certain fish species."
Speaking of all things wild, Assemblyman
Guy Houston was once again a wild man on the softball diamond, as he took the Legislative home run derby for the second straight year, and propelled the GOP to victory against the Democrats Monday night with two homeruns and three RBIs in the GOP's 11-10 victory.