GOP activists
aren't happy about post-partisanship, write John Wildermuth and Carla Marinucci in the Chron. "In a letter to supporters earlier this month, state Sen.
Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, complained about what he called '
the disastrous turn to the Left that is now taking place in Sacramento.'"
"At a political breakfast Saturday morning, McClintock argued that Schwarzenegger did not run as "a post-partisan pioneer'' when he won the 2003 recall election.
"'
He campaigned as a Milton Friedman, supply-side, tax-fighting, budget-cutting reincarnation of Ronald Reagan who would fight any tax increase, roll back excessive economic regulations, oppose illegal immigration, cut up our credit cards and live within our means,' said McClintock, who lost his race for lieutenant governor in November."
"But Schwarzenegger's post-election call for a universal health care plan that would require hefty payments from businesses, doctors and hospitals to pay for it violated the "no new taxes" pledge the governor made throughout the campaign, McClintock said.
"'
I won't believe another thing this governor says,' he said."
"In his speech Friday night, Schwarzenegger called himself 'a proud Republican' and pledged that while "we are getting results through cooperation and finding middle ground ... we will never discard our core Republican values.'
"The speech received only polite applause from the crowd."
Dan Weintraub writes: "Less than four months after California voters approved Proposition 1B, the biggest public works bond in American history, the state's Transportation Commission
is nearing a decision on how to spend the first portion of that $20 billion measure.
"The commission will meet in Sacramento Feb. 20 to hear recommendations from its staff on how to divide $4.5 billion the bond set aside for projects that could be built relatively quickly and reduce traffic congestion or connect distant towns.
"So far, demand is outstripping the available dollars. The California Department of Transportation and local planning agencies have recommended 147 projects at a cost of $11.3 billion -- more than twice the amount the commission has available.
"'There's been a lot of interest,' said
John Barna, the commission's executive director.
"Indeed. When you dangle billions of dollars in front of people who are starved for cash to build or expand their roads, you are going to do more than raise a few eyebrows."
The LAT's Evan Halper reports that bonds alone likely will not meet transportation needs, and
more toll roads are likely coming. "There is emerging consensus in the Capitol that the state should follow the path already blazed elsewhere and look to tolls to help bankroll new roads, public and private."
"Local and state transportation agencies are already planning several such projects on busy urban corridors, and some of the world's largest investment firms are lining up with proposals that could leave them in control of some major new roads.
"Voters last November approved billions in borrowing for roads, but that was only a start; the money won't meet all the state's transportation needs and never was intended to. Nor would anything short of a major increase in the gas tax � one for which voters appear to have no appetite.
That leaves tolls."'The existing way of paying for these projects is not going to work,' said Senate Transportation Committee Chairman
Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach). 'We're used to free roads and everything being free. That is a 1950s model. If we want to move forward, we are going to have to head in a different direction.'"
The Bee's Shane Goldmacher looks at the
push by lawmakers to pass their idea first. "From Iraq to trans fats to banning the traditional light bulb, legislators are jostling with one another for publicity.
"Take Sen.
Carole Migden and Assemblyman
Mark Leno. Both are gay, liberal, San Francisco Democrats who are rumored to be headed on a collision course in a 2008 Senate primary.
"Both are pushing nonbinding resolutions opposing the buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq.
"And both sent out dueling press releases last week, touting the support of MoveOn.org, even before the measures rolled off the state printing presses.
"'It is hype and grandstanding at its worst,' said
Kevin Spillane, a Republican strategist. 'They are trying to out-liberal each other to pander to the ultra-liberal primary electorate in San Francisco.'"
"Two state lawmakers
will reintroduce a bill this week that would make physician-assisted suicide legal in California.
"Assembly members
Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, and
Patty Berg, D-Eureka, were co-authors of a similar legislation last year that passed the lower house but failed to get out of a policy committee in the Senate.
"The lawmakers' press secretaries said this year's bill will look virtually identical to last year's failed measure, which was patterned on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act."
The Bee's E.J. Schultz
reviews the diet-directed bills introduced by lawmakers. "Food made from cloned animals would be labeled. Menus would be filled with fat percentages, sodium contents and calorie counts. And trans fats would be banned.
"The bills, introduced in recent weeks, seek to promote healthier eating -- or at least better awareness of what's in food.
"Some bills wouldn't alter your lunch. Rather, they'd shed more light on it.
"Senate Bill 180, by Sen.
Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, would require restaurant chains with five or more outlets in the state to post calorie counts on menus.
"Senate Bill 120, by Sen.
Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, requires menus to also include fat and carbohydrate grams and sodium milligrams. His legislation applies to chains with 10 or more locations.
"'In order for people to make healthy food choices, they need nutritional information,' Padilla said in a statement. 'The public has a right to know.'"
Some believe the public may already know.
"'I think people, while they might not know the exact content, they know that a salad has less calories typically than a cheeseburger,' said
Gary Honeycutt, owner of four BJ's Kountry Kitchen restaurants in Fresno and Clovis."
Dan Walters
accuses Jerry Brown over flip-flopping on the lawsuit against auto makers over emissions. "Although agreeing with the need for action on global warming and not taking a specific stand on the Lockyer lawsuit, he indicated to interviewers at the San Diego Union he was leery about [the approach of suing automakers].
"One of the principles of tort law is that damages should not be speculative," he told the newspaper a month before the election, adding that he doubted whether the Lockyer suit could prove 'causation' between automakers' products and the diminishment of the Sierra snowpack, one of Lockyer's assertions.
"But that was then and this is now. Brown is safely ensconced as attorney general and, true to form, is changing his tune about the lawsuit.
"A few days ago, Brown declared that it's a "solid case and we're going to pursue it vigorously ... to prevent the catastrophic consequences of this global warming problem." Automakers had filed a motion to quash the suit and Brown says he'll defend it vigorously while seeking a negotiated settlement with the automakers.
"With the current public, state and congressional focus on global warming and possible solutions, this is the right time for the state and the automakers to find cooperative approaches and resolve litigation in a constructive manner," he said."
And it looks like the real business of getting to know the 2008 presidential contenders is getting underway. For the latest, we turn to our
Kissing Cousins Files. Who knew that GOP Presidential frontrunner
Rudy Giuliani was married to his second cousin for 14 years? The Smoking Gun, that's who.
The document comes courtesy of Giuliani's own campaign, part of an internal opposition research hunt when he first ran for New York Mayor in 1993. The report found his "
personal life raises questions about a 'weirdness factor.'"
"That weirdness, aides reported, stemmed from
Giuliani's 14-year marriage to his second cousin, a union that he got annulled by claiming to have never received proper dispensation from the Catholic Church for the unorthodox nuptials. 'When asked about his personal life, Giuliani gives a wide array of conflicting answers,' the campaign report stated. 'All of this brings the soundness of his judgment into question--and the veracity of his answers.'"
Let the games begin.
Finally, we encourage all of you to head over to LA Observed to enter their latest
caption-writing contest for this photo.
Our vote: "
So, um, do you think you could introduce me to Gavin Newsom?"
Send us copies of your answers!