Yesterday, a San Francisco judge ruled that the state
can't ban gay marriage, comparing the ban to racial segregation. The timing of the case sets up the likelihood that the final adjudication by the California Supreme Court will be sometime next year -- smack in the middle of election season.
In the opinion, San Francisco Superior Court Judge
Richard Kramer, who was appointed to the bench by
Gov. Pete Wilson, went out of his way to smack Attorney General
Bill Lockyer. Try explaining this one in a Democratic gubernatorial primary.
"Attorney General
Bill Lockyer pointed to the state's domestic partners law, the strongest in the nation outside of Vermont's civil unions, as evidence that California does not discriminate against gays," the AP reports. "Kramer rejected that argument, however, citing
Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down segregated schools.
"The idea that marriage-like rights without marriage is adequate smacks of a concept long rejected by the courts -– separate but equal," the judge wrote.
Will
Phil Angelides make the ruling part of
today's gubernatorial candidacy announcement? The Angelides show starts in San Francisco, and heads to Sacramento midday.
The Rev.
Lou Sheldon was
predictably angry, proclaiming "Judicial tyranny is alive and well and reigning in San Francisco." Well, at least now everyone has a judicial tyrant.
Don't look to the governor to ride to the rescue with a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. "I think that this will be now going eventually to the Supreme Court in California, and we will see what the decision is . . . And whatever that decision is, we will stay by that, because I believe in abiding by the law and sticking with the law."
The judge who issued the ruling,
Richard Kramer, is
a Catholic Republican. Judge Kramer, meet
Judge McMaster. You may soon have
a lot in common.From civil unions to state employee unions: Gov.
Schwarzenegger takes on the school employees union ... again. "[The ban on contracting out] cost the California school system, our education system, $300 million extra," the governor told
Chris Matthews on Hardball yesterday. "Do you think that's to the public's interest or is it to the unions' interest? Think about that."
Strong rebuke coming from the Democrats in 3...2...wait!
Senate boss
Don Perata can dish it out too. "I believe in the collective bargaining process. But I don't think collective bargaining ought to be driving what we do in the classroom."
Just when you thought relations between Perata and the
California Teachers Association were improving ...
As Perata and Schwarzenegger get closer together on education labor issues, the governor indicated on
"Hardball" last night that he's
going to call a special election "very soon." In the exchange between Matthews and Schwarzenegger, the governor faced some solid questioning from one of TV's most irascible screaming heads, and demonstrated the governor's significant political skill. We'll post a link to the transcript when it becomes available.
The gov joked about the special election stimulating the economy, matching
Speaker Nuñez tit-for-tat in the
ridiculous arguments surrounding the special election. While Nuñez is outraged that infomation found in any phone book is being sent to (gasp!) Asia, Schwarzenegger countered yesterday, tongue firmly in cheek we think, that elections are good for the economy.
"There's hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on television. It stimulates our economy. All this creates jobs."
Good, because we were starting to worry how the state's political consultants would survive an entire year without an election.
Despite the governor's reaffirmation yesterday, there is increasing doubt about the governor's willingness to go forward with said special election.
This week's Political Pulse asks whether the election threat is "all part of a masterful political chess game deliberately set into motion by the governor, or has the concept of a special election become
a political Frankenstein on the verge of careening out of control?Today is not only the Ides of March. It's also
Pink Slip day around the state, the day when schools must notify teachers that
their jobs may be in jeopardy next fall. Many of these pink slips will be rescinded once the final budget is put in place this summer. But in the meantime, it offers the Education Coalition
another chance to smack the governor around. And that's just what they plan to do at a press conference this morning, which will be attended by Speaker Nuñez.
Meanwhile, the
California Teachers Association went on the air with a new ad named "Keeping Your Word." The Chron
checks the facts.The floating caravan of political protesters dogging the governor at every fundraising stop heads to Southern California Wednesday. That's where the governor will be, at the Century Plaza Hotel to be exact, to raise a few bucks for the upcoming special election.
Lawsuit watch A Saratoga resident has
filed a lawsuit to invalidate a parcel tax and two bond measures approved by voters last November. He argues that he should have been allowed to vote, because he has several rental properties throughout the district, even though he lives outside of the district.
The SacBee writes up
Paul Koretz's
AB 418, which would ban certain canine cosmetic surgery. So much for that Animal Planet pilot
Dr. 90210, DVM.Speaking of plastic surgery: For all the talk about
Meathead vs. the Terminator, what about
Bullworth? For what it's worth, and we're not suggesting its much,
Warren Beatty offered the governor some free political advice over the weekend: "Raise taxes."
Of course, we've
been down this road before with Beatty.
And finally, in Hollywood sidekick news,
Danny DeVito was
dinged by the FPPC for failing to report a contribution to his buddy Arnold's political fund. Hey, DeVito winds up on the wrong side of the FPPC. Maybe they really
are twins.