"As California voters go to the polls today in a low-turnout primary, those who bother to show up aren't likely to be happy," reports the Bee's Peter Hecht.
"With a teetering economy and an unpopular war, only
17 percent of voters in a new state Field Poll believe
the country is headed in the right direction, the most
dour view in 16 years.
"With state government facing burgeoning debts and lawmakers
debating sweeping cuts or tax hikes, only 23 percent believe California is on the right track,
the worst rating in five years.
"'It is hard to feel kindly about elected representatives
and politicians in an era when you feel nothing is
going right,' said Jaime Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs
at California State University, Los Angeles.
"In a Field Poll released Monday, only 41 percent of voters approved of Schwarzenegger's performance as governor – a sharp drop from 60 percent in December. Just 30 percent approved of the job the Legislature is doing.
"'To boil it down, people are feeling very insecure,' Regalado said. 'When they feel very insecure, they don't feel good about their representatives.'
"Republican Patricia Oehler, 62, who plans to vote today, is deeply worried about the country's economic health. The Sacramento County employee is putting off retirement because she can't afford to quit working, and worries about long-term health care costs.
"I don't know if this is like the Great Depression of 1929, but it's a sad state of affairs," Oehler said. "I feel sorry for people who are barely getting by and for young people who are facing a bleak future."
Fortunately for the guv, he's not on the ballot today.
The U-T's Bill Ainsworth reports, "This year, a projected $15 billion budget deficit has prompted Schwarzenegger to call for sweeping cuts for education, health care, state parks, among other programs. He has also hinted that he would be willing to raise taxes.
"That led to disapproval from those at opposite ends of the political spectrum, DiCamillo said. The poll shows that strongly conservative voters disapprove of Schwarzenegger 49 percent to 42 percent, while strongly liberal voters are even more unhappy, with 66 percent disapproving and 28 percent approving.
“He's having a problem because he's trying to govern from the middle and the people he's alienating are from the extremes,” DiCamillo said.
But that dissatisfaction is expected to be expressed
quietly today, as the state braces for an embarassingly
low voter turnout.
The AP reports "The head of the county registrars association, Steve Weir, is predicting that only about 32 percent of the state's registered voters will cast ballots .
"That would be slightly less than the turnout two years
ago, when 33.6 percent of voters went to the polls for a primary
that featured races for governor and other statewide
offices.
"Fifty-eight percent turned out for the state's presidential primary in February, the earliest it's ever been held."
KQED's John Myers reports , "Tuesday’s primary still seems overshadowed by the presidential contest; on February 5, it was how California and the rest of the Super Tuesday states would vote. Tomorrow, the national media will be oblivious to the state’s issues… likely focused only on whether the Democratic presidential race will come to a close.
Meantime, dozens of local, legislative, and congressional races will lock in candidates from all political parties. And while some think voter turnout will be dismally small, that might not be the case everywhere considering the intensity of some of these intra-party races.
“There are some hot contests,” says Secretary of State Debra Bowen. “I think we’ll see some pretty big variations from region to region.”
Bowen dismisses any notion that moving the presidential primary from June to February was a bad idea, saying that it may be the reason behind a recent surge in voter registration — particularly among young voters."
If you're not "voluntarily" walking precincts for your boss, your friend's boss, or your possible future boss, you can kill an hour today listening to yesterday's KQED's Forum, which had Mark Leno, Carole Migden, and Joe Nation going at it one last time.
"A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in California was placed on the Nov. 4 ballot Monday, kick-starting an election struggle that will have repercussions across the nation, writes John Wildermuth in the Chron.
"Secretary of State Debra Bowen's certification of the initiative, which would amend
the state Constitution to limit marriage to a union
between a man and a woman, comes as no surprise to
either side of the same-sex marriage issue.
"When backers of the initiative, who needed 694,354 valid signatures to make the ballot, turned in more
than 1.1 million signatures, the only question was when the
certification would come.
"'We're not surprised by this at all and have been getting
ready to run a very aggressive campaign,' said Steve Smith, a senior campaign consultant to
the Equality for All effort, which will try to defeat
the initiative. 'This (initiative) asks California voters to take away a fundamental
right from same-sex couples, and we don't believe they are willing to do that.'"
Watch the dough come in on both sides on ElectionTrack.
Meanwhile, the governor's still on the campaign trail for the budget.
The Oakland Tribune's Josh Richman reports: "A mostly unsympathetic but largely docile audience
of area officials heard Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
explain his no-new-taxes budget reform plan Monday.
Unsympathetic yet docile? Sounds like the Republican Caucus...
"Schwarzenegger's budget spiel Monday was largely the same as that
which he has made at similar meetings all over the
state: A slowing economy and a "dysfunctional" budget system have the state spending too much, hence
our $17 billion deficit: "We've got to live within our means."
"The governor said he doesn't approach the budget as a Republican or as a Democrat.
"When you take politics out of it, we can solve it much
quicker. "... I don't want to win a popularity contest, I just want to
fix the problems."
"Schwarzenegger at no time Monday seemed about to win
a popularity contest, though the discussion remained
civil.
"Peppered with questions about reinstating the Vehicle
License Fee he repealed soon after taking office in
2003, which would restore about $6 billion per year to state coffers; about ending California's tenure as the only major oil-producing state without an oil extraction tax; about reassessing commercial property to bring tax
revenues up to date; and about mulling whether California should remain
one of only three states requiring a two-thirds Legislative majority to pass budget bills, the
governor basically said "no," "no," "no" and nothing at all.
"'I don't know why we would look at anything and say, 'We have to raise taxes,' ' the governor replied to a question about commercial
property reassessment.
"But, as he has said before, 'we don't have a dictatorship — this is just my opinion,' and there are 120 "great brains" in the Legislature with whom to work out a deal."
"The California Legislature is moving to curb some of the health insurance industry's most profitable and contested practices as lawmakers resurrect portions of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's unsuccessful proposal to expand medical coverage," reports Jordan Rau in the Times.
"More than a dozen health bills are advancing through
the Legislature, many over the objection of insurers.
Some of the proposals were transplanted from the plan
that passed the Assembly last year, only to be rejected
in the state Senate in January. Other measures are
newly devised by the Democrats who control the Legislature.
"The bills would require insurers to spend at least
85% of their earnings on patient care; block insurers from canceling policies of patients
who need extensive care; and force them to cover more procedures, such as maternity
services.
"Over the objections of the major doctor and hospital
lobbies, the Assembly approved a measure backed by
Schwarzenegger that would require medical providers
to publicly reveal their costs and medical performance.
"In a sign that a desire for piecemeal healthcare changes
is strong this election year, some of the Democrats' bills even have picked up votes among Republicans
who did not support Schwarzenegger's package.
"'In the aggregate, it could be pretty significant,' said Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, of the
legislation. 'I think it's just getting to the point where the opposition has
just overreached so badly and the insurance companies' actions have been so egregious that both sides of
the aisle are getting fed up with them.'
"The governor's healthcare proposal was rejected in large part because
of its $14.9-billion price tag, which senators considered untenable
with the state deep in the red. But the bills that
are winning initial approval now put most of their
costs on the healthcare industry.
"Daniel Zingale, a senior advisor to Schwarzenegger, said the governor
favors many of the ideas, if not the exact language,
in the bills and plans to add others into the mix in
a few weeks."
"'This year, the first floor of healthcare reform will be built, and it will make current coverage more secure, control costs, promote prevention and end the worst anti-consumer practices by HMOs,' Zingale said."
The U-T's Mike Lee reports on the rush of energy speculators to the deserts of Southern California.
"Speculators have filed applications to develop more than 1 million acres of desert in Southern California with solar, wind and geothermal power plants, setting up a classic clash over land use with environmentalists and off-road enthusiasts.
"They have submitted at least 130 proposals with the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees all of the territory, in recent years and especially since 2007. The interest is so hot that even if many of the projects fall through, the remaining ones would change the look of the arid landscape.
"California, particularly the southern half, is the epicenter of the nation's push for renewable energy. While some of the bureau's parcels in the state already contain wind and geothermal facilities, the agency hasn't approved any solar project here or elsewhere."
The state's budget woes are being reflected in cities across California. The Chronicle reports, "San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will propose a multibillion-dollar budget today that erases a projected deficit of about $330 million by laying off 450 workers, limiting overtime costs and raising some city fees.
"Newsom said he would eliminate more than 1,000 city jobs in a variety of departments, but some of those jobs are vacant. He also called for major cuts in overtime paid to city workers.
"The mayor also wants to spend more in some areas in fiscal 2008-09. He said that for the first time ever, the city would meet its mandated goal of having 1,971 police officers on the streets, possibly as early as September."
And in Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's water conservation plan comes up before the Department of Water and Power today, reports the LAT's David Zahniser.
"With hot-weather months drawing near, the Los Angeles Department
of
Water and Power is scheduled to move ahead today with
Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa's crackdown on excessive water use, boosting fines
for
those who violate city water laws and imposing new
restrictions on
anyone with a garden hose.
"The
proposed "drought busters" law, which comes up for a vote by the
five-member DWP commission, would double water-usage fines for
residential customers and quadruple them for businesses and apartment
building owners.
"
H. David Nahai, the DWP's general manager, said he wants the Los Angeles City
Council to ratify the plan within weeks.
"We're hoping they will deal with this on a much more expedited
basis," Nahai said. "We want this for this summer."
Although
the DWP already has rules limiting excessive water
use, the agency has
not issued any tickets since the drought of the early
1990s.
And one last time before voters go to the polls, here are the top fundraising numbers from ElectionTrack.com:
No 98/yes 99 : $175,000
Leadership California: $100,000
Public School Champions For Christopher Cabaldon: $60,000
Republican Party Of Orange County: $21,500
Friends Of John J. Benoit: $16,400
Solorio For Assembly 2008: $13,300
Friends Of Joan Buchanan: $12,800
Dave Jones For Assembly 2008: $12,727
Mike Feuer For Assembly 2008: $12,700
Aghazarian For Senate: $11,800
CathleenGalgiani For Assembly 2008: $11,700
Dominic Caserta For Assembly: $11,500
And finally, from our High for Teacher Files, AFP reports on a whole new type of high school in Oakland. "A private San Francisco area university dedicated to the study of the cannabis industry is giving a whole new meaning to higher education.
"At Oaksterdam University -- so called after the nickname locals have given to Oakland -- students learn how to grow, harvest and cook marijuana, as well as dispense it to others.
Enrollment has boomed since Carjacking Tech has maxed out on student enrollment
"The goal, say administrators, is to educate consumers about the benefits of the mind-altering plant and encourage graduates to start their own dispensaries in California, even though possession remains prohibited under federal law.
"The university, which is modeled on a similar school in Amsterdam, opened in November and has recently begun offering classes in Los Angeles.
"On a recent day, a group of students gathered in a former pharmacy in downtown Oakland for a class that included topics such as the politics of marijuana, horticulture and bud tending.