Now this is politics. Angered by what they saw as a hit on Jerry Brown, some members of the Chamber of Commerce have asked the group to take down its "education ads" that are little more than a veiled attack on the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Michael Rothfeld reports, "Some members of the California Chamber of Commerce board are up in arms over the influential business group's funding of a television commercial attacking Jerry Brown while calling it an "issues" ad on taxes and spending. The commercial briefly talks about the need to rein in spending and then goes on to blast Brown, the presumed Democratic nominee for governor, as being a big spender throughout his long political career.
"In a letter Wednesday, four board members told chamber President and Chief Executive Allan Zaremberg that "to any reasonably minded person this is nothing more than a typical political attack ad. It undermines the chamber's credibility to justify it as anything other than that."
Denise Davis, a spokeswoman for the chamber, responded to an interview request from The Times with an e-mail saying, "We respect the views of all our members and appreciate their input."
George Skelton maky have been a fan of Meg Whitman's political skills. But her tax plan? Well, not so much.
"Her tax reductions would "prime California's economic
pump," she
contends, and "make California competitive again. .
. . grow our tax
base and help put an end to the perpetual budget problems
in
Sacramento."
But it's reminiscent of what George H.W. Bush called
"voodoo economics"
back in 1980, when Ronald Reagan contended he could cut taxes,
balance
the budget and increase military spending. He couldn't.
He did cut
taxes, but then had to raise them and still left the
government with a
recorddebt.
"Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, the expected Democratic nominee
for governor,
calls Whitman's plan "snake oil math."
"But Brown isn't talking much about taxes, a subject
Democrats are
learning to avoid. When asked, the former governor
promises that under a
second Brown administration, there'd be no tax increases
unless voters
approved them at the ballot box.
"Whitman's underdog Republican rival, Insurance Commissioner
Steve
Poizner, accuses the front-runner of trying to "pick winners and losers"
in the tax system -- as if that weren't an American tradition. He wants
to cut taxes for everyone -- on income and sales -- 10% across the
board."
John Howard looks at the role of the legislative analyst,
who is emerging as a major player in the fight over environmental
issues.
"In the battlefield that is California’s greenhouse gas emissions law, the opposing forces have been clearly defined: Industry and business interests seek limits or an outright repeal, while environmental groups, their allies and – thus far – the public favor the statute.
"But a third major player has gradually entered the
fray over the past year: the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
"For a nonpartisan office that advises lawmakers on
the state budget and myriad fiscal issues, the appearance
of the LAO is a surprise, not only in air-quality issues but in an array
of other environmental
questions facing the Capitol."
Seema Mehta gets a look at Barbara Boxer on the stump. "As Sen. Barbara Boxer girds for a tough reelection battle, she is crisscrossing California during the Senate recess to highlight what she sees as concrete accomplishments in the last year -- jobs created by the economic stimulus package, benefits from the healthcare bill for seniors and the ill and tax breaks for businesses that are hiring the unemployed.
"Boxer is not in official campaign mode yet, but the appearances are meant to paint the incumbent as a woman working tirelessly for her constituents as her Republican opponents sling attacks at each other."
Marc Lisher reports an Assembly committee has voted
to ban payments to CalPERS placement agents. "The measure, sponsored by the California Public Employees'
Retirement
System, the country's largest government pension fund,
barely overcame
opposition from lobbyists for Wall Street investment
firms, led by the
powerful private equity firm Blackstone Group.
Blackstone earns
fees for managing $4.4 billion in investments by the $210-billion
CalPERS and the $130-billion California State Teachers' Retirement
System. Blackstone also operates its own investment
marketing subsidiary
that acts as a go-between, or placement agent, for investment deals.
Such agents, Blackstone said, play an important role
by helping smaller
funds and those run by women and minorities pitch
their products to
public and private pension funds, university endowments
and other
institutional investors."
And finally, in honor of the return of Little League season, we bring you this report, which will come as no surprise to anyone who's ever played sports as a child, or had a child who played sports.
"More than 35 percent of adults worldwide have witnessed a parent become physically or verbally abusive toward a coach or official at a children's sporting event, according to a joint Reuters/Ipsos poll.
"The survey of 23,000 adults in 22 countries by market research company Ipsos showed that irate, screaming, over-enthusiastic parents are not only found in Hollywood films and on television. People living in the United States (60 percent) were most likely to witness unsavory behavior by a parent followed closely by residents of India (59 percent), Italy (55 percent), Argentina (54 percent), Canada (53 percent) and Australia (50 percent)."