Well, it's May Revise week, and already, the principles are posturing. On Monday, a spokesman for Gov. Schwarzenegger warned of "horrible cuts" to come, while Assembly Speaker John Perez and Senate leader Darrell Steinberg each staked out their own budget turf.
In an email to reporters Tuesdy, Steinberg spokesman Nathan Barankin tried to turn the GOP's jobs rhetoric on its head as the budget debate is framed. Barankin noted that today "the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee will consider a full calendar, including 12 measures that, if approved, would double the state’s current budget deficit.
"Most of the bills are part of the Senate Republican Caucus’s 'Jobs Bills' designed 'to get Californians back to work.' The reality is, however, that these bills would not only blow a gigantic hole in California’s already overextended budget, they also implement tax policies that economists consider the least effective at stimulating the economy.
Meanwhile, Speaker John Perez held the first of many press conferences this week, vowing to negotiate the "four courners" of the budget in public and saying once again that everything, including tax increases and the suspension of Proposition 98, must be "on the table." Though, he did not that he was not predisposed to support a suspension of the education guarantee.
Developing...
Meanwhile, in Campaign Land, the Los Angeles Times shines the spotlight on Meg Whitman.
"Her ethical compass was tested repeatedly as she went from young Harvard M.B.A. to chief executive of the online auction giant EBay, and some shareholders, regulators and business partners found it wanting.
"A lucrative deal that Whitman cut for herself with
investment banking
giant Goldman Sachs was called "corrupt" by the U.S.
House of
Representatives Financial Services Committee. The partnership
she forged
between EBay and online rival Craigslist landed in
court and is still
there; Craigslist has accused EBay of stealing trade secrets
and
fraudulent advertising. At another company, her dismissal
of a
subordinate executive resulted in an age-discrimination lawsuit and a
secret court settlement.
"As an investor, she put millions of dollars into private
equity firms
with a reputation for callous business practices. Subsidiaries
of one of
the "distressed asset" firms in which she identifies
herself as a
limited partner foreclosed on dozens of victims of
Hurricane Katrina."
Evan Halper looks at the tightening of the GOP gubernatorial contest.
"Various polls show that he has eroded her lead substantially
in recent
weeks, though how much he has gained is in dispute.
Large, established
polls haven't been in the field in weeks, but analysts
generally agree
that Poizner is within striking distance.
"Last week, Poizner's campaign announced that a survey
it commissioned
showed Whitman's lead at 10 points. Whitman's strategists said her
margin had indeed shrunk, but not that much — though they declined to
say how much, only that she had Poizner at "double
digit" distance.
"Survey USA, an independent group that conducts polls
through automated
calls in the voice of a "professional announcer," said
this week that
Whitman's lead had shrunk to 2 points, 39% to 37%. The organization's
reliability has been questioned by more traditional
pollsters, but the
company has successfully forecast numerous major elections."
Only The Shadow knows...
Meanwhile in more good news for the Whitman campaign, the Al Checci comparisons have begun.
"Long before the former eBay chief mailed 500,000 of her 48-page policy books to state voters, Checchi widely distributed his 90-page "Checchi Plan" that documented his detailed solutions on everything from reforming the state lottery to improving school test scores.
"Like Whitman, Checchi bankrolled millions of dollars in ads to introduce himself to voters - and critics said he was trying to buy the office. His campaign touted him as a fresh-thinking outsider with new ideas, and his goals are eerily echoed by Whitman today. Among them, revising Sacramento politics, rethinking government spending and improving education.
"When I ran, I thought it was like the last bus out of Saigon - the last chance to fix California. That's what I said at the time," he said.
"But even with his ads, he was frustrated that in a time when the Internet was not so pervasive, his conversation with voters was reliant on free media coverage. "What could you say in a 30-second commercial?" he said.
For the record, we think Whitman has better hair...
Ed Mendel looks at the increasing costs of state pensions for the state's general fund.
"The state contribution to CalPERS should increase to $3.9 billion in the new fiscal year beginning July 1, up $600 million from the current year, actuaries for the giant public pension fund calculate.
"The recommendation to the CalPERS board next week comes as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to issue a revision Friday of the state budget he proposed in January, which assumed a $200 million CalPERS increase to $3.5 billion."
Ah, what's another $400 million at this point?
Nanette Asimov reports on the CSU/Sarah Palin scandal. "The amount of money Sarah Palin will collect to speak at a Cal State Stanislaus fundraiser in June should remain secret because disclosure would attract unwanted attention to the school, the head of Palin's speaking agency advised CSU Chancellor Charles Reed as a controversy over the fee began to simmer in the press."
Unlike this ongoing story which makes the school look oh-so-good...
"The release of the fee, while well-intentioned to share all details, will likely only serve as the financial headline for a new round of stories rather than the intended purpose of clearing the air and making the stories go away," Bernie Swain, president of the Washington Speakers Bureau wrote Reed in an e-mail on March 31. "Your event needs fewer story lines, less oxygen for the fuel, not more."
Reed agreed, adding that "disclosure will just cause another round of newspaper stories."
And finally, does your teddy bear need a vacation? Well, you're in luck. "Is your favourite teddy bear or stuffed animal worn down by the daily grind and desperately in need of a vacation?
Finnish firm Teddy Tours Lapland Oy has come up with one solution: holidays in northern Finland for that special stuffed friend costing from 110 euros to 170 euros. The "Standard Journey" for teddies includes a trip around the northern town of Rovaniemi and is capped off with a visit to Santa Claus. The stuffed animal will also receive a gift, send a postcard to its owner and be sent home with holiday photos."
The firm is also preparing a "hostage crisis journey" in which teddies will be pictured holding the day's newspaper in an orange jumpsuit. Owners will be sent a link to a online video ransom note.