Say what you will about Jerry Brown, but this much is true. He's not Meg Whitman. Michael Mishak has more details on this shocking development and more on Jerry Brown's unpredictable relationship with labor unions.
"Unions are indeed reaching deep into their pockets to help Brown, whose campaign needs the cash to compete with Whitman's personal fortune. But how much return they will get on their investment under a Brown governorship is unclear.
"The last governor labor helped
elect, Democrat Gray
Davis, was a reliable champion of its agenda. Under Davis,
state
worker retirement packages and paychecks were fattened
and a
labor-backed bill that forced large corporations to provide
healthcare
for employees was signed into law.
But Brown's main appeal for labor may be that he is
not Whitman.
"Whitman would be an absolute disaster," said Steve Smith, a spokesman
for the California Labor Federation. "She would set
an agenda that would
be the antithesis of everything we believe in."
Officials in the city of Bell slashed city services even as they gave large pay raises to officials who were making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
"At the same time that top Bell
officials were receiving some of the fattest municipal
salaries in the
nation, the city cut spending on police, social services,
and parks and
recreation, according to interviews and records reviewed
by The Times.
While City Manager Robert Rizzo was receiving more
than $700,000 a year,
Rosario Torres was laid off from her $9-an-hour job preparing children
for kindergarten.
"They tell you they don't have the money to pay you,
and you think 'OK, I
understand, they just don't have the money,' " Torres
said. "But I
never imagined they were making so much money themselves.
It's
incredible."
Jerry Brown stepped int the middle of the Bell fight, announcing subpoenas and an open-ended investigation into local government compensation.
"Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown knows a political gift when he sees one. In a press conference Monday, Brown said his office has subpoenaed hundreds of records from the city of Bell and its top officials as his office ponders taking civil or criminal action against city leaders, whose salaries have ballooned to unusually high levels.
"The investigation also allows Brown to take a tough stand on public salary abuses -- distancing himself from the labor union leaders to which his Republican rival, Meg Whitman, is trying to tie him. And as a bonus, Brown gets a day of media attention while still spending nothing on campaign commercials.
"Welcome to the advantages of incumbency."
Abel Maldonado's family farm has settled its outstanding tax bill with the Internal Revenue Service.
"Accompanying the lien release was a statement that said Maldonado "advocated paying the IRS bill off as soon as it was presented," but he was outvoted by the other two board members of Agro-Jal Farming Enterprises: his father and his brother.
"The statement, from the lieutenant
governor's brother Frank, said the company paid the
tax "under protest"
because it disputes the charges. But he and his father
decided to pay
the tax to avoid more bad publicity.
"What two of us failed to realize was that even if
Agro-Jal's actions
were 100% proper, the lien filed while we were disputing the
bill would
cause great political embarrassment to Abel," the statement
said.
Ya think?
Gov Schwarzenegger said Monday the budget could take a few more weeks -- but then offered the possibility that we may not get a deal until a new governor is sworn in.
"If I do not get all of the things that we need … I will not sign a budget, and it could actually drag out until the next governor gets into office," Schwarzenegger told reporters after an event at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, according to a recording provided by his office.
"Senate President Pro Tem Darrell
Steinberg (D- Sacramento) responded in a statement Monday that he was
"prepared to grant his wish" if Schwarzenegger "continues
to insist on
granting billions in corporate tax cuts financed by
drastic cuts to
public education and programs for working mothers and
their children."
Meg Whitman was on Good Morning America with George Stephanopoulos Tuesday talking about the race for governor.
And finally,we are happy to report there are no Taliban Monkey Terrorists being trained in Afghanistan. (But the picture is still priceless)
"
IN a torrid week for the US military, here's some good news - you won't be fighting monkeys in Afghanistan.
Two weeks ago, the Chinese People's Daily Online reported - citing a "British press agency" - that the Taliban was training monkeys to shoot at US troops.
Armed with "Kalashnikovs, Bren machine-guns and trench mortars", the macaques and baboons are being taught to recognise and fire upon anyone wearing a US military uniform. “A senior US military source confirmed the existence of the Taliban monkey soldiers, military experts call armed monkeys ‘monkey terrorists’,” it said.