Armed to the teeth

Sep 22, 2010

 

Meg Whitman says angry Republicans are toting pitchforks and torches, as her A-list  GOP backers queue up to help get her message out, reports the LAT's Mike Mishak.

 

"Meg Whitman kicked off a week of high-profile fundraisers Tuesday with an evening reception with Condoleezza Rice at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame, just outside of San Francisco. More than 350 supporters paid $1,000 a piece to feast on rack of lamb and flourless chocolate cake while the Republican gubernatorial nominee and the former secretary of state held an on-stage conversation about the state of California and the state of the campaign..."

 

"On Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will campaign with Whitman, and on Friday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will headline two events."

 

More on Meg: The guy who hired her to run eBay says he would find it hard to vote for her, but that she'd do a good job if elected.

 

"The eBay founder who hired Meg Whitman as his company's chief operating officer, giving her a platform on which to run for governor, said Tuesday that he would not endorse her because of Whitman's opposition to same-sex marriage and her alliance with former Gov. Pete Wilson," the Times reported.

"Pierre Omidyar praised Whitman's leadership skills and said she would do a "great job" if elected, but said he would find it "difficult" to vote for her if he still lived in California."

 

Meanwhile, rival Jerry Brown -- wearing his attorney general hat -- wants the first execution in four years to go forward as scheduled.

 

"A hearing was held on the issue after a Riverside County judge last month set an execution date of Sept. 29 for Albert Greenwood Brown, who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing a 15-year-old girl on her way home from school in 1980," the AP's Paul Elias notes.

 

"The action surprised many because a federal judge halted executions in 2006 and ordered prison officials to overhaul lethal injection procedures. The state adopted new regulations on Aug. 29 but had not sought the judge's permission to restart executions."

 

California's largest labor union, getting high on politics, announced its endorsement of Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana.

 

"The state council of the Service Employees International Union, the largest labor union in California, has endorsed Proposition 19, the initiative on the November ballot that seeks to legalize marijuana," the LAT reports.

"The SEIU, which says it has more than 700,000 members in California, is a significant political force in state politics, although it is not clear how much money or muscle it will put toward passage of the measure."

 

Turning our gaze away from death and drugs, we see the Wall Street meltdown and Phil Angelides, who heads the federal commission probing the financial crash.

 

From the Ventura County Star's Timm Herdt: "Angelides, a former California state treasurer and one-time real-estate developer, was not unsophisticated in the ways of finance. Still, he has been dumbfounded by the things he has learned."

 

“I feel like I walked into my local community bank and opened a door I wasn’t supposed to open,” he said. “And when I opened it, I saw a casino floor as big as New York, New York. He’s learned that some of the nation’s largest “shadow banks” — those outside the reach of bank regulators — were leveraged at ratios as high as 39-1. “It’s as if someone with $50,000 in assets took out a $2 million mortgage that could be called in overnight.”

 

And in yet more grim news, we see that big health insurers are going to stop writing new child-only policies, the LAT's Duke Helfand notes.

 

"Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna Inc. and others will halt new child-only policies in California, Illinois, Florida, Connecticut and elsewhere as early as Thursday when provisions of the nation's new healthcare law take effect, including a requirement that insurers cover children under age 19 regardless of their health histories."

 

"The action will apply only to new coverage sought for children and not to existing child-only plans, family policies or insurance provided to youngsters through their parents' employers. An estimated 80,000 California children currently without insurance — and as many as 500,000 nationwide — would be affected, according to experts.

 

Ailing Sen. Pat Wiggins may be out of town but not out of pocket: The Press-Democrat's Derek Moore reports that the Santa Rosa lawmaker is collecting a hefty per diem.

 

"State Sen. Pat Wiggins has claimed $22,556 in taxpayer-funded daily living expenses normally given to lawmakers when they are working in Sacramento, although she was not at the Capitol any of those days when the Legislature was in session, records show."


The Santa Rosa Democrat claimed 197 per diem payments worth $141.86 each out of a total of 201 payments that she and other legislators were eligible to take so far this year. She was in Sacramento for 38 of the Senate’s 120 floor sessions, according to the records. In all, she received $28,000 in per diem payments."

 

Finally, from our "Fresh Buns Files,"  those finger-lickin'  folks at the world's largest chicken chain are placing ads on the butts of college women. Even Capitol Weekly couldn't make this one up.

 

"Women on college campuses are being paid $500 each to hand out coupons while wearing fitted sweatpants with "Double Down" in large letters across their rear ends."

 

"The promo comes as KFC is in the doldrums domestically. The world's largest chicken chain's U.S. same-store sales fell 7% in the second quarter. Nearly all its growth now is in international expansion. Last week, the chain confessed that more than six in 10 Americans ages 18 to 25 — the chain's key demographic — couldn't identify who Colonel Sanders was in the KFC logo "

 

So who's watching Colonel Sanders?