GOP Gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari may have helped save the US economy in 2008, but you wouldn’t know it from his campaign ads. That’s because the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the government bailout that Kashkari led, remains unpopular – even though it worked. Scott Detrow looks at Kashkari’s role in TARP at the California Report.
“It’s not that Kashkari completely ignores TARP. He briefly mentions it during his stump speech and has a stock answer prepared when voters and reporters ask about the program. By and large, Kashkari paints the $450 billion program as a bipartisan success.
“’Everyone told us, “Washington, D.C., is so complicated. You can’t get Republicans and Democrats to work together. You can’t navigate the House and the Senate.”’ Kashkari said during his September debate with Gov. Jerry Brown. ‘We figured it out. We got them to work together. We got the leaders of both parties to put their country before their political careers.’”
We’ve all seen the signs dotting the lower end of the Central Valley, off the side of 5 and 99: “Congress Created Dust Bowl,” “No Water No Jobs." Those signs are the mantras of the Westlands Water District, an area twice the size of Los Angeles that holds a fraction of the population. Bettina Boxall looks at their fight for water in the Los Angeles Times.
“Westlands has persevered for decades by battling other farmers for supplies, repeatedly suing the U.S. government and spending millions of dollars trying to roll back environmental restrictions on water deliveries — all while planting lucrative nut crops that can't survive a season without water.
“Now it is a driving force behind the most ambitious water project proposed in California in decades, the $25-billion plan to send Sacramento River supplies south to Westlands and elsewhere through two giant water tunnels burrowed under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.”
Women make up roughly half of the population, but less than 30% of elected officials, (we’ll refrain from inserting a joke about Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 List here). The Leadership California Institute and Grassroots Lab recently released a report examining the status of women in California politics - Capital Public Radio’s Katie Orr looks at the report and talks to women engaged in California politics, the first in a three-part series.
“The Long Beach City Council is the most diverse in the state, and of its nine members, the four women serving on it are no exception. One is Latina, one is Indian, one is Persian and one is white…
“But this city council isn’t just unique in its diversity. It’s also above average in its gender make-up. The Leadership California Institute commissioned a study on women in California local government. It found there are 69 cities and 13 counties with no women serving on the council or board of supervisors.”
Speaking of the Top 100, Californian Tom Steyer (#26) has passed Nevada casino magnate Sheldon Adelson as the number one Super Pac donor. Derek Willis notes the moment at The New York Times.
“Mr. Steyer’s ‘super PAC,’ NextGen Climate Action Committee, reported on Monday night that it received $15 million from him last month, putting his total contributions to the committee since June 2013 at $55 million.”
We linked to Sigrid Bathen’s look at the battle over Prop 46 in yesterday’s Roundup, but Melanie Mason’s story in today’s Los Angeles Times is too good not to include. (And for those keeping count, she quotes Jamie Court and Jason Kinney too.)
“A ballot initiative that pits lawyers against doctors has set off one of this year's fiercest campaign wars, a costly clash over increasing state limits on malpractice damages and imposing drug testing on physicians.
“Proposition 46 would raise the cap on pain-and-suffering awards in malpractice lawsuits and require that hospitals randomly test their doctors for drug and alcohol use. Backers say the measure would rein in negligent doctors; opponents charge that it's a money grab by the lawyers who helped put it on the ballot.”
Also in the Times, Marc Lifsher has a quick look at the money in the Prop 45 race.
“Blue Shield gave $2.66 million, WellPoint $6 million, Kaiser Permanente $3.73 million and Health Net $350,000, according to late filings at the secretary of state’s office.
“The latest contributions boost the No on 45’s campaign kitty to $55.4 million. Proponents report having raised about $2.5 million, which they plan to spend on television ads in the Los Angeles market, starting Saturday.”
Call him irresistible. A Thousand Oaks man was shocked to find a woman he had dated attempting to shimmy down his chimney – and no, that’s not a metaphor. KTLA5 has the story and the photos.
“A woman accused of illegally entering the Thousand Oaks home of a man she went on multiple dates with was arrested Sunday after firefighters used jackhammers to partially dismantle a brick chimney she had become trapped inside.
“She was extricated by 8:22 a.m. and transported to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center for evaluation, according to the Fire Department… She was later identified as Genoveva Nunez-Figueroa, a 30-year-old Thousand Oaks resident…”
