"We are going to call the special election no matter what. I can guarantee you that,"
Schwarzenegger said Thursday on KFBK-AM in Sacramento. "... I cannot think of a compromise that I can come up with that will make us happy
because in order to change the budget one has to literally have the vote of the people. In order to change redistricting the way it is right now, we need a vote of the people."
After his statements were put through the
Margita Thompson official gubernatorial translator, they were only modestly bleaker. "'The governor was saying that it looks increasingly likely that the Legislature is not going to come to any agreement,' Thompson said. "
They've not shown any inclination they want to compromise.'"
The Bee looks into
the governor's three-state fundraising swing, which includes events in Florida, Illinois and Texas. "I am so lucky," [the governor] said, "that everything I have done in the past has trained me for this, for this job. For my afterschool programs, I have raised millions and millions of dollars from General Motors, from this corporation and that corporation. Millions from studio heads. Or for the Special Olympics. It's not anything new."
But Republican strategist
Ed Rollins tells the Chronicle that
the governor is no longer an A-list political ticket."The star has diminished, at least from 3,000 miles away," Rollins says. "Certainly, Republicans in California are not very happy with him -- at least the ones I'm hearing from,'' said Rollins, who worked for presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and advised Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. "The national political players are not sure where he is -- and aren't sure he won't say, 'Great, I tried it, and I'm going back to making movies.'"
The Merc News's Dion Nissenbaum has a two-article profile of Republican strategist
Bob White. The first article
describes the consultant's rise to prominence. "For nearly 40 years, White, 63, has been the quintessential political insider. Reserved, amiable and well-connected, White is a man Republicans and Democrats alike turn to for advice and counsel. ... 'He's a pleasure to deal with and he gets results,' said
Michael Deaver, deputy chief of staff for former President Ronald Reagan. 'You don't have to go through a lot with Bob. He just sort of gets it.'"
The second takes
a look at White's California Strategies firm and whether the firm should be forced to register as a lobbyist and disclose payments from clients. "'To the outside world, some of it may sound like lobbying,' said [firm partner
Jason] Kinney, who served as chief speechwriter for former Democratic Gov.
Gray Davis. 'It may walk like a duck and talk like a duck to the outside world, but in the eyes of the law it's not.'"
The Campaign for Children and Families's
Randy Thomasson filed a ballot measure yesterday for title and summary that would amend the state's constitution
to ban same sex marriage and limit domestic partnership benefits. "'Judges and politicians have no right to flush marriage down the drain,' Thomasson said."
Here's the text for some weekend reading.
Vic Pollard weighs in on the George Steinbrenner of California politics,
Nicole Parra whose
revolving door of staffers has taken another spin. "Parra has a reputation for an explosive temper, a boss who dresses down employees in full view of fellow staffers and others," Pollard writes.
Speaking of revolving doors,
the drivers license bill is back. Now,
Gil Cedillo has agreed to a license for undocumented immigrants that is noticeably different from a regular drivers license, but it looks as though the governor has found a new reason to veto it: The federal government. "There's a lot of activity that needs to happen at the federal level before we do anything at the state level, so any state activity would be premature," said Schwarzenegger spokeswoman
Margita Thompson.
Insurance commish
John Garamendi came out swinging at workers' comp insurers yesterday. "'Not too many small businesses have received reductions,' Garamendi told a packed hearing room Thursday at the Insurance Department's offices on Fremont Street. 'The insurance industry wants to fatten its profit margin. We are in the process of careful monitoring where the insurance companies are going with their premiums and their costs.'"
And since it's Friday, it's time for a little
Roundup Trivia Challenge. Who was the governor talking about when he said the following in a radio interview yesterday: "I have been, you know, inspiring him to go on and to make sure to really work on his craft in acting. He's a funny guy, he's very athletic, he's handsome, he has everything going for him."
No, it's not
John Burton. The correct answer will be published in this space next week.
