One view of politicians is that they are bought and sold by special interests, With that in mind, a proposal aimed at this year's ballot would require lawmakers to wear the logos and insignia of the interests that provide them with the bulk of their campaign cash. It would be like those race-car drivers who wear the advertisements of their sponsors.
Politico's Carla Marinucci tells the tale: "Cox is the sponsor of a landmark campaign finance initiative which would require all California state legislators to wear the logos of their biggest donors in a fashion that’s readily visible to voters — not unlike shirts worn by NASCAR drivers, which display their sponsors."
"In California, where big money and big lobbyists fuel political campaigns, “these politicians basically get put in office by donors, and they do what donors want," he told POLITICO. “So let’s make them wear the logos to show where the real political power is.”
"Cox told POLITICO on Monday that, as of Dec. 31, the “Name All Sponsors California Accountability Reform” (NASCAR, for short) measure has been given the required title and summary by the California Attorney General’s office and has been cleared to collect signatures for possible placement on the November 2016 ballot."
The power of unions often comes under fire in the Capitol, but 2016 may be particularly daunting, what with the U.S. Supreme Court considering the landmark Friedrichs vs. CTA case.
From Jon Ortiz in the Bee: "On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court returns to hear arguments over whether the union can require payment from teachers it represents in contract talks. The justices could support the status quo or issue a ruling that only changes payments to CTA. Union leaders everywhere fear, however, a broader decision that would squeeze their own treasuries and diminish public labor’s political clout at all levels of government."
“Anything that threatens unions’ funding base is a big deal,” said Daniel J.B. Mitchell, a labor law and history expert at UCLA. Friedrichs, he said, has potential to affect state and local labor unions and change “the broader politics of the state.”
"Since 1977, the courts have held that public-sector unions cannot require workers to pay for political activities, but can charge “fair share fees” (also known as “agency fees”) for collective bargaining and other nonpolitical services that benefit all represented employees."
The last time we came across an 18-minute gap, Richard Nixon was in the White House and Rose Mary Woods was handling his typing. But now we've got another 18-minute gap, this time in the investigation of the San Bernardino shootings.
From the AP's Amy Taxin: "Federal authorities have compiled a detailed timeline surrounding the terror attack in San Bernardino that killed 14 people. But they asked for the public's help Tuesday to fill in an 18-minute gap in the whereabouts of the husband-and-wife killers."
"David Bowdich, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said investigators so far have found no evidence there were any targets other than the Inland Regional Center, where Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire on a holiday luncheon gathering of Farook's co-workers in the county health agency."
"Bowdich also reiterated that there's no evidence the attack was directed from overseas, but he said nothing has been ruled out."
Okay, so we've been conserving water as we faced the drought, but what happens now? The rains are back, so can we ease off? Not likely.
From Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle: "California residents continue to ease back on the taps, but their efforts are slipping a bit, according to data released Tuesday that show cities and towns missed the state’s 25 percent water savings mandate for the second straight month."
"The savings in November — a 20 percent statewide cut over the same month in 2013 — come as California is hit with a series of storms fueled by El Niño, the weather pattern that forecasters expect to provide at least some relief after four dry years."
"State water officials cautioned Californians against letting up on conservation even with a wet winter projected. The deficit created by the drought, they say, is unlikely to be repaired by a single wet year."
There's a move afoot to curb conflicts of interest on the state Board of Equalization, the powerful but obscure panel that has broad authority to decide state tax disputes.
From the LAT's Patrick McGreevy: "State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said Tuesday that he had introduced a bill that would forbid members of the state Board of Equalization from acting on any tax matters involving donors who had given any amount of money to their political campaigns in the previous 12 months."
"Hill wrote the new measure in consultation with former state Sen. Quentin Kopp, the author of a 1990 law prohibiting members of the state board from acting on issues involving donors who contribute $250 or more."
"The Los Angeles Times recently reported that companies with an interest in board decisions have gotten around the limit. Board Chairman Jerome Horton’s reelection campaign committee last year received 45 contributions of $249 each from executives, attorneys and other employees of the tax consulting firm Ryan LLC. That totaled more than $11,000."
The words "Tony Rackauckas" and "controversy" have long been intertwined, and here's the latest: A panel of experts he appointed to examine his operation came to the conclusion that it is deeply flawed. Ouch.
The OC Register's Tony Saavedra tells the tale: "A committee of legal experts hand-picked by Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas on Monday issued a report declaring his office a “rudderless” ship and calling for a deeper investigation into the use of jailhouse informants."
"The five-member panel called for the Orange County grand jury, the state Attorney General or the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations that prosecutors and police misused a covert network of jailhouse informants and withheld evidence from defense attorneys."
"Panel members indicated their six-month review had only scratched the surface because of their limited authority."
And finally, from our "Write it Right and Keep it Tight" file comes word that Twitter may expand the length of its allowed tweets from 140 characters to -- wait for it -- 10,000 characters.
"Twitter Inc is building a new feature that will allow users to post tweets as long as 10,000 characters, well beyond its current 140-character limit, technology news website Re/code reported on Tuesday."
"An expansion of the limit to 10,000 characters would allow a tweet of more than 1,000 words with spaces between words and punctuation. For comparison, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was 272 words, and President John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech was 1,366 words."
"Twitter may launch the service towards the end of the first quarter but has not set an official date, Re/code said, citing sources familiar with the plans. They said the character limit could change before the final version of the product is unveiled."
Four score and seven years ago ...
