"As
lawmakers return to the Capitol today for the final month of the 2006 session, Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders are negotiating deals on measures that could make California a leader in the fight against global warming, break the near-monopolies of cable companies, cut prescription drug prices and boost the minimum wage," report Jordan Rau and Nancy Vogel in the Times.
"Lawmakers also are grappling with how to fix two of the most complicated institutions in California, the state's prison system and Los Angeles' public schools."
However, Democratic leaders are cautious of dancing too much with the governor.
"'There's no question that I have to be very careful,' said Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles), co-chairman of Angelides' campaign. 'If I do too much with the governor, then it doesn't help set us apart from the Republicans. But I've always believed that political ideology comes second to real results.'"
Why do we not believe Angelides is thinking the same thing at the moment?
AP's Samantha Young says Nunez's greenhouse gas bill "
has the governor in a pickle."
"The Republican governor now faces a dilemma that threatens to undermine his environmental credentials at the same time he is trying appeal to moderate voters as he seeks re-election."
"This month, the Democrats who hold a majority in California's Legislature plan to send Schwarzenegger a bill that would create the country's first law capping greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources."
"Schwarzenegger is eager to sign a global warming bill before he faces the state's Democratic-leaning electorate in November. But in his effort to appease conservatives, Schwarzenegger has asked for amendments that Democrats and environmentalists have criticized as undermining the bill."
"They say some of Schwarzenegger's proposed 'safety valves' would severely weaken the bill by indefinitely delaying enforcement of the emission caps."
Dan Walters writes that the session's successes
may be based on the Schwarzenegger-Núñez relationship. "Do we see a pattern here? Much of the major business awaiting lawmakers involves Schwarzenegger, who is running for re-election, and Núñez, who is setting, or trying to set, some kind of record for a speaker personally carrying significant pieces of legislation.
"The two politicians have had a relationship that has ranged from warm and friendly to cool and hostile and currently appears to be in the former mode, which is one reason why this year's session has gone so smoothly. Núñez, irritating some other Democrats, routinely refers to Schwarzenegger as "my friend" and boasts of their close working relationship."
"If the Legislature acts on big issues this month, the Schwarzenegger-Núñez relationship will be the major factor, and both will reap the political rewards."
Núñez touts his legislative efforts in an
op-ed in the Chron. "We can do better if we continue to build on the bipartisan spirit that helped us place a record bond package on the November ballot and enabled us to pass the first on-time, in-balance state budget in five years. These are significant accomplishments, but there is more to do. Californians are sick and tired of what looks to them like a sick and tired government -- including the governor and the Legislature. We must inject a healthy dose of civility and comity into our work so we can restore the public's confidence in their elected leaders. We can do better. To do any less is to abdicate our responsibility to the people of California."
With another packed ballot and a costly gubernatorial race,
election spending this year may set another record, writes the Bee's Kevin Yamamura.
"Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata, D-Oakland, who hopes voters approve four public works bonds in November, said this year's spending on candidates and 13 ballot proposals could top last year's total.
"'I was told by people who are talking to time buyers that
between … Labor Day and the election, almost $300 million will be spent on TV ads,' Perata said. 'Now that is like wall to wall, I mean just wall to wall. You can barely have car commercials.'"
Sounds like a lot of money to elect a lot of crackers.
"The governor's race alone is expected to exhaust more than $100 million in spending and compete directly with the initiative campaigns for television time."
The Ventura County Star's Stephanie Hoops reports on
the tobacco tax initiative. "If approved, the proposition would increase taxes on cigarettes by 300 percent, making the tax the highest in the nation. Proposition 86 would add $2.60 to the 87 cents in taxes already being paid on a pack of cigarettes, bringing the total tax to $3.47.
The bulk of that new revenue would go to keeping emergency rooms running, providing health insurance for uninsured children and medical research."
One of the
most expensive battles will be over Proposition 87. "Backers of a measure that would hit energy companies drilling in California with $4 billion in new taxes planned to start running a hard-hitting TV ad across the state today urging voters to 'make oil companies pay.'"
"There's nothing subtle about the new ad, said
Paul Begala, a consultant for Proposition 87."
Paul Begala?
"'
We're not shy; our most important goal is to get California off its dependence on oil,' said Begala, a former Clinton White House aide and CNN television commentator. 'If you want support, you have to build support.'"
"Raising the cost of California oil will make companies more willing to import foreign oil into the state, which could raise pump prices, said
Al Lundeen, a spokesman for the anti-Prop. 87 forces."
"'We think it will very clearly impact consumers,' he said."
"California's leading union organization, bucking organized labor's long-standing neutrality on the issue of abortion, is for the first time
taking a strong stand in favor of abortion rights," writes Joe Mathews in the Times.
"Meeting behind closed doors last month, the California Labor Federation — which represents more than 2.1 million workers belonging to more than 1,100 affiliated unions — voted to oppose Proposition 85, a November ballot initiative that would require doctors to notify parents before performing abortions on minors. In a policy statement, the labor federation also urged the national AFL-CIO 'to reconsider its position of neutrality on the issue.'"
"'As unions become weaker, as traditional allies fall away, unions can rely increasingly on the liberal left and the radical left,' said
Nelson Lichtenstein, a leading scholar of labor history at UC Santa Barbara. 'Abortion rights are key issues for American liberals, and these are their allies.'"
Matier and Ross look at
Jerry Brown's
series of initiatives to crack down on crime in Oakland. "When it comes to anti-crime plans, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown has tried just about every trick in the book, offering no fewer than 11 crime-busting attacks since taking office in 1999."
"Brown is being pummeled on the Oakland crime issue almost daily by his Republican rival for attorney general,
Chuck Poochigian. And he gets a bit touchy when pressed for details about his efforts."
"When we asked him to evaluate his various programs, Brown alternated between claims of 'great successes' to frustration with legal challenges that stymied his plan to pick up trouble-bound parolees for minor violations and have them cool their heels in jail for 10 days."
That darn Constitution can be such an obstruction.
"'It's hard to keep the focus up,' Brown said. 'The crimes change. Sometimes people fall by the wayside. There are a lot of cooks in the soup.'"
Finally, from our
You Make The Funny Files, Reuters reports "A German scientist
has been testing an "anti-stupidity" pill with encouraging results on mice and fruit flies.
"It said
Hans-Hilger Ropers, director at Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, has tested a pill thwarting hyperactivity in certain brain nerve cells, helping stabilize short-term memory and improve attentiveness."
We'll leave it to people smarter than us to determine how you measure a fruit fly's memory...
"'With mice and fruit flies we were able to eliminate the loss of short-term memory,' Ropers, 62, is quoted saying in the German newspaper, which has dubbed it the 'world's first anti-stupidity pill.'"
We'd like to place our orders now...
