The LAT's Howard Blume looks at the governor and education funding, and how what was expected to be the
top campaign issue against him isn't sticking. Contrasting the charges of Democrats and labor, "[t]he governor's aides counter that education hasn't been and won't be shortchanged. '
There was never a question of whether or not education was going to be made whole,' said
H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance. 'The issue was when.'"
"As it happened, "when" was after last year's California Teachers Assn.-led campaign pummeled Schwarzenegger's three ballot initiatives in the November special election. And after O'Connell and the state teachers association filed a lawsuit — the one recently settled — over the Proposition 98 money."
And a few billion extra in the kitty didn't hurt.
"Since then, the governor has apologized for the special election and pledged to work with the Legislature and return the disputed education dollars, which will be paid back over a number of years."
"All of that spells trouble for Angelides, because it leaves room for too many Democrats to stray."
Meanwhile, the governor got another killer photo op yesterday, opening up trading on the Nasdaq, all while
hanging with his political buddies in New York.
The New York Times reports on
the relationship between Schwarzenegger and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "Mr. Schwarzenegger spent the day in Manhattan touting environmental initiatives and was
the star attraction at a fund-raiser for his re-election campaign last night at the mayor’s town house.
Among the attendees were Gov.
George E. Pataki, former Senator
Alfonse M. D’Amato, former Gov.
William F. Weld of Massachusetts and the financier
Ira L. Rennert.
Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Schwarzenegger seem to be genuinely fond of each other. Just last month, Mr. Bloomberg went to the headquarters of a Silicon Valley fuel-cell company to announce a plan to measure New York City’s fossil-fuel emissions. He also attended two fund-raisers for the governor."
So touching.
"The governors of California and New York
announced a partnership Monday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by allowing power plants in their states and across the Northeast to trade emissions credits," reports the AP's Karen Matthews.
"California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would sign an executive order on Tuesday that calls for a program allowing his state to work with the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative."
"The goal of the initiative is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at power plants starting in 2009. Under the program, power plants in participating states will be granted a limited number carbon credits, equal to the amount of carbon dioxide they are allowed to emit. Those that exceed their limits must purchase credits to cover the difference, while those that produce less carbon dioxide can sell the surplus credits."
"'Our cooperation can be a model to the rest of the states and to other countries actually,' Schwarzenegger said after he and New York Gov.
George Pataki toured a green residential building in lower Manhattan touted as one of the country's largest and first "green" residential high-rise building."
Daniel Weintraub
focuses on the environment. "If the environment is important to you and you want someone who is likely to govern in the image of the Sierra Club, Angelides is the candidate for you. If you want a governor who believes in environmental protection but is going to balance that priority against the wishes of the state's employers, then Schwarzenegger is probably your man."
The Chron's Mark Martin reports that
some Democrats are already accusing the governor of backing away from the deal they made on the global warming law. "Assembly Speaker
Fabian Núñez and some environmental groups charged Monday that an executive order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sign today undermines an agreement the governor struck with Democrats on the state's landmark global warming law."
"Schwarzenegger will sign an order giving the secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency the duty of overseeing parts of the law's implementation and emphasizes the development of a new market allowing companies to buy and sell greenhouse gas emissions credits."
"Núñez said that
the executive order gives more power to the executive branch than the law calls for and that the governor's emphasis on a market-based approach to lowering greenhouse gas emissions ignored other aspects of the law. He suggested the governor was reinterpreting the law based on proposals he had suggested to lawmakers during negotiations over the legislation this year but that had been rejected by the Legislature."
Meanwhile,
Angelides was in the Bay Area, writes Josh Richman in the Oakland Tribune. "Flanked by police and firefighters, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides said Monday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attacked first responders and can't be trusted to refrain from doing so again."
"The state treasurer once again noted that Schwarzenegger, at their Oct. 7 debate, had said his special-election agenda included 'good ideas' simply pursued too quickly."
"'The people of California know they were bad ideas,' Angelides said outside a fire station on Sanchez Street near Market. 'You can't trust Arnold Schwarzenegger to do the right thing by public safety in this state.'"
Michael Finnegan looks at
the governor's star power, and the difficulty for Angelides to keep up with it. "Week by week, Schwarzenegger has grown increasingly bold about using his Hollywood stardom to advance his prospects for reelection Nov. 7. He marked the fifth anniversary of 9/11 live during the season opener of ESPN's 'Monday Night Football.' His recent visits with the
Dalai Lama and British Prime Minister
Tony Blair made the front pages. He campaigned last week on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.'"
"So how exactly can his Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, compete with that?"
"A faltering answer came at his sidewalk protest outside NBC's Burbank studios last week, where Angelides demanded equal time on Leno's show. '
I know I'd be fun,' Angelides said
from behind a lectern after two dozen supporters chanted 'Let Phil on! Let Phil on!'"
"For all the griping among Democrats over strategic missteps by Angelides, his struggle to match Schwarzenegger's media exposure demonstrates how impediments outside his control — not the least of which is celebrity — have also thwarted his campaign to unseat the governor."
"Despite trailing in fundraising and public opinion polls, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides
said this year's race has been dominated by his ideas — not those of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger," reports the AP's Juliet Williams.
"'
I mean, thank God I'm in this race. It's the only reason we've gotten three months of any kind of action from this governor that makes sense for Californians,' Angelides told The Associated Press."
And, just in time for the election, "Secretary of State
Bruce McPherson wants to sue his Democratic predecessor over millions of dollars in election funds a federal commission has ruled were misused," reports Sorraya Sarhaddi Nelson in the Register.
"'This flagrant abuse of public trust and public money demands personal accountability,' McPherson, a Republican who is seeking re-election, told reporters Monday. 'It's unfair and unacceptable that California's taxpayers be forced to foot the bill for
Kevin Shelley's personal political ambition and mismanagement of this office.'"
"McPherson's comments came after the federal Election Assistance Commission released its final audit Monday demanding California reimburse $2.9 million in funds it found were misspent during Shelley's administration. The audit found that Shelley inappropriately used voter participation money to compensate employees who 'were partisan in nature.'"
"State Attorney General
Bill Lockyer has launched what he calls an 'aggressive' investigation into a mysterious mailer sent to Latino voters in Orange County warning them it's illegal for immigrants to vote," writes the Register's Norberto Santana, Jr.
"The mailer – sent on letterhead from the California Coalition for Immigration Reform – warns voters in Spanish that those who do vote could end up in jail. It also says federal officials are keeping a searchable database – available to anti-illegal immigration groups – that tracks people casting votes."
"'It's clear intimidation,' said
John Trasvina, interim president and general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. 'It's targeted to foreign-born voters, as opposed to newly registered.'"
The Bee's John Hill
takes a look at Proposition 90. "Proposition 90 would change that balance of power dramatically and forbid the use of eminent domain for the purposes like the project that forced Hungerford to move."
"Proponents say it would protect business people and other property owners who become targets of governments that want the land not for bridges or schools, but for private developers."
"They say it's a response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London, in which the justices permitted the Connecticut city to condemn homes to revitalize a waterfront."
"But the initiative goes far beyond that, opponents say.
They call it a Trojan horse that would open the door to expensive lawsuits and exorbitant taxpayer costs every time a law or regulation restricts the use of property, even if it's for the public's benefit."
"Teachers aides and parents are angry about Assemblywoman
Bonnie Garcia allegedly telling students at La Quinta High School that
she wouldn't kick Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger out of her bed," reports the AP.
"Garcia made the comment on Oct. 10 during an impromptu visit to an economics class, according to two adults aides in the classroom at the time."
"'I was appalled,'
Leah Aguilar, a classroom aide present during Garcia's visit, told The Desert Sun. 'I couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth, that she was talking to students like this.'"
"Added fellow aide
Kathy Larsen: 'It wasn't very appropriate. Even if she thought that, he is a married man.'"
Garcia says that the uproar is being created by opponent
Steve Clute.
"'If anyone was offended by the silly questions asked and the joking answers I gave, I sincerely apologize,' Garcia said in the statement."
"'However, as a parent, I have to ask myself -- if something truly offensive occurred, why did the adults in the room not stop the discussion, approach me after the discussion, or contact my office in the days following my visit? None of this happened,' the statement said."
