"Senate leader
Don Perata on Monday
downplayed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's harsh, taped criticism — in which the governor called Perata 'really weird' and 'a very sick man' — as coming during "the heat of battle,'" reports Steve Geissinger in the Oakland Tribune.
"'
God knows I wouldn't want everything I say to my staff to be broadcast either,' the Oakland Democrat told reporters regarding the Republican governor's private comments caught on tape and released Sunday. '
In our business, you get (ticked) off and you say things you shouldn't say.'"
The LAT's Peter Nicholas writes: "In the recordings, [
Susan] Kennedy also makes a few caustic comments. At one meeting, she urges Schwarzenegger to make a sarcastic remark to Assemblyman
Guy Houston (R-Livermore) as punishment for a critical quote in a newspaper article.
"
A few words from Schwarzenegger, Kennedy says, would cause Houston to 'pee his pants.' Houston, in an interview, said his bladder control is better than Kennedy suspects.
"'Susan Kennedy doesn't know me very well if she thinks the governor would just have to say 'boo' and I would do something like that,' he said.
Well, Senator, what if he was wearing a real scary mask or something?
"Republicans, too, are skewered in the governor's comments. Schwarzenegger says GOP lawmakers are not realistic about their minority status.
"On Monday, Sen.
Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), said the Republican governor might feel free to say that because he has, in effect, teamed up with the Democratic majority.
"'
You could say [Schwarzenegger] is governing like a Democrat, but that would be unfair to the Democrats.'"
McClintock will be performing all weekend at the state GOP convention in Sacramento. See local listings for details...
The Bee's Kevin Yamamura looks at what the governor's audiotapes say about him. "Though only a brief glimpse into Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's private world, the newly released audio files of his personal conversations
reveal a leader who meticulously crafts his public message and has his own theories on everything from road rage to assimilation."
Wow, that makes him sound almost ... human...
"Schwarzenegger, the former bodybuilder and movie star, seems to relish telling stories about his past. He uses multiple analogies, comparing immigrants to houseguests and last year's tough negotiations over bond measures to child birth.
"The Republican governor also displays an understanding of political gamesmanship, observing that Democratic leaders have 'absolutely different personalities' outside his office despite being 'nice' inside."
"Mayor
Gavin Newsom's
announcement that he will seek treatment for alcohol abuse prompted a wave of reaction Monday from San Francisco's elected officials, some of whom praised him for the move while others were skeptical -- and one supervisor called for his resignation," report Charlie Goodyear and Robert Selna in the Chron.
"'
I think he should resign,' Supervisor
Jake McGoldrick said, becoming the first elected official to call publicly for the mayor to step down as a result of his affair with his former appointments secretary, whose husband was one of the mayor's top aides.
"McGoldrick called Newsom's involvement with
Ruby Rippey-Tourk a 'morally despicable' act that forced her husband to quit his job as the mayor's re-election campaign director. 'I think he's not fit to be a leader in this city,' he added. 'He has set a terrible example, especially to young people.'"
"In a boost to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political priority for the year, some of the biggest players in the state's healthcare industry
have agreed to commit millions of dollars to a campaign for universal healthcare access," reports Jordan Rau in the Times.
"The yet-unnamed alliance, which plans to announce its creation today, includes a labor giant, the Service Employees International Union; the state's largest doctors lobby, the California Medical Assn.; the state's biggest nonprofit hospital chain, Catholic Healthcare West; and three major insurers: Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield of California and Health Net.
'
For the first time ever, the major players are not in their bunkers throwing grenades at each other,' said
Joe Dunn, chief executive of the California Medical Assn. 'Everyone is coming together in a sincere effort to work out a plan for reforming medicine in California in a way that works to improve patients' ability to be treated by their doctor.'
"The coalition's members have not agreed to support all elements of any plan that emerges from negotiations with Schwarzenegger and the Legislature, and in fact several have expressed concerns about the governor's proposal. But the alliance members said they would support the effort to ensure access to medical care for all Californians and have accepted Schwarzenegger's notion of "shared responsibility" — that all participants in healthcare, including patients, insurers and businesses, must give up something."
"Attorneys for the governor, attorney general and local prosecutors said yesterday they
couldn't agree how to enforce tough new residency restrictions on sex offenders approved last year by California voters," reports the AP's Don Thompson.
"The attorney general says the law should apply retroactively to those previously released from prison. The governor and local prosecutors say it should apply to those released after Proposition 83 was approved in November.
"The disagreement arose from a lawsuit filed by attorneys representing sex offenders. Under the initiative commonly known as Jessica's Law, offenders are prohibited from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park.
"U.S. District Judge
Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento delayed a ruling after yesterday's hearing because of the disagreement among Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General
Jerry Brown and local prosecutors. Attorneys representing those offices said they interpreted the residency restriction differently for the roughly 90,000 sex offenders who were registered with the state.
"County district attorneys and probation departments said the residency restriction should apply to crimes committed after the measure passed."
The Bee's Andy Furillo writes: "Legislative Republicans
accused Democrats on Monday of delaying action on prison construction in the hope that the federal courts will engage in "a complete takeover" of California's correctional system.
"In a press conference outside Folsom State Prison, GOP members said they will fight for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's bid to add tens of thousands of new beds to the state and local correctional systems as the best way to solve the prisons' overcrowding emergency.
"They said they would oppose any sentencing commission proposal that looks to them like it would result in early releases. They also decried court-ordered spending on prison health care as an "unaccountable" intrusion into legislative spending prerogatives."
"California's late-model vehicles would
receive a $4 annual fee increase under legislation unveiled Monday to bankroll clean air and alternative fuel efforts," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"The measure is designed to provide an ongoing funding source for battling pollution, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing dependence on foreign oil.
"'This is a health, environmental and economic issue,' said Assemblyman
Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat who proposed the measure, Assembly Bill 255. 'We need to act now.'
"The legislation is designed as part of a much larger strategy, currently being developed, to meet commitments in a new state law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020."
"
Leo T. McCarthy, the son of an Irish bar owner who rose to become speaker of the California Assembly for six years and lieutenant governor for a record 12 years,
died Monday of a kidney ailment," reports Greg Lucas in the Chron.
"McCarthy, 76, died at his San Francisco home with his wife and children present.
"A fixture in city and state politics for more than 30 years, McCarthy was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1963, won an Assembly seat five years later and became speaker in 1974. He ended his political career in 1994 after three serving three terms as lieutenant governor. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1988 and 1992.
"'Leo McCarthy was a statesman, a great champion for justice, a dear friend and a purposeful mentor to me,' said House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, who regularly visited McCarthy. 'I am proud to have called Leo friend for more than 30 years. He encouraged me to not only support candidates but to go into politics in my own right.'"
