Increasingly, it seems, this budget fight is about education. Check that. Increasingly, the political struggle over this year's budget and the governor's proposed budget and political reforms is taking place in the name of education.
Need proof? Over the weekend, as the California Republican Party voted to
endorse the governor's reelection, the governor released a statement that read: "I look forward to the party's support, along with all Californians, as we push ahead to create an education system that serves children instead of special interests and implement true fiscal reform that cures once and for all the spending addicts in Sacramento." Even
Bob Hertzberg is
heeding the call.And later this morning, the governor is going to announce his
"Coalition for Education Reform," at a Capitol press conference.
Meanwhile, the
Education Coalition is emerging as the main political force the governor must overcome, as the group wheels out "real people" at special legislative hearings around the state. Democratic leaders have called for the travelling minstrel show that is the "Education Town Hall" meetings, which will hit Fair Oaks and Salinas this week. The debate continues to focus on whether or not the governor's proposed budget is a "cut" to education or not. Let the battle for the hearts and minds of would-be special election voters begin.
The governor will continue to sell the plan on the road as talks in Sacramento continues.
Schwarzenegger's Hollywood-style budget promotion was the subject of a
cover story in the NY Times's Sunday Styles section over the weekend, "You have to do more than just go and have a little press conference," Mr. Schwarzenegger said in a recent telephone interview. "So the spectacle, showmanship, selling, promoting, marketing, publicizing, all of those things are extremely important."
"You know, with my body I cannot get things off the rack": Carla Marinucci
wears the media critic hat today, looking at the lighthearted way many media outlets approach the governor. Online news mag Salon
doesn't cut the governor any slack in a feature story.
Not only has the governor brought a little Hollywood to Sacramento. Today, Hollywood comes to town as the red carpet gets rolled down in front of the Crest Theater. The occasion? The premiere of "Be Cool," the sequel to 1995's Get Shorty. According to the governor's office, the film's stars
The Rock, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Harvey Keitel, Christina Milian and director
F. Gary Gray are "expected to walk the red carpet prior to the start of the movie at 8 p.m." The governor will lecture the crowd about the fantasticness of California before the screening. And you thought last year's
Pauly Shore movie premiere was a big deal.
Next up, the governor's road show
heads to DC Thursday, with legislative leaders in tow. "The bigger focus of the one-day trip will be a two-hour meeting with the 53-member state congressional delegation - 33 Democrats and 20 Republicans whose combined seniority and power hasn't been concentrated in a single state for more than six decades," the SacBee reports. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when the subject of redistricting reform on the special election ballot comes up.
"It's time to clear this up." If you've been confused about the relationship between the governor and the group known as
Citizens to Save California, so is the governor's attorney. Political legal wiz
Tom Hiltachk joined the lawsuit against the FPPC to have the rules limiting the gov's coordination with the committee thrown out in time for the likely special election this fall.
Speaking of the special election, the latest issue of
Political Pulse has details on a policy, and political,
disagreement between Republican factions over the issue of a budget spending cap.
"We went through this with Prop. 58," says Sen
John Campbell. "It wasn’t even close to something that would prevent future deficits. We’re not interesting in doing another Prop. 58, another measure that doesn’t get the job done."
After a week during which the
Shelley family dynasty fell, it's refreshing to know that another is rising in its place--the
Baca dynasty. First, there was
"Working Joe Baca," then
"Genuine Joe Baca Jr." Now there's
"Reliable Jeremy Baca." Does every Baca come complete with their own adjective? Do we feel a "Name that Baca" contest coming on ...?
And we thought that
Thursday's addition to the
Legislative Insult File was enough to last for awhile. Nope, the governor had another,
calling legislators "addicts" during the Republican convention last weekend.
Still reacting to the governor's old insult of "do-nothing legislature," the Senate is focused on moving
one bill through the process. The bill would
limit the FPPC's investigation into contributions
Jim Battin took from the
Agua Caliente tribe that he handled using the now-banned
Bustamante and
Machado accounting strategy.
LA Mayor's Race Update: Councilman
Antonio Villaraigosa gets the
Steve Lopez treatment. Meanwhile, the LA Daily News
endorses Hertzberg. Maybe that's why they dedicated a news story to an
internal Hertzberg campaign poll that shows Bobzilla tied with
Jim Hahn in the race for the runoff. According to the poll, Villaraigosa gets 27 percent of the vote, while Hahn and Hertzberg each receive 20 percent.
In You Gotta Fight For Your Right to Party news,
Matier and Ross report on lobbyist
Darius Anderson's ongoing battles with his Sonoma neighbors. "It was the big white-tent "bipartisan nuptials'' of Republican lobbyist
Mary Gonsalves and Democratic spinmeister
Jason Kinney that got the current rumble going," the Chron's duo reports.
Darius may lose the battle with Sonoma County, but he may win the war with the help of Jason Kinney's boss,
Don Perata. The Senate boss wants to nix the ability of local governments to
regulate backyard concerts.After all,
Sonoma County has other things to worry about. Like a
$400 million salamander.
From the confluence of Valentine's Day and Lincoln's Birthday file: The newly single mayor of San Francisco
calls for a commitment to marriage - gay marriage that is. While in Placerville, things are just a
wee bit different. And, of course, gay marriage is still hot enough to
drive a recall in Sacramento County.Thanks for the notes of love yesterday. Indeed, we took the day off for the legislature's observance of Lincoln's Birthday.
