The governor brought a gaggle of
not-so-special interests to the Capitol yesterday to show that there is support in Educationland for his school spending and policy proposals. Among those joining the governor at the event yesterday were "teachers, members of school boards, charter and vocational school officials, administrators and business executives."
The governor's new coalition is perhaps the clearest sign yet that the attacks from the California Teachers Association, and other members of the Education Coalition, are beginning to take their toll on the governor. And somewhere out there, we hear there's a
David Binder poll that shows just that.
Dan Walters calls it "a replay, of sorts, of the battle that the CTA fought with Schwarzenegger's mentor, former
Gov. Pete Wilson."
Meanwhile, Dion Nissenbaum
covers the governor's appearance at the opening of
Be Cool last night. It wasn't the paparazzi greeting the governor last night, but rather "dozens of teachers, nurses, union members and activists who have joined forces to fight his conservative reform agenda."
Rob Stutzman wasn't pleased by the red carpet treatment "They're rude and they're special interests."
In
"This is really going to ruin that D.C vacation" news, Speaker Fabian Nuņez called a last-minute press conference yesterday to discuss how the Bush budget was hurting California. This just days before the Speaker joins the governor and other legislative leaders on a lobbying trip to the nation's capital.
"When it comes to getting our fair share of federal funds for California, I believe that Democrats and Republicans must be united in purpose and united in practice,"
Nuņez said. And we're sure they will be, as long as that purpose is to blame Republicans for all that is wrong in California.
Nuņez was also a handful of Democrats, the others being
Lloyd Levine, Pedro Nava, Hector De La Torre and Cindy Montanez to get dinged for a recent
fundraising trip to Hawaii. In a moment of frankness, Montanez Chief of Staff
Rocky Rushing, says of the event, "I don't know that it's buying access to any greater degree than the system allows now." Note to Rocky: Stern lecture to follow.
"As host, Ameriquest, the nation's largest high-risk mortgage lender, picked up the tab for the airfare, hotel, the National Football League all-star game tickets and at least one dinner for the lawmakers. The company is among the largest political donors in California, having spent $3.8 million in the 2004 election on candidates for state office and ballot measures."
Now it is revealed: So, who filed that FPPC complaint against
Jim Battin? The
Riverside Press-Enterprise says it was
Mike Machado. "Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, was angry at GOP criticism of Machado's fund-raising practices during a tough re-election fight, Battin said. Machado withdrew the complaint last July, Battin said.
In "We're in the Wrong Business" news, a new
estimate of tribal casino revenues shows it has grown into an
$18.5 billion industry nationwide. That's twice the take of the Nevada gaming industry.
Speaking of long shots,
Bernard Parks gets his shot with
Steve Lopez "
Bernie Parks wakes up in his own world, goes to work in his own world, lays himself down to sleep in his own world. Moral certainty is his best quality and his worst." One imagines that in that world, the former police chief imagines he may one day wake up as mayor of Los Angeles. Or at least wake up and find that
Jim Hahn no longer is.
In other local political news, put the
Alameda County Supervisor's race on your watch list. The race pits wanna-be Senator
Wilma Chan against her former chief of staff, and current county supervisor,
Alice Lai-Bitker.The Oakland Tribune's
Peggy Stinnett writes: "When I asked the Assembly member why she wanted Lai-Bitker out of the job, Chan said, 'Alice hasn't done a thing" for the county since she took office ... Alice is a nice person, but she hasn't been able to get anything done. She's really just a staff person and can't do the politics.'"
Many of our former employees say similarly nice things about us.
A King's ransom: Not only did
Joe and Gavin Maloof get suckered into giving $100,000 to
Gray Davis to try to stop the recall, now they're being
fined $10,000 for failing to report the gift. In the Kings' tradition, the Maloofs immediately began complaining about the call.
