Capitol Weekly analyses the Schwarzenegger recall threat. "There was a common reaction when word spread this week
that the state prison guards’ union was threatening a recall effort against Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Most Capitol watchers dismissed
the talk as part of an ongoing public relations war
between the union and the governor. But in the post-Gray Davis-recall world, few seem willing to completely write
off the possibility that the effort may be for real.
"While the Schwarzenegger administration downplays the
seriousness of the threat, his political team snapped
to attention this week, sending out press releases,
organizing conference calls with reporters, and encouraging
surrogates to send out statements of support for the
governor.
"The speedy – and angry -- reaction may stem, at least in part, from the
long-standing enmity between Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff, Susan
Kennedy, and the prison officers.
It also reflects the governor’s lagging popularity—more Californians
disapprove than approve of his job
performance, polls say, and more than two-thirds don’t like the
direction in which the state is headed.
"As the political gamesmanship again heats up, what’s clear, as of now at least, is that the threat from
the California Correctional Peace Officers Association
is not part of a larger Recall Arnold effort.
"Discussions with several union and Democratic leaders,
many of whom did not speak for attribution, said the
recall effort is simply a CCPOA operation.
“We have not had a conversation with CCPOA on this,” said Dave Low of the California School Employees Association.
“At this point, it’s a CCPOA program, and if they are serious and move
it forward, we’ll see what occurs after that.
"Low said the recall “popped up out of the blue this past week. Right now,
our first, second and third priority is the budget.”
"Other counselors to the union say this is an idea that
originated with the union leadership. “We do a lot of work for them,
but they have a lot of stuff they do on their own,” said Richard
Temple, the longtime political consultant
to the union."
CW's John Howard looks at new diesel regualtions being adopted by the Air Resources
Board. "The financial impact alone could be far greater than
the planned multibillion-dollar market structure of the better-known greenhouse gas law.
"
ARB puts the economic impact at roughly $4.4 billion to $5.4 billion, due mostly to the cost of upgrading vehicles
with soot-capturing traps, which can cost $20,000 or more for older trucks, and the purchase over time
of new engines and vehicles. Truckers and their allies,
not surprisingly, believe their out-of-pocket costs could be far higher, and that the ARB
has little concept of the rules’ economic stress."
In case you have gotten confused with all the spending
plans, the Bee's Dan Smith breaks them down for you. And, George Skelton asks whether we are indeed a high-tax state.
The Bee's Shane Goldmacher looks at the efforts of Insurance Commish Steve Poizner
to build party support for his run for the state's top job.
"He hasn't said the magical words – "I'm running" – yet, but Poizner's carefully plotted course has left little doubt he
intends to seek the state's highest office.
"His prolific schedule on the speech-giving circuit has built up a reservoir of political
chits.
"Last week, he hobnobbed at the Republican National
Convention in St. Paul, Minn., as vice chairman of
the California delegation. Today, he'll headline a fundraiser for a Republican candidate
in a competitive Assembly race.
"He traveled to Israel with President Bush this spring.
And he seems to find himself on stage whenever Sen.
John McCain makes a California campaign swing.
"'I'm really serious about considering a run for governor,' said Poizner, a 51-year-old with a slim build and a geekish charm.
"A social moderate and fiscal conservative, Poizner
already appears to be honing a campaign message:
"'My mission in life,' he said in a wide-ranging interview, 'is to help get California back on track. We need to
make California the innovation capital of the world
again.'"
"Expanding an already close business alliance, the state
has struck a deal with American Express Co. to launch
a meetings and conference management program that officials hope will save California taxpayers
millions of dollars," writes Andrew McIntosh in the Bee.
"The new effort, put in place without fanfare on July
1, was described in a state memo obtained by The Bee
and confirmed by Department of General Services officials.
"It affects staff at more than 240 state departments, boards and commissions.
"The program aims to pinpoint what the state spends
annually to either hold or attend private and public
meetings, conferences, trade shows, job fairs and other
events, and where such events are held.
"'The problem we've had, until now, was that we didn't have any way of capturing what and how much was being
spent,' said Eric Lamoureux, a General Services spokesman.
"Now, state officials are requiring organizers or hosts
of every state conference, meeting or event to pay
for their function using their state AmEx cards or
AmEx travel account. Ditto for state workers attending
events."
Speaking of pulling out the credit card, "Californians will decide in November whether to make a hefty down
payment on a flashy new ride that's swift, sleek and already popular in Europe and Asia," reports the Chron's Michael Cabanatuan.
"Proposition 1A on the Nov. 4 ballot would authorize the sale of $9.95 billion in bonds to help start construction of an
800-mile high-speed rail network that would send electric trains
zipping between Northern and Southern California at
up to 220 mph.
"A trip from the Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco
and Los Angeles Union Station would take about 2 1/2 hours, according to the state High Speed Rail Authority,
and would cost about $55 one way. There would be stops on the Peninsula and
in the South Bay.
"The system would be the largest public works project
in California history - bigger than the California Aqueduct - and would cost $32 billion for the main line between San Francisco and
Los Angeles and an additional $10 billion to complete the network by adding extensions
to San Diego, Sacramento and Riverside County. The
state is banking on getting about a third of the construction
budget from state taxpayers, a third from the federal
government and a third from private investors.
"Should a majority of voters approve, California would
proceed with plans to build the nation's first true high-speed rail system with an initial line running between
San Francisco and Los Angeles or, perhaps, Anaheim.
The bulk of the bond revenues - $9 billion - would be spent on planning and building the system,
and the remaining $950 million would be devoted to connecting rail service,
such as BART, the Altamont Commuter Express and the
Capitol Corridor."
In other ballot measure news, "California's six most senior Episcopal bishops Wednesday unanimously declared their opposition to a constitutional
amendment on the statewide November ballot that would
ban same-sex marriage," reports the LAT's Duke Helfand.
"The bishops argued that preserving the right of gays
and lesbians to marry would enhance the "Christian values" of monogamy, love and commitment.
"'We believe that continued access to civil marriage
for all, regardless of sexual orientation, is consistent
with the best principles of our constitutional rights,' said the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.
"Bruno, flanked at a news conference by fellow clergy
members and gay and straight couples, added: 'We do not believe that marriage of heterosexuals is
threatened by same-sex marriage.'"
Finally, could the country be headed for an Obama/Palin administration? It could happen. Capitol Weekly explains how.
"Assume that Obama holds on to states where he is currently
ahead, including Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania and
New Hampshire. Now, assume that McCain maintains his
hold on Colorado, Virginia, Ohio and Florida. That
would give both men 269 electoral votes – a tie – and leave the decision up to the Congress.
The Twelfth Amendment makes provisions for an electoral
tie. In that case, the president would be elected by
the House of Representatives. Each state would get
one vote. So, California with it’s 53 House members, would get one
vote, as would Alaska,
with its one representative. Democrats control 26 state delegations.
Republicans have a Congressional majority in twenty-one states. Three
states - Arizona, Kansas and
Mississippi - are split evenly. So presumably, by a narrow margin,
Obama would emerge as the winner of that contest (even though some of
those 26 states would have voted for McCain. You can see the
possibilities for mischief and political posturing
here, but hey, we’re just dreaming).
Now, the Twelfth Amendment also makes provisions for
choosing the vice president in the event of an electoral
tie. That job falls to the Senate, where Democrats
and Republicans each hold 49 seats. Two seats are held by independents – Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders, who would presumably
back Joe Biden, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman,
who has backed the McCain/Palin ticket.
If that vote ends in a 50-50 tie, it would then fall to Vice President Dick Cheney
to break the tie, and essentially handpick his successor.
And if he follows party lines, he would cast his vote
for Palin."
Stay tuned...
