"A bare-knuckles campaign to kick Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
out of office was abandoned Thursday by the state's powerful prison guards union," report Jim Sanders and Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
"The California Correctional Peace Officers Association
dropped its recall bid but continued to throw verbal
jabs.
"'We continue to believe that Governor Schwarzenegger
needs to return to what he's good at, making movies,' spokesman Lance Corcoran said.
"Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Democrat
Gray Davis, is the only California governor ever to be recalled,
but the threat against the Republican governor sparked
shock waves because CCPOA is one of the state's most powerful unions, spending $17 million on political campaigns since 2005.
"Money, timing and the state's rocky economy were key issues in CCPOA's decision Thursday to shelve its bid before hitting
the streets to gather more than a million signatures."
To celebrate, the governor is taking a trip to Florida
today for two fundraisers in support of Proposition 11.
"California's effort this week to raise billions of dollars by
obtaining loans ended Thursday with better-than-expected results, with the Golden State selling $5 billion worth of short-term notes to investors," writes Matthew Yi in the Chron.
"While the state needs to borrow a total of $7 billion for the fiscal year that ends June 30, California officials decided initially to try borrowing
$4 billion this week given the recent Wall Street meltdown
and worldwide credit crunch.
"But the sale of the so-called revenue anticipation notes, or RANs, was stronger
than expected with individual investors, who had first
dibs Tuesday and Wednesday, buying nearly $4 billion worth of the short-term notes.
"Institutional investors such as large banks had their
turn Thursday and purchased about $1 billion worth of RANs.
"'The success of this deal far surpassed all expectations,' Treasurer Bill Lockyer said in a written statement.
'Californians stepped up and invested in record numbers,
showing their faith in the state's strong credit.'"
"The California Teachers Assn. donated $1 million this week to defeat a ballot initiative seeking
to ban same-sex marriage in California, joining the ranks of wealthy gay rights
activists and Hollywood politicos as one of the major
donors to the campaign," writes the LAT's Evelyn Larrubia.
"'For us, it's a civil rights issue,' said the association's President David Sanchez. 'We don't believe people should be treated differently.'
"The teachers union also takes issue with advertisements
by backers of Proposition 8 suggesting that the measure would stop children from
being taught about gay marriage in schools. Union leaders
echoed complaints by the No on 8 campaign that the ads are misleading because California
law already prohibits teaching any child health issues
without parental consent.
"But the Yes on 8 campaign responded that the ads show what happened
in Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal and taught
to second graders in public schools after a court battle
in which parents lost the right to opt their children
out of the lessons."
The LAT's Patrick McGreevy reports on the efforts by the FPPC to require candidate-controlled committees to be more transparent.
"On Thursday, the Fair Political Practices Commission,
the state's ethics watchdog agency, took the first step toward
making sweeping changes aimed at lifting the veil from
political committees trying to influence elections
in California. The commission will now accept public
comments on the proposed rule changes before holding
a meeting to vote on whether to adopt the requirements.
"'Having the candidate's name in all candidate-controlled committees adds greatly to public disclosure,' said Hyla Wagner, a senior attorney for the FPPC,
in a report proposing the changes.
"The proposed new rules, which would apply to committee
names included on political mailers and broadcast ads,
would also require that:
"* Election committees include the name of the candidate,
the office sought and the year of the election.
"* Ballot measure committees identify in their names
the top three donors in descending order of the amount
given.
"* Independent expenditure committees set up to influence
an election use, in their names, the candidate being
supported or opposed, the office involved and the year
of the election.
"Politicians and major donors may have an interest in
disguising their involvement in a campaign if voters
would react negatively knowing how extensively they
are involved, said Kathay Feng, executive director
of California Common Cause."
The Bee's Steve Weigand sits down with Liz Hill, and gets the retiring Legislative Analystto take
one last swipe at the ballot measure pushed by the
governor as his entry into California politics.
"I'd try to unlock the budget. Unlock all the formulas
that are both
in statute and the constitution … so the governor and Legislature could
really respond to changing conditions and set current
priorities. …
Right now there are so many formulas that it makes
budgeting and
setting priorities for the state very difficult. … Take Proposition 49,
the after-school measure. It required that $500 million be put in only
for after-school programs; whether we needed textbooks or other things,
it has to be spent on after-school programs."
Finally, "an Ontario woman was charged with a traffic violation
after having her nine-year-old daughter drive her home following a night of drinking."
That's Ontario, Canada of course...
"'The woman was concerned that she was unable to drive
having consumed some alcohol at a social function,' police said on Thursday.
"The child was driving the car slowly along country
roads in southeastern Ontario on October 12 when police noticed how tiny she was and pulled her
over, police said."
