"The state Supreme Court plunged back into the same-sex marriage wars Wednesday, agreeing to decide the legality of a ballot measure
that repealed the right of gay and lesbian couples
to wed in California," reports the Chron's Bob Egelko.
"Six months after its momentous ruling that struck down
the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the court granted requests by both sponsors
and opponents of Proposition 8 to review lawsuits challenging the Nov. 4 initiative.
"The vote was 6-1, Justice
Joyce Kennard dissenting.
"However, the court refused, 6-1, to let same-sex marriages resume while it considers Prop. 8's constitutionality. Justice
Carlos Moreno cast the dissenting vote.
"Approved by 52 percent of voters, Prop. 8 restored the definition of marriage - a union of a man and a woman - that the court had overturned May 15. Kennard and Moreno voted with the majority in that
4-3 ruling.
"While both sides cheered the court's decision to take up the cases,
Kennard's lone vote to deny review could spell trouble for
opponents of
Prop. 8."
"Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said Wednesday she is appalled at the hostility that
has been directed at African Americans since the passage
of Proposition 8," writes Aurelio Rojas in the Bee.
"According to exit polls, 70 percent of black voters supported the measure to ban
gay marriage, which has caused friction between gays
and blacks.
"But during a meeting with The Bee's Capitol Bureau, Bass said that lost in the post-mortems over Proposition 8 is that black support for the measure was "a generational issue" that divided younger and older African Americans.
"The Los Angeles Democrat, who is California's highest-ranking African American elected official, said she
was 'really appalled at how quickly (the issue) was racialized, and it wasn't even analyzed.'"
"Assembly Speaker Karen Bass touted Uncle Sam as a realistic savior Wednesday for
California's multibillion-dollar budget shortfall – but critics say the tactic could backfire by raising
false hopes," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"'I'm still concerned that some folks are looking at this
in isolation and not in its national and international
context,' Bass said of a projected budget gap of $27.8 billion over two years.
"Rather than Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's approach of bridging the gap by roughly a 50-50 formula of tax increases and program cuts, Bass said
it's realistic to turn to federal officials for a bailout
that would avoid cuts.
"'I don't want to go there,' the Los Angeles Democrat said of cuts to education,
health care or other key services. 'I want to split the baby in half, too. I want to do
50 percent revenue, and 50 percent support from the federal government.'
Capitol Weekly reports that even as the state is bracing
for more cuts, potentially, there is a push beginning for some new programs.
"
But even as interest groups work to fend off new state
cuts in the face of all the bad economic news, a group
of advocates has reignited its quest to extend health
care coverage to more than 750,000 California children without health insurance.
Advocates say they are encouraged by the fact that
Darrell Steinberg will be taking the helm of the Senate
next month. Last session, Steinberg was the author,
along with Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, of a measure that would have extended health
insurance to any child in California who lives in a
family with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal policy.
“Given the situation we’re in, let’s get the kids’ piece done right at
the state level,” said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, a group
that advocates for health coverage for kids. Lempert
said it would cost about $400 million to cover the 760,000 California
children without health care coverage.
"Last year, Schwarzenegger rejected the proposal in
concept, saying he did not want to single out kids,
worried it might derail momentum for his comprehensive
health-care expansion program. But given the new fiscal realities,
and the failure of his health care proposal earlier
this year, there are indications he may be open to
a more incremental approach.
“The governor still believes that California needs comprehensive
health care reform,” said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. “Part
of that includes covering California’s children. That is a huge
priority for the governor.”
CW's John Howard says the budget realities have dried up much of the talk of
a water deal.
A long-simmering effort to craft an omnibus state water package
in the Legislature is being put on hold because of
the faltering economy and deep-seated disagreements between rival interests.
But players in the on-again, off-again negotiations remain hopeful, in part because
an agreement nearly was reached earlier in the year
before it got snared in budget politics, in part because
new Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento,
a mediator by profession, has publicly made water a
top priority.
“The economy and the severity of the drought, the wildfires
and everything else: It’s frustrating for many of us that we haven’t
done anything in the way of infrastructure before
now, and those things just heighten the criticality,” said Senate GOP
Leader David Cogdill of Fresno. “The infrastructure will take a couple
of decades, and
we want to get started.”
The Wall Street Journal's Jim Carlton profiles Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines.
"Mr. Villines (pronounced Vuh-LINES) is leader of the state Assembly's Republican caucus, which, with just 32 of the legislature's 80 members, has little power to set the agenda. Political
observers here like to joke that the Republican caucus,
along with its counterpart in the Democratic-led state Senate, holds real sway only two times a
year -- when the state's budget is being set and during the legislative softball
game.
"Mr. Villines, a 41-year-old former public-relations executive from a conservative Fresno district,
can be dramatic about making his opinions known. He
strode into a meeting with Gov. Schwarzenegger and
other statehouse leaders on Nov. 10 and handed them copies of a book entitled 'The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy -- If We Let It Happen.'
"'We have a lot in common,' Gov. Schwarzenegger said of Mr. Villines through a
spokesman.
"Karen Bass, the Democratic Assembly speaker, said,
'He is a very respectful, pleasant man. We disagree,
but we are not disagreeable.'"
From our Not So Respectful files,CW's Malcolm MAclachlan reports on a nasty political hit put out on Rep. David Dreier.
"
Just before the election, thousands of voters his southern
California district received the piece targeting Dreier.
One side is dominated by an image of two fit looking
young men—neither of them Dreier, but one wearing a large pink
headband—lying together on a beach. The headlines reads: “Why are
taxpayers paying for David Dreier’s Homosexual Lifestyle?” The letters
are white, except “Homosexual,” which is written in red.
Dreier, a conservative known for pro-business stands, is not openly gay, but has been dogged
with rumors about his sexuality for years. But it hasn’t stopped his constituents from sending him back to
Congress every election since 1980."
The Chron's Jim Doyle reports: "Chancellor Charles Reed of the California State University received the green light on Wednesday to turn away
at least 10,000 students who apply for admission next fall to the 23-campus system."
Not to be outdone, "UC regents threatened Wednesday to place some unspecified limits
on freshman enrollment next fall if the deficit-battered state government does not provide enough funding
to the 10-campus university system," writes the LAT's Larry Gordon.
"However, the regents avoided the definitive steps that
the state's other public university system, California State,
proposed earlier this week to reduce freshman admission
and enforce earlier than usual deadlines for applications.
"At the urging of UC system president Mark G. Yudof, the regents' finance committee backed away even from using the
word "freeze" in describing the possible enrollment limits. Yudof
said he wanted more time to study the issue and more
wiggle room with the Legislature and governor. The
panel then adopted a vague motion that called on UC
to "curtail" the numbers of freshmen if state funding is not adequate."
And finally, we report that indeed, the rumors were
true. Adolph Hitler truly was a one-nut wonder.
A source no less reputable than the Sun reports, "
AN extraordinary account from a German army medic has
finally confirmed what
the world long suspected: Hitler only had one ball.
War veteran Johan Jambor made the revelation to a priest
in the 1960s, who
wrote it down.
The priest’s document has now come to light – 23 years
after Johan’s death.
Until now there has never been complete proof Hitler
was monorchic."
Monorchic? Moving on...
But the document tells how Johan saw the proof with
his own eyes. In the
account, he relives the horror of serving as an army
medic in World War I.
"Hitler’s genitals have long caused controversy. Some historians
dismissed the “one ball” song as propaganda. But an
alleged Soviet autopsy on Hitler backed it up."
