Steve Harmon reports Abel Maldonado is the front-runner in the lite gov sweepstakes.
"Several sources close to
the administration said privately that Maldonado is
the likely choice
for two reasons: He has bailed out the governor with a number of
critical votes — on budgets and taxes, for which the governor may feel
some debt — and would sail through the Democratic-controlled
Legislature for confirmation.
"Schwarzenegger has settled on
Maldonado. I'm hearing it's him," one person close to the
administration said, asking not to be identified."
Ah, yes. But can he name a wayward whale?
Well, we're sure gubernatorial politics won't factor into this one at all. Dan Smith reports Jerry Brown is being asked to weigh in on the legality
of legislative pay cuts,
"The Legislature's
top administrators have asked Attorney General Jerry
Brown to decide
whether pending 18 percent cuts to lawmakers' pay and benefits were
legally approved by the California Citizens Compensation
Commission.
"Jon
Waldie, chief administrative officer of the Assembly, and
Greg Schmidt,
chief executive officer of the Senate, suggest that
the reductions were
beyond the jurisdiction of the seven-member commission, which is
appointed by the governor.
"Citing the state's dire fiscal
condition, the panel in May cut the pay for state officials
by 18
percent beginning in December 2010 – after the next round of
legislative elections. The cut will reduce the annual
pay of a
legislator from $116,208 to $95,291. Meanwhile, annual pay for
legislative leaders will drop from $133,639 to $109,584."
This is great. The next governor has a chance to piss
off the legislature before he even declares his candidacy!
Greg Lucas looks at the "historic" water bond, and how it would add to the state's "historic" debt.
"The water bond stipulates that no
more than 50 percent of the $11 billion can be sold during the next
five years — assuming the bond measure is approved by voters next
November — which reduces the increase in debt service in the
short term.
"However, Treasurer Bill Lockyer’s debt
affordability report shows the amount of debt service
the cash-starved
General Fund pays will already double from $6 billion this year to more
than $12 billion in seven years."
Dan Walters takes some shots at Darrell Steinberg, and his former
colleagues.
Writing about Steinberg's 11th hour attempts to earmark $10 million in the water bond for a tolerance center in
downtown Sacramento, he writes, "these incidents reveal something about Steinberg, a
hard-working policy wonk who, however, has a disturbing
ends-justify-the-means penchant. "Frankly, if I have the opportunity to
use the power I have to further civil rights and to
further California
history in any way, I'm going to do that," he said in explaining the
water bond earmark.
"But these incidents also illustrate how journalists
expose politicians' hide-the-pea games.
"There's
an even more ironic twist. Steinberg has hired a squad
of ex-newspaper
reporters for a special oversight office that supposedly
is shedding
light on state government issues that otherwise would
go unreported.
"So
far, however, most of the reports emerging from Steinberg's personal
investigative team fall far short of legitimate news.
They tend –
surprise, surprise – to support the political positions of Steinberg,
other Democrats and their allies, such as public employee
unions."
Yesterday was John Garamendi's first day on the job. Drew Joseph reports, "
After addressing Congress, Garamendi thanked Pelosi
for her work on
health care and climate change and said, "I'll be there with you and
we'll get this job done."
Pelosi and other House leaders are aiming to get enough
support for health reform to call a vote on Saturday."
And finally, from our If At First You Don't Succeed Files, "A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver's license with near-daily attempts since April 2005 has finally succeeded on her 950th time.
"The
aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application
fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum
60 out of a
possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving
test.
"Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60."
So what happens when she gets behind the wheel?
