The two GOP gubernatorial front-runners squared off in a debate that was heavy on stump-speech sound bites and short on details, Cathleen Decker
and Seemha Mehta report.
"Whitman argued that she would bring an outsider's
perspective to
Sacramento and present the sharpest possible contrast
to the
presumptive Democratic nominee, former governor and
current Atty. Gen.
Jerry Brown. Brown, she said, brought to the race a
"record of failure."
"I have met a payroll. I have balanced budgets, I have
been on the
receiving end of all kinds of burdensome regulations,"
she said. "I
know what it's like to run a business in California,
and I know how
hard it is."
"Poizner, who is trailing Whitman in pre-primary polls, sought again and
again to define her as too liberal for the party's
core voters, an
argument he has forwarded more sharply in recent weeks.
"I want to fix the state of California by implementing
some bold,
sweeping reforms that include tax cuts across the board,
where Meg and
I disagree," he said. "I want to stop illegal immigration
by cutting
off taxpayer-funded benefits. . . . Meg doesn't want to go that
far."
Michael Rothfeld looks at the verbal tics of the two candidates, and the dreaded NPR debate.
"Republican Steve Poizner tries to score points on
Meg Whitman by
tagging her with an apparent conservative no-no in Monday's debate:
"Another difference between Meg and me. I don't listen
to NPR"
(National Public Radio)."
Translation: She's a liberal pinko commie...
Dan Walters says the tie goes to the front-runner. "The hourlong debate was an indirect Whitman win,
since she handled
herself well. Poizner, while taking jabs at her on
such red-meat
conservative issues as taxes, abortion and illegal
immigration, didn't
score any solid punches, much less a knockout.
"Questions about
Whitman's political skills had arisen because for months,
she had
refused to answer questions from the state's political
press corps,
confining her media exposure to friendly broadcast
interviewers.
"As
as the criticism mounted, she finally emerged from
her cocoon during
the GOP convention, fielding questions from reporters
for about an hour
without miscues."
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will not sign a bill aimed at providing tax relief
for struggling homeowners.Evan Halper reports, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
administration announced Monday that he
would not sign a bill passed by lawmakers that would
ease taxes for
some homeowners and green energy companies, largely
because the measure
would ramp up penalties against those who abuse such
tax credits.
The
decision came at the urging of a business coalition
that lobbied
against the bill, saying it would make businesses reluctant
to claim
the tax breaks for fear of making an error. The proposal,
which would
match credits and penalties already allowed for federal
taxes, was
intended to help Californians who lose their home in
a short sale and
businesses in the state's green-technology sector.
Administration
officials urged lawmakers to immediately craft, and
pass, a new
proposal in time for the credits still to be claimed
on 2009 tax
returns. But Democrats said it was unlikely that a
new bill would get
the required two-thirds vote of the Legislature to pass as an urgent
measure."
Shane Goldmacher reports on some big pay hikes for the Assembly leaders' top legislative aides.
"Both of the Assembly’s new Democratic and Republican leaders, Speaker
John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) and minority leader Martin Garrick
(R-Solana Beach), doled out big raises to their top aides shortly after
assuming the leadership posts. Pérez hiked the annual salary of his chief of staff,
Sara Ramirez,
from $125,256 to $190,008 as of March 1, according to public records
requested by the Times."
And finally, from our Health Care Debate Files, "A union representing Dutch nurses will launch a national
campaign
Friday against demands for sexual services by patients
who claim it
should be part of their standard care.
"The union, NU'91, is calling the campaign "I Draw The Line Here," with an advert that features a young woman
covering her face with crossed hands.
"The union said in a statement Thursday that the campaign
follows a
complaint it had received in the last week from a 24-year-old woman who
said a 42-year-old disabled man asked her to provide sexual services
as
part of his care at home."
And you thought the debate in Washington was contentious....
