California Republicans are salivating at the thought
of getting into Meg Whitman's wallet.
The Chron reports, "The Chronicle has obtained a draft
of a detailed 44-page state GOP "2010 Victory Plan" that outlines the party's $85.5 million financial blueprint for a campaign effort
that includes $30 million directed to the gubernatorial race.
"The former eBay CEO is "putting a significant amount
of money in ... it could be $30 to $40 million," said a GOP insider familiar with the plan.
The source said Whitman is also expected to tap her
fundraising sources and contacts for the party's benefit.
"Whitman's potential $30 million in contributions was confirmed by prominent
state Republicans, who spoke on condition that they
would not be named for publication.
But Whitman spokesman Tucker Bounds strongly denied
the notion."
California Chief Justice Ron George said he will not stand for reelection this
fall, giving Gov. Arnold Schwarzneegger a chance to pick
his successor.
"George, 70, has been a judge for 38 years and a member of the state Supreme Court since
Gov. Pete Wilson appointed him in 1991.
"In interviews since the May 2008 same-sex marriage ruling, George had indicated he planned
to seek another 12-year term in November. But he said Wednesday he's decided
to step down - not because of sporadic threats of an opposition campaign,
or more lucrative work in the private sector, but to
have time for himself and his family after years of
seven-day workweeks."
Capitol Weekly looks at what's at stake in the Vargas/Salas runoff.
"Vargas was backed with more than $2 million worth of independent expenditure money, much
of it coming from insurers and other business groups.
Even a few union dollars found their way into the pro-Vargas mix, and the Chamber of Commerce-led independent campaign was run by Democratic political
consultant Gale Kaufman.
"On the other side was a collection of more liberal
legislators and Senate leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. Senate staff used vacation hours to work phones for
Salas and Steinberg celebrated Salas’s apparent victory in an internal memo to members of
his caucus last month.
"It’s not that a Vargas victory is a direct threat to Steinberg’s leadership, but a Vargas win would simply underscore
an undeniable fact about next year’s Senate. The Democratic caucus is going to be more
moderate, and there will be more Democratic senators
with their own financial resources who will make the
challenge of leading that caucus a more challenging
one for Steinberg."
Some environmental groups are trying now to keep the $11 billion water bond on the November ballot in hopes voters will reject it.
John Howard reports, "The same forces - and some new ones - are in play again: Environmentalists vs. business interests, Delta protectionists
vs. farmers, Northern California vs.
Southern California, Republicans vs. Democrats, construction
workers vs. conservationists. An underlying tension
pits the demands of environmentalists to protect the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and block new reservoirs against
the building of new dams and the movement of more water
to the Central Valley and Southern California."
As oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico,
the politics may have shifted on plans to tax oil production in California.
Jennifer Chaussee reports, "Pérez, D-Los Angeles, and Steinberg, D-Sacramento, disagree on how to spend the money, for
now, but they concur that taxing oil companies in California
is part of the road out of the state’s $19.1 billion hole. The proposal for an oil severance tax,
once embraced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is now
opposed by the governor and legislative Republicans
alike. For now.
"But representatives of California’s oil companies are politically astute. They recognize
the state is in dire financial straits and that their
own popularity – which was never particularly high in eco-friendly California – has taken an additional hit because of the ongoing
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
George Skelton says voters view Meg Whitman's voting record and Jerry Brown's age as liabilities.
"Career politician? Business background? Backed by
labor? Gender? None are very big factors, according
to the nonpartisan Field Poll."
A New Field Poll shows Californians have some of that
voter anger directed at their Congressional incumbents.
The survey shows Congress with the same in-state approval rating as the Legislature -- 19 percent.
And finally, Capitol Weekly's Big Daddy contimplates a budget decided by Paul the Octopus, the slimy critter who correctly predicted seven World
Cup matches.
"Over the last few years of budget negotiations, we’ve heard a lot of dumb ideas. And upon further review,
some of those ideas seem no less far-fetched than turning over the controls of the state’s $90 billion budget to a cephalopod with a knack for soccer
clairvoyance. I mean, really, subbed out the legislative
leaders’ budget role and replaced them all with an eight-legged bottom feeder with no backbone that was full
of suckers, would we really be changing anything at
all? "
