Warren Beatty used his commencement speech at Berkeley's public policy graduate school on Saturday to
tear into Governor Schwarzenegger. "'What's the point of ruling out all the new taxes on the rich other than to make sure that they continue to finance your nonstop campaign advertising?' Beatty asked."
"What is the sense," he continued, "of running to Wall Street and borrowing $15 billion, raising the debt to over $30 billion, and then coming back here and trying to cut programs and obligations to nurses and to firemen and to teachers and to cops ... and then denigrating these good people as special interests?"
And, so, My Fellow Californians,
I just might...To which we respond,
only if Halle Berry is your co-star.Dan Walters looks into what he thinks is semantically scandalous in the
war of words by both sides in the Capitol. "We in the media have a particularly acute burden in this us-vs.-them atmosphere - to be very accurate and specific about our reportage and not unconsciously adopt the code words of either side. Rather than characterize Schwarzenegger's school appropriation as a 'cut,' which the Democrats prefer, or an 'increase,' as the governor wants, we must tell voters exactly what he is doing, or not doing.
Let the semantic warriors do the twisting."
George Skelton delves into
Ray Haynes' ballot measure concept to
create a state-run border patrol, and Skelton seems intrigued by the idea. He writes "It would not be the first time California has gotten out ahead of the rest of the country. And if nothing else, it might prod the feds into doing their job."
And, gubernatorial strategist
Mike Murphy isn't apologizing for the governor's remarks praising the Minutemen on L.A.'s KFI radio station. "'We scheduled that,' Murphy said. 'It was a big issue. I'm happy he went on the show,
I'm happy with his comments.'"
"'I don't buy any of this wine-and-cheese world (stuff) that it was some horrible mistake,' he added. 'The issue is No. 1 on talk radio in the largest radio market in the world. Arnold ought to be in those places.'"
So much for the "spontaneous phone call" to the John and Ken show...
The Merc News
writes: "'We're entering a new phase now,' Murphy declared. 'I think you're going to see a lot of clarity in the political world, starting now.'"
Is that like a do-over?
Speaking of cat fights, the Bee looks into a piece of the
ongoing jousting between Jackie Speier and Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, both of whom are potential candidates for lieutenant governor next year. Garamendi is also contemplating running for reelection.
"The two tangled later when Speier mistakenly referred to Garamendi as a senator, a title he held at the Capitol from 1976 to 1991. She corrected herself, but Garamendi offered that "'Senator' works, too." "Is that another office you're contemplating?" Speier responded.
Meow.
As the papers covered the stem cell sweepstakes resulting in the siting of the headquarters in San Francisco, it
may have seemed that things were moving quickly for the voter-approved institute. Not so, writes the L.A. Times: "More than six months later, however, the effort remains mired in litigation that has delayed the sale of bonds and forced advocates to consider alternative funding sources. In addition, stem cell agency officials have expressed serious concerns about a constitutional amendment now being debated in Sacramento that would give state lawmakers some control over their operations."
The Merc News reports that the
drive for the Hindenburg Hummer is moving into full gear. "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will advocate that California invest $54 million in public money to help build a network of up to 100 hydrogen fueling stations statewide within five years, according to new details of his 'Hydrogen Highway' plan."
"
Roland Hwang, vehicle policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, called the plan 'a reasonable first step.' 'It moves us forward in a prudent way without breaking the bank,' he said. 'California is saying if we help put the stations in, we're expecting Detroit to provide the vehicles.'"
Don't hold your breath.
Finally, we promise a moratorium on the LA Mayor's race, especially now that the race is over. But we did want to point out that
the mayor-elect made the cover of Newsweek, giving the mag an opportunity to dust off that cover they never got to use four years ago.
