We begin this morning with an entry from our
Mine's Bigger Than Yours Files. Capitol Weekly's Malcolm Maclachlan takes a look at just how Capitol clout is measured: by
square footage of a member's office.
"Political status usually is reflected in endorsements, donations and legislative victories. But inside the Capitol, there's a pecking order measured out in square feet and nice views.
Just ask Assemblyman
Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa, who
finds himself sitting in the smallest legislative office in the Capitol. How small? Try
391 square feet. In fact, it's the office that went unoccupied when the Assembly went down to 79 members for a while last year.
Cook acknowledged that as a freshman in the minority party, he wasn't expecting the Taj Mahal. But he and five staff members, a group that includes two interns and an Assembly fellow, make due in two cramped rooms. The next smallest office--occupied by another freshman, Republican Assemblyman,
Ted Gaines, R-Roseville--is 151 square feet bigger."
From our
If You Think I'm Sexy Files,
the guv talks prisons with the LA Times' Jordan Rau. Schwarzenegger says the state has "'lived in denial' about the crisis in the state's prisons, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday complained that apathy in the electorate is to blame for the lack of will in the Capitol to address the corrections system's overcrowding and rising costs.
In an interview with The Times, Schwarzenegger offered a blunt appraisal about the political roots of California's prison troubles.
Schwarzenegger said the prison problem is not "sexy," because it does not affect people's lives directly, as schools or transportation issues do.
"You talk about prisons, people feel like, 'OK, go out and get the criminal and you send him somewhere, but wherever that is, I don't want to look there, I don't want to know. That's your problem,' " he said. "When the people are not excited about it, how do you make the legislators excited about it?"
I dunno, governor.
Maybe you can package it with term limits!"After declaring himself a proud Republican last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
hedged his answers Wednesday when asked whether he will endorse a Republican in the 2008 presidential race," writes Kevin Yamamura in the Bee.
Why this is a story, we're not entirely certain. Does anyone really believe Schwarzenegger will back a Democrat? In fact, we're willing to lay down money and odds if anyone actually believes Schwarzenegger is going to endorse a Democrat in 2008. Unless the GOP nominates
Duncan Hunter, in which case all bets are officially off.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
"The governor remained coy about his presidential preferences in his annual Sacramento Press Club appearance while insisting California should play a greater role in shaping national politics by moving up the state's primary next year from June to February.
Schwarzenegger, a celebrity governor in the nation's most populous state, could affect the presidential race by campaigning on behalf of a candidate.
'We have to look at all the candidates and just listen to them very carefully,' he responded to a question about whether he would consider Democrats alongside Republicans when picking a presidential candidate.
Schwarzenegger intends to travel to a few places to support his chosen candidate. In an ABC News interview that aired Sunday, Schwarzenegger called three Republicans terrific: former New York City Mayor
Rudy Giuliani; U.S. Sen.
John McCain, R-Ariz.; and New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg. Giuliani and McCain have launched exploratory efforts, and some have pushed Bloomberg to run as an independent.
Asked a third time Wednesday whether he will consider Democrats, Schwarzenegger said, '
No, I'm looking. I think we have some good Republican candidates that are out there.'"
Speaking of 2008, CW's John Howard takes a look at
an initiative from the community colleges that would tweak Proposition 98.
California's community colleges, the nation's largest higher-education system with more than 1 million full-time students, want to change the state's Constitution to protect their funding.
Community-college advocates have begun submitting signatures for a ballot measure that would redefine the role of enrollment and formally alter the decades-old linkage to the K-12 public schools. It is the most important policy proposal affecting the 109-campus system since voters approved Proposition 98 two decades ago to protect the money for schools and the two-year colleges.
"I think you could say that
this concludes the 50-year migration of the community colleges from the public schools. We were born out of the public-school system, but we continue to be hamstrung by segments of the Education Code that are designed to protect children. Our program needs are different. Our students are adults," said
Dennis Smith, president of the Faculty Association of the California Community Colleges, a sponsor of the proposed initiative."
George Skelton writes that
the governor's communications skills have noticeably improved. "Upgraded as in some signs of humility and less hubris. More charm without being cocky. Inflection in his voice, not bombast. Subdued rather than strident. More thoughtful, less theatrical."
Still, all those really, really nice suits...
"In truth, of course, Schwarzenegger calmed down over a year ago, dropping the bully act after getting thrashed by voters in a special election on his "reforms." He had been "too pushy," the governor conceded Sunday on ABC-TV's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos."
But Schwarzenegger now has elevated his communicating to an even higher level — a necessity if he's going to sell the public on sweeping healthcare and costly public works programs.
I credit the fractured femur.
Any link between the busted thigh and better oratory is purely speculative. But I'm not alone in noticing marked improvement over previous efforts in his recent inaugural and State of the State addresses.
'
It was toned down by 10 on a scale of 50,' says
Barbara O'Connor, a political communications professor at Cal State Sacramento and a longtime Democratic activist. 'The pain pills will do that for you.'"
Ah, the return of Governor Feelgood.
Matier and Ross write that
painkillers could also be responsible for gaffes. "Busted leg or no, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't letting up on his public appearances.
Many thought the Governator might take a break after his inauguration and State of the State speech. Instead, he's hobbling along, coming down to San Francisco for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast Monday, then off to Los Angeles that night for the Golden Globe Awards.
He's done quite a job of working through the pain, although some think the painkillers have kicked into gear a bit unexpectedly at times.
Like at the post-inaugural luncheon when he introduced his mother-in-law,
Eunice Shriver, telling the crowd: '
She's 86 years old, and she flies out here all by herself. Eunice -- you don't look a day over 90!'
Whoops."
CW's Cosmo Garvin
sits down with the new acting Education Secretary, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.
Sickos.
Garvin also reports "California
hospitals may be off the hook for billions of dollars in seismic upgrades, thanks to a new technology that zeroes in on structural quake risks." The move was hailed by the California Hospitals Association, but criticized by state nurses, who say there are more hospital building that need reinforcements.
"'What we've seen is that every time the Legislature gives them a deadline, the majority of hospitals just lobby to extend those deadlines," said CNA director of government relations Donna Gerber. "If you give them extensions, they just don't do it."
Gerber said that since most hospitals will get extensions until 2013, she doesn't see any rush to loosen the rules."
Jim Sanders reports "The 20-year-old daughter of newly elected Lt. Gov.
John Garamendi will be charged with violating state alcohol law in connection with a crash in which she lost control of her sport-utility vehicle near Clarksburg last month.
Ashley Garamendi will be charged with being a person under 21 who was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.05 percent or more, Yolo County Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Mount said Wednesday.
"She'll be given a letter to appear in traffic court," he said.
The vehicle code violation, less severe than drunken driving, is an infraction that carries a base fine of up to $100 for a first offense, which could rise to about $370 with local fees tacked on.
Garamendi's driver's license also was suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles for one year, beginning Monday. She has appealed and a Feb. 9 hearing is scheduled, said
Mike Miller, DMV spokesman."
The U-T's Eleanor Yang Su reports that "University of California regents
considered a radical plan yesterday that would raise professional student fees to address the diminishing quality of instruction.
As proposed by
Christopher Edley Jr., dean at UC Berkeley's School of Law-Boalt Hall, the plan would raise Boalt's student fees 13 percent for each of the next five years to bring tuition there on par with that of other leading law schools, such as the one at the University of Michigan. Boalt Hall charges about $25,500 a year in tuition, compared with Michigan's $35,500.
Edley proposed granting each school the flexibility to raise fees as needed to attract better-qualified professors, within the constraints of the marketplace, among other fixes. It's too early to say how tuition would be affected at other professional schools, including UC San Diego's medical, pharmacy, international relations and Pacific studies schools.
Edley referred to the long-term financial strategy as “burden sharing,” noting that the fee increases would be augmented by state funding and increased private support.
Several faculty members expressed concerns about the plan.
John Oakley, chairman of UC's Academic Council, which represents faculty members, said the group has not endorsed it.
'Privatization arguments can be made for every unit of every campus, and to date, the Academic Council has been reluctant to adopt them,' Oakley said."
Finally, it looks like a would-be carjacker in South Carolina
actually did get a cap busted in his ass.
"A man trying to steal a car at gunpoint from a couple ended up being shot himself, Richland County Sheriff
Leon Lott says.
Harold Levar Jeffcoat, 29, was arrested Sunday at the hospital where he was being treated for
a gunshot wound to the buttocks, Lott said.
"Jeffcoat was shot Saturday night after he stuck a gun into the stomach of a man getting into his car at a Wal-Mart in suburban northeast Richland County and demanded his keys, deputies said.
"A woman in the passenger seat pulled a gun from the glove compartment and fired five shots at Jeffcoat, hitting him once, investigators said."
