The Merc News's Steven Harmon
reviews the failure of Republicans to qualify the electoral vote change initiative. "For them, the proposal to change the way California's electoral college votes are awarded is more than a political strategy to retain the presidency. In important ways, it reflects the struggle of a muzzled political minority trying desperately to regain a voice and assert itself on such issues as immigration, gay rights, taxes, regulation and spending.
"'
If you want to talk about disenfranchised, the disenfranchised in California are Republicans,' said
Ken Khachigian, longtime Republican strategist who's worked the campaigns of eight GOP presidential candidates and was Ronald Reagan's chief speechwriter. He doesn't support the measure but he understands the frustration driving it. 'We don't get to pass laws or stop bad regulations.'
But they have places where you can. They're called Southern states.
"The Electoral College measure is one way to gain some clout and also undermine the opposition. And Republican activists immediately vowed to find new support and keep it alive - a testament to just how important the idea is to conservatives.
"'Whether it takes this election or some future election,' said
Ray Haynes, a former GOP assemblyman who first introduced the initiative in 2000, 'it is a good idea. So if we don't get it in 2008, it doesn't matter. We'll get it in 2012 or 2016.'"
Meanwhile, the governor
has yet another chance to make nice with the California Nurses Association.
The Oakland Tribune's Suzanne Bohan writes: "Three times Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed proposed laws that would require hospitals to give nurses mechanical and physical support when lifting and transferring certain patients, to spare nurses painful injuries and lost work time. Patients also would experience fewer injuries, say proponents of the latest incarnation of the legislation, which is back on the governor's desk and awaiting his signature by mid-October.
"'We've been shot down three times,' said
Genel Morgan, a cardiac care nurse and board member of the Oakland-based California Nurses Association, a nurses union that sponsored Senate Bill 171. The bill requires hospitals to stock specialized "lift" equipment and maintain teams trained in lifting, shifting and transferring patients.
"Passage of the bill is crucial, said
Donna Gerber, director of governmental relations for the nurses association, which represents 75,000 nurses, most of them in California. The bill is authored by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland. If approved, it takes effect on July 1, 2008.
"'It definitely is one of the more prominent labor issues we're dealing with,' Gerber said. "It isn't often that we have a bill that helps nurses, helps patients and saves employers tons of money."
The Bee's Andy Furillo looks at
the relationship between the administration and the prison guards' union.
"When [CCPOA head
Mike Jimenez] and the chief negotiator for the state,
Dennis Batchelder, sparred over ground rules for the ongoing talks, Jimenez exploded. By the time the nine-minute session ended,
the union president had dropped the F-bomb 12 times.
"Dennis, I'm through playing," Jimenez said, according to a transcript of the July 31, 2006, session at the Governor's Inn on Richards Boulevard. "
If you don't want a deal, let's call it like it is and get the ... out of here. ... Go tell your boss, ... him. You can tell the governor, ... him."
Matier and Ross report, "After less than a year in office,
the bloom appears to be fading fast on Mayor Ron Dellums' rose - with a new survey finding Oaklanders deeply divided over his leadership and only modestly confident in his ability to stem the city's crime problem.
"52 percent of those surveyed feel Dellums 'has done a good job in his limited time as mayor.' But a troublingly high 42 percent believe the new mayor is all talk and no action.
"And while 58 percent still have a generally favorable view of Dellums, just 45 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for him today. That's five percentage points less than the 50 percent who voted for him when he won the mayoral race in June 2006."
From our
You Know It's A Slow News Week When Files, "Nearly two dozen
state legislators are among millions of Californians with unclaimed money sitting idle in state coffers, records show -- and most of the owners never were told," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"State government made only token efforts until recently to find owners of its $5.3 billion in unclaimed property, from which it pockets interest and profits through annual growth.
"Affected lawmakers say they didn't know about their missing money, dormant for years, although the controller's office overseeing the program is just blocks from the Capitol.
"'My phone number's in the regular phone book, I've got a Capitol office -- I think it's pretty easy to find me,' said Assemblyman
Rick Keene, R-Chico.
"'The issue is not whether legislators are easy to find or not. The bigger concern is if we're not notified, what about the average citizen?' said Sen.
Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield.
"California law requires banks, insurance companies and other firms to transfer to the state the contents of safe deposit boxes and money from uncashed stock dividends, cashier's checks, bank accounts, escrow funds or other assets that have been dormant for three years or more."
Dan Walters
looks at the Senator Schwarzenegger possibility. "The governor is being coy, but those around him talk about the possibility of a U.S. Senate bid, either challenging Boxer in 2010 or running for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's seat two years later should Feinstein, who would then be 79 years old, signal that she's ready to retire.
"The first question is whether Schwarzenegger -- or his outsized ego -- could adjust to being just one of 100 after being the center of political attention in California.
"Only he could answer it, but being a senator, at least these days, is not inherently a communal experience. Senators, especially ambitious ones, often view their positions as licenses to freelance on whatever issues appeal to them, rather than commitments to the grueling work of drafting and enacting legislation.
"There would be nothing to preclude a Sen. Schwarzenegger from continuing to pursue his self-appointed role as a global guru on greenhouse gases and other issues; indeed, he would have even more globe-trotting justification as a senator than he has as a governor."
"The state
is considering using tests that are more extensive to evaluate a driver's memory, reflexes and vision to identify people who shouldn't be behind the wheel.
"The proposal comes at a time when more aging baby boomers are on California's congested roads, although the Department of Motor Vehicles insists that older drivers are not the targets.
"'What we can do is try to identify drivers who probably can't drive safely,' said
David Hennessy, a research program specialist who recently retired from the DMV."
The DMV can start by looking for drivers with "S 3" license plates.
"'This is something we're especially sensitive to because of the aging of the baby boomers. We're looking to accommodate and acknowledge that fact,' Hennessy said.
"A pilot program is under way, but it could be years before the proposed program takes effect. The agency expects to reach preliminary conclusions by 2010 and report to state lawmakers the following year, DMV spokesman
Michael Marando said."
"When many people think about Indians, it's the casinos that come to mind. The
money they generate has led to the 'myth of the rich Indian,' a perception that threatens the economic and political future of tribes, [former Viejas chairman
Anthony] Pico said.
"Although some tribes, Viejas and Pechanga among them, have become enormously successful and give millions of dollars to their members, most tribes don't have casinos, and most that do don't make payments to their members.
Perhaps that's because they're
spending $20 million to defend their compacts.
"A quarter of Indians still live in poverty, Pico said.
"
Pico fears that the growth of casinos has led to a portrayal in the media of Indians 'as wealthy purveyors of casino gambling, using our riches to bully our way through Congress and state legislatures.'"That, he said, is in contrast with what he sees as the true picture of Indians as 'the first Americans, a culturally rich people with a long and storied history.'
"About half of 810 likely voters polled this summer for the California Tribal Business Alliance, a trade group that Viejas helped start, agreed that Indians are acting 'just like any other special interest group.'
"Only about a third agreed that 'Indians have gotten a raw deal' and are using money from casinos to 'make sure they have a voice in the system.'
"'Citizens were very sympathetic to tribes back in 2000,' [anti-gambling Stand Up for California spokesperson
Cheryl] Schmit said. 'Now that people are seeing how much money tribes are making, they view tribes as being significantly wealthy.'"
The LA Daily News has created a database of all
LA Dept. of Water and Power salaries. The paper's editor, Ron Kaye,
explains the justification.
"The DWP's bloated salaries, poor management and soaring rates are the most glaring example of what's wrong with Los Angeles city government. We think this is so important we've put up the salaries of all 8,500 employees here at dailynews.com. See how your pay compares with theirs"
And if you're going to tonight's football game between the Bengals and the Patriots,
be sure to bring your rifle -- or your umbrella.
"The owners of the stadium where the Cincinnati Bengals play have withdrawn a request seeking city approval to shoot pigeons that have been pooping on fans during games.
"
Eric Brown, managing director of Paul Brown Stadium, said in a letter to the city manager that officials are going to "continue to explore various alternatives to dealing with this patron issue."
"
City Manager Milton Dohoney on Friday granted permission to shoot the birds if other methods to discourage the pigeons didn't succeed."
