OK peoples. It's go time.
The race for California governor if officially underway
Tuesday, with Jerry Brown announcing his candidacy
in an online video, and Steve Poizner hitting the airwaves
with his first television spot. Add to that a new speaker,
gift reports from the governor and some arrests on
the Capitol lawn, and you've got yourself a busy day
in the world of California politics.
First off, Jerry Brown is finally ready to make it official today. Michael Rothfeld reports, "Brown, 71, an Oakland Democrat who faces no serious primary
election
opposition, is expected to make his announcement online.
His aides said
he would make a "major campaign announcement" at 11 a.m. via his
website, www.jerrybrown.org.
Brown spent eight years as California's governor, from
1975 until 1983,
but is eligible to hold the office again because today's
two-term limit
was not in effect when he first occupied the Capitol.
The enigmatic figure whose father, Pat Brown, also
served two terms as
governor, is seeking to regain the job near the end
of a long political
career."
Large opposition research drop to follow...
Meanwhile, Steve Poizner has also opted to engage.
After filing his paperwork to run for governor Monday,
Poizner announced his first television ads. The short version? Ronald Reagan and tax cuts good. Meg Whitman and "illegal
aliens" bad.
John Perez took over as Assembly speaker Monday, complete with
the presence of six former speakers, a performance from the Gay Men's
Chorus, and some rubber ducks. "As lawmakers past and present gathered in Sacramento
to witness the
swearing in of John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) as assembly speaker, they
were all treated to a token of the new speaker's affection
-- a small
rubber ducky emblazoned with the state seal and the
new speaker's name.
"So, Mr. Speaker, what's with the duck?
According to a Pérez spokesman, the new assembly boss actually
collects them. Perez estimates he has hundreds of the
little critters
-- all quite by accident. Pérez's duck collection stems from a dirty joke he once
told a
friend. Pérez now estimates he has hundreds of the plastic bath
toys."
While Perez was addressing the Assembly for the first
time as speaker, a group of University of California
students were outside loudly protesting increases in
student fees. The protests eventually led to some arrests,
but some of the protesters got some face time with Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneger.
Shane Goldmacher reports, "The governor, who was surrounded
by top aides as well as UC
President Mark Yudof, blamed lawmakers, the state’s tax system and the
power of labor unions for California’s budget woes and subsequent cuts
to higher education.
“I don’t have more money because they are refusing to fix
the system,” Schwarzenegger said of state legislators.
Telling the students, “We are so glad you are here,” Schwarzenegger insisted that “we are on your side of the fence.”
Schwarzenegger told the students about the proposal
he'd made in
January for a constitutional amendment to prevent California
from
spending more on prisons than universities. He blamed
the prison
guards' union for driving up costs at the state's lockups. "They are a force," he said of the union. "They are
very powerful."
Kevin Yamamura reports on a new Field Poll that shows
voters want spending cuts instead of tax increases
to close the state budget gap.
"Half
of California voters believe the state should close
its $19.9 billion
deficit mostly or entirely through spending cuts rather
than tax
increases, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday.
"That
compares with 29 percent who said the state should use an equal mix
of
spending cuts and tax increases, or 13 percent who prefer balancing the
budget solely or mostly with tax hikes.
"Field Poll Director Mark
DiCamillo said that with the economy still in recovery and the
state
having passed tax hikes last year, "tax increases are
just not that
popular a notion right now."
And finally, from our Try To Make Me Go To Rehab Files, "A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers
to cure
the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily
reported on Friday. An ex-performer, Zhora became aggressive at his
circus and was transferred to a zoo in the southern
Russian city of Rostov, where he fathered several baby chimps, learned to
draw with markers and picked up his two vices.
"The beer and cigarettes were ruining him. He would
pester passers-by for booze," the Komsomolskaya Pravda paper said.
