Capitol Basement

Ring the Bell

2010-07-27T14:56:37Z

Say what you will about Jerry Brown, but this much is true. He's not Meg Whitman. Michael Mishak has more details on this shocking development and more on Jerry Brown's unpredictable relationship with labor unions.

"Unions are indeed reaching deep into their pockets to help Brown, whose campaign needs the cash to compete with Whitman's personal fortune. But how much return they will get on their investment under a Brown governorship is unclear.

"The last governor labor helped elect, Democrat Gray Davis, was a reliable champion of its agenda. Under Davis, state worker retirement packages and paychecks were fattened and a labor-backed bill that forced large corporations to provide healthcare for employees was signed into law.

But Brown's main appeal for labor may be that he is not Whitman.

"Whitman would be an absolute disaster," said Steve Smith, a spokesman for the California Labor Federation. "She would set an agenda that would be the antithesis of everything we believe in."

Officials in the city of Bell slashed city services even as they gave large pay raises to officials who were making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

"At the same time that top Bell officials were receiving some of the fattest municipal salaries in the nation, the city cut spending on police, social services, and parks and recreation, according to interviews and records reviewed by The Times.

While City Manager Robert Rizzo was receiving more than $700,000 a year, Rosario Torres was laid off from her $9-an-hour job preparing children for kindergarten.

"They tell you they don't have the money to pay you, and you think 'OK, I understand, they just don't have the money,' " Torres said. "But I never imagined they were making so much money themselves. It's incredible."

Jerry Brown stepped int the middle of the Bell fight, announcing subpoenas and an open-ended investigation into local government compensation.

"Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown knows a political gift when he sees one. In a press conference Monday, Brown said his office has subpoenaed hundreds of records from the city of Bell and its top officials as his office ponders taking civil or criminal action against city leaders, whose salaries have ballooned to unusually high levels.

"The investigation also allows Brown to take a tough stand on public salary abuses -- distancing himself from the labor union leaders to which his Republican rival, Meg Whitman, is trying to tie him. And as a bonus, Brown gets a day of media attention while still spending nothing on campaign commercials.

"Welcome to the advantages of incumbency."

Abel Maldonado's family farm has settled its outstanding tax bill with the Internal Revenue Service.

"Accompanying the lien release was a statement that said Maldonado "advocated paying the IRS bill off as soon as it was presented," but he was outvoted by the other two board members of Agro-Jal Farming Enterprises: his father and his brother.

"The statement, from the lieutenant governor's brother Frank, said the company paid the tax "under protest" because it disputes the charges. But he and his father decided to pay the tax to avoid more bad publicity.

"What two of us failed to realize was that even if Agro-Jal's actions were 100% proper, the lien filed while we were disputing the bill would cause great political embarrassment to Abel," the statement said.

Ya think?

Gov Schwarzenegger said Monday the budget could take a few more weeks -- but then offered the possibility that we may not get a deal until a new governor is sworn in.

"If I do not get all of the things that we need … I will not sign a budget, and it could actually drag out until the next governor gets into office," Schwarzenegger told reporters after an event at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, according to a recording provided by his office.

"Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento) responded in a statement Monday that he was "prepared to grant his wish" if Schwarzenegger "continues to insist on granting billions in corporate tax cuts financed by drastic cuts to public education and programs for working mothers and their children."

Meg Whitman was on Good Morning America with George Stephanopoulos Tuesday talking about the race for governor.

And finally,we are happy to report there are no Taliban Monkey Terrorists being trained in Afghanistan. (But the picture is still priceless)

IN a torrid week for the US military, here's some good news - you won't be fighting monkeys in Afghanistan.

Two weeks ago, the Chinese People's Daily Online reported - citing a "British press agency" - that the Taliban was training monkeys to shoot at US troops.

Armed with "Kalashnikovs, Bren machine-guns and trench mortars", the macaques and baboons are being taught to recognise and fire upon anyone wearing a US military uniform. “A senior US military source confirmed the existence of the Taliban monkey soldiers, military experts call armed monkeys ‘monkey terrorists’,” it said.

"Stripes.com found that the original photo of machine-gun wielding baboon that surfaced following the People's Daily scoop had it on a leash with an orange cork in the barrel.

"It was used by a US military officer for a humorous Power Point display during soldier training."

Back in the saddle

2010-07-26T13:57:36Z

George Skelton finds a lot to like in the plan to allow lawmakers to pass a state budget by a majority-vote.

"Prop. 25 would retain the two-thirds vote for tax increases. It also would decree that if legislators didn't pass a budget by the rarely met June 15 constitutional deadline, they'd forfeit all salary and expense reimbursements for each day they dallied.

"But one legitimate concern of opponents is that legislators could merely pass a bogus, half-baked budget by the deadline to preserve their pay, then slumber into summer in stalemate on a real deal. That would be unconscionable if only a majority vote were needed.

"Yet, almost anything would be better than the current system of minority-party tyranny and insufferable gridlock."

A new investigation may lift the shroud of secrecy surrounding the dealings of CalPERS.

Evan Halper reports, "Officials at the California Public Employees' Retirement System have shrouded many of their multimillion-dollar transactions in secrecy, refusing to release analyses of potential investments, meeting materials and correspondence relating to venture capital, real estate and other private equity holdings.

Citing privacy laws, they have said the pension fund need not share "any documents that reflect investment recommendations and the process by which investment strategy is decided."

"But now, as some current and former officials are being investigated by state and federal authorities in probes of influence-peddling and bribery, CalPERS has hired at least one outside firm to examine whether pension dollars were doled out improperly in deals negotiated out of public view."

David Siders looks at Jerry Brown's complicated relationship with labor.

This year, public employee unions back Brown and are running separate campaigns of their own to help his latest gubernatorial bid. But in his two terms as governor and, more recently, as mayor of Oakland, Brown was not the reliable champion of labor he suggests he is today, much less the union hand depicted by Meg Whitman, the Republican nominee.

"I sat across from him at the table," said Steve Bristow, former president of a Service Employees International Union local that protested furloughs and other spending cuts in Oakland in 2002 and 2003. "He wore (me) out."

Like many politicians, Brown has seen his relationship with labor fluctuate, influenced less by ideology than by the state of the economy and public sentiment toward government spending. Labor leaders today believe public employee unions will be treated better by Brown than by Whitman, and rhetoric from both campaigns supports that view. But Brown's history with public employees suggests that, if elected, he might at times disappoint them."

Meg Whitman's general election pitch on illegal immigration has irked conservative talk-show hosts John and Ken.

"Whitman's new, more liberal tone on immigration, they filled the airwaves — and they have plenty to fill, with five hours on KFI every workday — with broadsides at the Republican nominee for governor. They mocked her statements as "garbage," read aloud their correspondence with a campaign aide they labeled a "weasel" and recounted old interviews to show her change in emphasis. They used the station's website to scream "Stop the Pandering" and urge listeners to barrage Whitman's campaign with phone calls and her Facebook page with criticisms.

"By the end of the week, the voicemail attached to the number they had supplied was too full to accept any more calls, and Whitman's Facebook page was awash in supportive sentiments like "Here's a note for ya, Meg… Go away! Go run for Governor of Mexico!"

Stay classy, California...

Michael Hiltzik looks at Whitman's stance on the capital gains tax.

"The question arises from GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's new glossy campaign brochure, titled "Creating Jobs for a New California." In it she proposes killing the state tax on capital gains. "California is one of a few states in the country that taxes capital gains at a higher rate than traditional income," the booklet states.

"Sorry, but that's not remotely true.

"California taxes capital gains — profits from investments in stocks, bonds, real estate or businesses — at exactly the same rate as any other income, whether it's wages, dividends or your prize from Publishers Clearing House."

California may determine whether or not 2010 becomes the Year of the Republican Woman.

Kathleen Hennessey reports, But the broader landscape shows a different picture. Despite a handful of high-profile successes, Republican women continue to struggle in a party that has long seen them take a supporting role.

A record number of Republican women filed to run for Congress this year, but GOP women are not on pace to break the 2004 record for primary victories, according to an analysis by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

So far, fewer women have won Republican primaries for the House, which has the largest concentration of candidates, than at this point four years ago. A record-breaking primary season in races for Senate and governors' offices is more likely, but far from assured."

And finally for those of you who still aren't convinced that clowns are creepy, AP reports, "A Pittsburgh-area man robbed a bank wearing a woman's blond wig, fake breasts under a sweater and clown pants.

"Swissvale police say 48-year-old Dennis Hawkins of North Braddock was sitting in a parked car covered in red dye from an exploding packet in a bag of money when he was arrested Saturday.

"Police Chief Greg Geppert says Hawkins robbed the bank at gunpoint, using a toy BB gun he had shoplifted from a store. Geppert says Hawkins then entered a woman's car She got out, took her keys and alerted police. Hawkins was found sitting in the car."

Changing direction

2010-07-21T07:56:43Z

It looks like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has made his choice for the next chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Maura Dolan reports, "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to name 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye as the next chief justice, making her the first Asian American to lead the state's judiciary and giving the California Supreme Court a female majority for the first time in its history.

"Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Sacramento native who rose through the trial courts, served as deputy legislative secretary and deputy legal affairs secretary under former Gov. George Deukmejian. He plucked her from the Sacramento district attorney's office and later appointed her to the Sacramento Municipal Court."

Wait a minute -- Schwarzenegger appointing a Republican to the bench? That's gotta be a misprint, right?

From the Vargas-Salas recount files, our Southern California affiliates report VArgas has picked up votes in the early recounting of ballots in San Diego. According to Democrats on the ground in the county, Vargas has actually increased his lead over Salas as the counting of ballots begins in areas where Salas performed best. Stay tuned...

John Howard writes on the move by the Dan Schnur-led FPPC to tighten disclosure laws for independent expenditure committees.

"California’s political watchdog, inspired in part by language in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, is considering a new rule to force the disclosure of the names of donors who finance so-called “issue advocacy ads” – political advertisements that describe an issue but stop short of telling people how to vote.

The proposal, which drew fire from an array of political attorneys, could go into effect before the fall and apply to the Nov. 2 general election if the Fair Political Practices Commission approves it next month, although the actual timing of the regulation would depend on a number of other procedural issues, including regulatory review.

Roy Ashburn apologized for his past votes on gay rights, and called on his fellow Republicans to embrace equality for all, regardless of sexual orientation.

"It’s time for fair-minded Republicans to speak up for what our party really stands for—individual freedom and limited government. If we truly believe the greatness of America is founded on the individual achievements of ordinary citizens acting with the maximum amount of personal liberty, then there should be no debate over where Republicans stand on the rights of LGBT Americans.

"We stand for equality as well as opportunity. We stand for individuals living their lives without fear or limits imposed by a powerful government. We stand for a government of limited powers over citizens, including not being involved in the private lives of people. These tenets of Republican ideology call for bold action by our party when confronted with the real-life issues of discrimination against LGBT people.

"I am no longer willing, nor able to remain silent in the face of unequal and hurtful treatment of my community. It may have taken me a strange, incoherent and long path to get here, but this is where I find myself as a gay Republican Senator. It’s time for Republicans to find our way and fight for equal treatment for all people, especially the freedom to be unique and have our rights acknowledged and protected."

Meg Whitman says her campaign hasn't been "too negative" so far. In an interview on Good Day LA, Whitman said she was just doing what any candidate for governor would do. "

"Meeting you, you're lovely, you're a warm person," she said. "Seeing your ads, I'm a little afraid of you."

"The host asked, "Do you ever feel it's just gone too negative, your campaign has gone too negative?"

"Whitman said the ads are necessary to "set the record straight on Jerry Brown," the Democratic nominee.

You can watch the video here.

Meanwhile, Oakland has approved a plan to bring large-scale pot farms to the city. the AP reports, "The Oakland City Council has approved a plan to license four production plants where marijuana would be grown, packaged and processed.

"The council voted 5-2 with one abstention late Tuesday in favor of the plan. The measure will go before the council one more time for a final vote, but the outcome is not expected to change.

"The measure's supporters say it could generate millions of dollars for Oakland in taxes and sales, create hundreds of jobs and position Oakland to reap dividends if voters pass a November initiative to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

"Opponents say it would drive small growers out of business."

How long before the Chamber of Commerce calls the plan a "job killer?"

Speaking of which, Dan Walters contempates the plight of local governments.

"The state's perpetual budget crisis makes headlines, but California's 5,000 units of local government – counties, cities and school, fire, park and water districts – also are feeling financial pain unseen since the Great Depression.

"Stagnant or declining revenues – property and sales taxes and state aid – and unsustainable, sometimes improper, spending have brought many local entities to the brink of insolvency."

And finally, looks like Muslims in Indonesia will be changing direction -- literally.

Reuters reports, "Indonesia's Muslims learned on Friday they have been praying in the wrong direction, after the country's highest Islamic authority said its directive on the direction of Mecca actually had people facing Africa."

Ah, Tomato, Tomahto, right?

"Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during prayer and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from the world's most populous Muslim country.

"But it has been decided that actually the mosques are facing Somalia or Kenya, so we are now suggesting people shift the direction slightly to the north-west," the head of the MUI, Cholil Ridwan, told Reuters. "There's no need to knock down mosques, just shift your direction slightly during prayer."