Arnold the Lawyer
I’m rarely surprised by anything Arnold Schwarzenegger says (I literally wrote the book), but his interview with George Skelton for an LA Times column Monday is an exception. The governor is many things when he talks — over-the-top, funny, irreverent — but he’s rarely lawyerly. But lawyerly he was with Skelton. And he was lawyerly in a way that hurts his credibility and undermines the case for the ballot measures.
Here’s one problem quote: “It’s not fair, really, to say that [1A] raises taxes. I understand that the right spins it that way. But it’s disingenuous.” Yes, technically, Prop 1A doesn’t include a tax increase, but other legislation would extend temporary tax increases for two years if 1A passes. For us non-lawyers, that’s a distinction without a difference.
Here’s another: “We should just simply describe 1A as a measure that will fix the broken budget system once and for all so that you never have to make those severe cuts again. And you never have to go back to the people for tax increases again. That’s it.”
Time for California To Stop Sending Jobs To Nevada
Thomas Paine’s words – “These are the times that try men’s souls” – came to mind last Friday as business after business testified why they left California and relocated to Nevada.
I was honored to join with Republican Assembly Leader Mike Villines, State Sen. Sam Aanestad and nine other Republican Assemblymembers to do something that had never been done before.
We crossed state lines into Nevada on a fact finding mission to understand specifically why many of business owners have uprooted their families, their lives, their hopes and dreams and moved out of California.
As they departed, they took thousands of jobs with them, to pursue the American dream.
Why did they leave?
Axing the high school exit exam?
The enemies of accountability for schools and high performance for students were out in force on the occasion of a bizarre study from Stanford and UC Davis researchers.
Most disconcerting was a victory dance by a business organization claiming the high school exit exam a “failure.”
First, it’s more than a little unseemly to flack a policy outcome (in this case, mandated vocational education programs) by incorrectly claiming that the exit exam is a failure. Heck, the study’s authors didn’t even claim that.
Everyone into the Pool
The field to replace Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher in the 10th Congressional District keeps getting bigger and bigger. Newly announced Democratic candidate Anthony Woods entered the race yesterday and he offers an attention-getting story. Woods is an Iraqi war veteran, bronze star winner, West Point Grad and he’s out of the army because of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Woods is gay and disclosed that to army brass so he was sent packing. Read more about Woods’ story in Shane Goldmacher’s Capitol Alert report.
Just a week of so ago John Garamendi pulled out of the Governor’s race to focus on the CD-10, thinking he’d have an easy ride to congress. It appears others don’t see Garamendi as a sure thing and are willing to challenge him for the seat.
Garamendi chose a taxpayer-funded facility to do an “official” visit prior to his very political entry into the CD-10 race. Garamendi is “in” with his one major endorser – the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299.