Campaign on Target, Say Poizner’s People
Good news for all those Steve Poizner fans that may have been wondering why his campaign for governor seems to have disappeared from the political landscape.
“As of today, we are on target … Poizner has the campaign, message and resources necessary to succeed. And he will.”
That’s from a letter to the “campaign grassroots team” from Jim Bognet, Poizner’s campaign manager. And if you can’t trust the campaign manager to tell the truth about the race …
Fact is, though, the letter reads like a hasty attempt to soothe nervous supporters, combined with a hint of whistling past the graveyard.
A Union Man Who Would Be Speaker
Look up a mention of Assemblyman John Perez and invariably you see his identification as cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Soon, however, Perez may not need his cousin’s fame as a reference point if he secures the votes necessary to become the next speaker of the California Assembly.
Reports have Perez closing in on the 26 Democratic members’ votes he will need to capture the top spot in the Assembly. Only one year in office serving in the same district of former speaker Fabian Nunez, Perez could hold the speaker’s chair for five years in the term-limited legislature.
One of the big questions about Perez will be how he will deal with public employee unions. The public unions are strong supporters of the Democratic Party and Perez is a union man. In his pre-Assembly days, he was a leader of the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
Stimulating Jobs
The White House reports that federal stimulus funds have saved or created 110,219 jobs in California. This figure is as reported by fund recipients, and has been the subject of some controversy about its accuracy and meaning. Put in context, California has lost more than a million jobs since the start of the recession here in the summer of 2007.
But no matter how the job accounting is resolved, it’s clear which sector is being stimulated:
Vote Yes For Jobs
How can the Los Angeles City Council keep hundreds of professional careers here in Los Angeles while creating opportunities for thousands more jobs? Make it easier and more attractive for Internet-based companies to do business in our community. Next week, the Council will consider a Chamber-supported motion to do just that and we urge them to act quickly.
The problem is that the city’s business tax code does not include a category for Internet-based businesses. As a result, these companies often select “Multimedia” as the tax category which best fits their operations. Recently, the city’s Department of Finance notified some of these companies that they are being moved into a higher tax bracket and must now pay up to 500 percent more in gross receipts taxes. One firm’s tax liability would jump from $200,000 to more than $1 million per year. Another company is currently in litigation with the city over its reclassification, after winning the same court fight several years ago.