Consultants Relieved at Prop. 8 Case Ruling
Political consultants, both Republicans and Democrats, likely breathed deep sighs of relief last week when a federal appeals court blocked efforts to force Prop. 8 supporters to turn over private campaign strategy records to supporters of gay marriage.
It wasn’t the politics of the case that put the usually dueling opponents on the same side, since the Democratic consultants generally support same-sex marriage, while many of their GOP counterparts oppose it. No, this one was strictly business.
If political enemies – or even friends – could subpoena the private and often uninhibited musings that consultants put out during a hard-fought campaign, a new day was going to be looming for campaign work. And it wouldn’t be fun.
In an amicus filing in the case, the ACLU of Northern California, a longtime backer of same-sex marriage, argued that opening campaign documents for legal fishing expeditions would have a “chilling effect” on political campaigns.
Maldonado – The Nuclear Option
The likelihood is growing that the Democratic legislature, in a fit of partisan pique, will turn down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nomination of GOP Sen. Abel Maldonado to be lieutenant governor – at least that’s what the capital rumor mill says.
Maldonado was chosen in part because he was one of the few Republican legislators to work with the governor and the Democrats to solve the state’s fiscal problems – often joining with the Democrats to vote against his own party. But the fact that Maldonado could be found in the Democratic foxhole seems not to be sufficient to keep the Democratic leadership from shooting down the fellow that helped them the most.
It will be a long cold day in hell before any other Republicans crosses the aisle to work in a bipartisan way, and lots of luck to Senate Leader Darrel Steinberg and Assembly Speaker (enter name here) in getting bipartisan cooperation to close the next multi-billion dollar budget hole.
Attacking AB32 Won’t Lower Unemployment
Recently a State Assemblyman proposed suspending AB 32 until
California’s unemployment rate reaches 5.5%.
Putting aside for the moment that AB 32 is not yet in effect and
therefore not responsible for our current unemployment and that
there’s no support for the view that an AB 32 implemented
intelligently would constrain job growth (indeed, there’s evidence
that many of AB 32’s efficiency measures in particular would likely
boost rather than retard profits and jobs), let’s first ask a
fundamental question:
Why has California’s unemployment rate exceeded the national
unemployment rate since 1991?
Antonio Strikes Out: Krekorian Trounces Essel
This article originally appeared at RonKayeLA.com.
It’s not been a good year for Antonio Villaraigosa.
His scheme to rip off the public with a phony solar energy plan called
Measure B was snuffed by voters. His stooge candidate for City Attorney
was beaten by outsider Carmen Trutanich. And now the compliant Chris
Essel got trounced by Paul Krekorian in the CD2 Council race in the East
San Fernando Valley.
It’s a new day in LA.
Community activists played the key role in all three humiliating defeats
for the mayor and the creaky political machine he heads. There ought to
be a law that bans three-time losers from serving in political office
for the rest of their lives.