The State Budget & Meg’s Housekeeper
Don’t think that because the Big 5 announced agreement on the budget that it is a done deal. I ran into a Democratic Assemblyman at a book festival over the weekend as I was plugging my mystery novel, Lincoln’s Hand, and he told me he had just been briefed on the budget. He said it was ugly for both sides and he wasn’t sure he could vote for it.
A Wall Street Journal article reports similar remarks from other legislators. This budget drama is not over.
And, neither is the drama over Meg Whitman’s housekeeper, Nicandra Diaz Santillan. The two dramas could be linked in looking at the "big picture" of California’s problems.
A Time for Choosing
I heard a story once about a rookie NFL quarterback who in his first game was blindsided by a wily veteran defensive end. As he lay on the ground the veteran reached out his hand and helped the rookie to his feet, and said to him "Welcome to the NFL, kid."
This week promising political rookie Meg Whitman got blindsided by wily veteran political operatives. They are not likely to help her to her feet but the message is the same. "Welcome to the NFL, kid."
There is only one way to beat this bunch of special interests that will do anything to cling to their power the public be damned.
Debate Season: First, Kill All the Moderators
In this partisan time, there’s one reform all Californians should agree on.
We need to change the way we do candidates’ debates.
In this political season, the debates for California governor and U.S. senator have been too rushed. Their overall length of these debates – 60 minutes – is too short given all the different topics that debate organizers want to cover. And the time for candidate responses to questions (usually between 30 and 90 seconds tops) doesn’t allow for much more than a very hurried recital of talking points.
Amateur Hour at the Whitman Job Analysis Show
In the Governor’s race, the primary jobs discussion in the final month should be about the next 4 years and beyond, and strategies for job growth and sustainability.
However, the Whitman campaign continues to make Jerry Brown’s governorship from 1975-1981 a main issue, including the claim that it was a time of job loss and unemployment. As someone involved in job training during that time, I didn’t recall it that way, and dug up the payroll job growth during that time and the terms of subsequent governors. The research showed a 1.9 million job growth during Brown’s governorship-a larger share of the national job growth than any subsequent time.
A few days ago, Marc Lifsher of the Los Angeles Times wrote of a new study by an economist at Claremont McKenna College that is being pushed by the Whitman campaign as evidence of Brown’s employment failure. Claremont McKenna is one of our leading colleges in California. The study was conducted by the Lowe Institute of Political Economy.