Giants Win! – Will the World Series Strikeout the Election?
Last night, 15 people in a Sacramento area office, all political junkies deeply involved in election campaigns, did not watch the presidential debates. Instead, they watched the San Francisco Giants storm back from a 3 games to 1 deficit to capture the National League pennant in seven games over the St. Louis Cardinals. World Series […]
Donor Rule Challenge is all about Politics
On Friday, Common Cause filed a complaint about the Arizona organization that donated $11 million to our PAC, which is primarily formed to oppose the Proposition 30 tax increase and support Prop 32’s political contribution reforms. The governor piled on over the weekend saying the donation was illegal. The donation is not illegal, SBAC has […]
Prop 34: Rose Bird’s Revenge?
In 1986, with tape recorder in hand, I traveled around Southern California interviewing relatives of murder victims and district attorneys and former D.A.s in order to create radio pieces to be used in the campaign to unseat Rose Bird in her confirmation vote as California’s Chief Justice. The major reason that Bird faced the unusual […]
Prop 30 as an Obstacle to Reform
The San Bernardino Sun’s Prop 30 editorial (also appearing in other newspapers owned by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group) was another in what I call the “hold-your-nose-and-vote-for-Prop-30” endorsements that a few editorial pages chose to run. But one paragraph in the editorial needs special attention. Referring to arguments made by the opposition to Prop 30 […]
Prop 40 Could Confuse Voters
Often voters complain that ballot propositions are so confusing that they are not certain if the vote they cast actually goes towards the ends they hope to achieve. In other words, a yes vote might mean no and vice-versa. That is actually true when it comes to voting on a referendum and there is a […]
Campaign Ads Appear to Move Voters in Poll
Now that the election season is in full swing with advertisements for a number of ballot initiatives bombarding the airwaves, the California Business Roundtable-Pepperdine University School of Public Policy bi-weekly poll has picked up movement on a some of the ballot measures. Most notably, Proposition 37, which would label genetically modified foods, has fallen dramatically. […]
Editorial Page Battle over Molly Munger’s Prop 30 Ads
Molly Munger’s ads pointing out the different use of revenues collected by her Proposition 38 tax increase measure and Governor Jerry Brown’s Prop 30 tax increase measure has brought varied reactions from a couple of prominent newspaper editorial boards. The Sacramento Bee asks Munger to take the ads down. The San Diego Union-Tribune argues the […]
Schwarzenegger’s Business Record as Governor is Part of his Story
Editor’s note: This commentary was published in the Los Angeles Daily News last week. It includes a paragraph on AB 32 that was cut out of the piece when published by the newspaper. With the publication of his 656-page self-portrait, Total Recall, a tremendous amount of media attention that has focused on the flashier moments […]
Yes on 30 Campaign Afraid of Comparisons
The Yes on Prop 30 campaign sent a letter to Molly Munger, author of Proposition 38, warning her that her comments on a television interview over the weekend declaring her intent to compare her initiative with Prop 30 would undermine her stated goal of improving education. The thing is, Munger believes Proposition 30 won’t improve […]
Gas Prices Could Effect Tax Initiatives — Like Fires of 1993 Did
As early voting begins, Californians are dealing with a new cost crisis as gasoline prices explode upward all over the state. The five-dollar a gallon figure was crossed at a number of gas stations at the end of last week while other stations closed down for lack of supply. If the skyrocketing gas prices stay […]