Author: Joel Fox

Orange County based pollster Adam Probolsky released a poll stating Meg Whitman’s illegal immigrant maid controversy is having only a small impact on the race.

Testing 519 voters, the poll reveals nearly 65% of the voters say the issue makes no difference in their voting decision. Of those who said it did make a difference, the poll found those voters who said the situation made it less likely they would vote for Whitman out polled those who said it was more likely to vote for her by about 6%.

Getting off the California Ave. exit from the 99 Freeway in Bakersfield, I came across a man in cowboy hat sitting astride a horse and carrying two Vote Yes on Prop 19 signs. I couldn’t resist. I pulled over and talked to him.

The cowboy was named Howard Woolridge; the horse was named Misty. A retired police officer from Lansing, Michigan who now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, Woolridge is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization in favor of legalizing marijuana.

Woolridge told me now that he’s retired he can “shout his mouth off” about what he sees as a waste of resources against the use of marijuana when those dollars could be used against serious crime.

The retired officer argued that the reason police departments line up against legalization is because the war on drugs brings money to the departments. He also acknowledged an emotional reason the officers don’t want to end the war on drugs. He said the police don’t want to believe that those officers killed in the line of duty in the drug war died in vain.

Looks like we’re getting a budget like we’ve had in the past. One put together containing more hopes and wishes than expressed by a class full of kindergarteners at Christmas. But it is actually a logical budget. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t say good. I didn’t say smart. But it is understandable how we got here.

This is an election year. The legislators were able to create a budget that didn’t raise taxes and place a wet blanket on the economy; nor did they eliminate welfare programs like CalWorks that keep people afloat in difficult times.

What they did was make a budget that hopes for a brighter future and generosity from Washington that they know will not come. Legislators hope the economy will recover and the money will suddenly appear. There is a danger in this strategy, of course. How many years in a row can this be done before the whole system falls apart?

In the race for Attorney General, Kamala Harris emphasizing she will be a tough enforcer of law protecting the environment won’t be enough to blunt Steve Cooley’s attack that Harris is soft on the death penalty.

In the debate between Los Angeles D.A. Steve Cooley and San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris at UC Davis yesterday, Cooley went right for the death penalty issue with his opening comment. Harris emphasized environmental issues in an attempt to connect with voters and to avoid her controversial stand on the death penalty.

Cooley spoke of Harris’s refusal to pursue the death penalty for the killer of San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza. Cooley was quick to point out his endorsement from the Espinoza family, who earlier this week issued a tough press release stating in part: "Kamala Harris’ arrogant contempt for the sacrifice of law enforcement officers, for the rule of law and for the will of the people has disqualified her from being California’s chief law enforcement officer. She is simply not worthy."  

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.

Proposition 23 to suspend the greenhouse gases law until unemployment drops dramatically has split the business community. Early this week, the California Manufacturer and Technology Association president, Jack Stewart, argued on this site that Proposition 23 must pass to preserve jobs and battle the high costs associated with the law. Other business groups including the California Small Business Association and the California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business join him in this concern.

On Wednesday in Burbank, a press conference, which included business representatives, delivered the message that Proposition 23 must be defeated to create jobs.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to anchor the media conference but took a pass to continue budget negotiations. Greg Lippe, former board chair of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA), a business association powerhouse in the San Fernando Valley, led the event noting that "420 individual businesses, chambers of commerce and business associations" opposed Proposition 23 because they felt the measure would kill economic development and jobs.

A late campaign hit with Gloria Allred as part of it … I’ve lived through this before during the Schwarzenegger 2003 gubernatorial campaign. As in that instance, it will take a few days to play out and see what is behind the revelation. But like the 2003 media circus over Schwarzenegger’s interaction with some women during his movie career, the late hit raises many questions.

The one thing that is unclear in housekeeper Nicandra Diaz-Santillan’s story is her statement that she revealed to Meg Whitman and her husband in 2009 that she was not here legally while at the same time Diaz-Santillan’s lawyer, Allred, charges that Whitman and her husband knew all along of her status. That doesn’t compute.

If Whitman and the hiring agency checked all Diaz-Santillan’s papers and they appeared in order there was nothing else Whitman need do.

Jerry Brown pounded Meg Whitman on her capital gains tax cut plan in their first debate last night. Whitman didn’t defend or explain her reasons for the tax, as she should. There are good reasons to cut the capital gains tax.

The tax cuts are not simply a giveaway to the rich, as Brown contended. The capital gains tax cuts are part of her targeted tax plan to bring back jobs. Capital gains tax cuts can quickly bring money into the treasury by freeing up money that taxpayers are holding and are more likely to spend because of the cuts. Capital gains tax cuts provide the revenue necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed. Small businesses and entrepreneurs need resources to create jobs and spark the California economy, which these cuts can provide. Whitman has good reasons for supporting the capital gains tax cut and she should have explained her reasons to the voters.

Whitman offered more solutions for the state’s problems. She put Brown on the defensive about his close ties to public employee unions.

Looking at the polls on the governor’s race, the candidate that can motivate their voters to go to the polls will determine the next governor of California. There is little enthusiasm for the election, which will likely limit voter participation and, in turn, determine the outcome.

The USC/Los Angeles Times poll came out over the weekend and like other recent surveys, it indicates the race is close, pretty much within the margin of error.

Jerry Brown had a five point lead in this poll, but the Whitman campaign said the poll skewered too hard to the left, noting that 55% of the self-identified respondents labeled themselves leaning the Democratic way to 35% offering up a Republican label. The 20-point spread is larger than is expected election day.