Author: Joel Fox

The California Federation of Teachers set off a fuss when complaining about provisions of the Race to the Top education reform signed by Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday. The teachers union used the term "lynch mob provision" in updates to members referring to a proviso in the legislation that allows parents to force changes in school governance by collecting signatures from fifty percent of the student’s parents or guardians.

While civil rights organizations objected to the use of the term as conjuring up violent images that are racially offensive, there is another concern about the comment. That is: the people are considered a mob and cannot be trusted to know what’s good for them.

Washington politicians heard Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yodeling all the way across the country during his State of the State speech yesterday. As a noted advocate for health care reform, his strong appeal to the California congressional delegation to reject the current federal health care plan if the measure is not improved made members of the Washington power elite squirm as quotes gathered by the New York Times reveal.

Schwarzenegger advised the legislature to take risks in seeking major reform this legislative session. He commented that if he had not taken any risks he would still be yodeling in Austria. Instead, he was yodeling loud and clear in California.

Schwarzenegger called out Nebraska U. S. Senator Ben Nelson and his “sweetheart” deal for the Cornhusker state over the health care plan. The governor demanded that California be taken care of as well. The unfairness of treatment between Nebraska and California set the stage for Schwarzenegger’s appeal that California be treated fairly with other states when it comes to receiving money from Washington.

Plan A to help reduce the projected $20-plus billion state budget deficit appears to be asking the Feds to send tax money that comes from California taxpayers back to the state. It is a justifiable request but there better be a Plan B.

Leaks prior to the release of the state budget indicate a big piece of the budget fix will be a request for the Feds to waive rules requiring matching state funds to acquire federal dollars for certain programs. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will argue that California is a donor state, meaning the Golden State continually sends more money to Washington in tax revenue than it receives back in federal program grants. Now is the time to balance that inequity, the governor will argue, and at the same time help balance the state’s books.

Reports claim California receives only 78-cents for every dollar that the state’s taxpayers send off to Washington. California has been a donor state for quite some time. One website indicates that over the past two decades California ranked as the number one donor state in the nation.

The year has arrived when we’ll learn if the voters of California want to re-write their state constitution. Initiative measures currently gathering signatures, if qualified for the ballot and passed by voters in November, will create a state constitutional convention.

Arguments for and against calling a convention should fill up many a website and opinion page between the beginning of this new year and Election Day. The chatter has already begun. John Grubb, campaign director for the group pushing the convention, Repair California-Californians for a Limited Constitutional Convention, presented his arguments in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday.

A week earlier, I had my say in the Chronicle. I republish my commentary below. Simply stated, I don’t believe you can have a limited constitutional convention, especially when it comes to the question of taxation. Despite the pitch by convention proponents that Proposition 13 is off limits if there is a constitutional convention, I believe the famous property tax reform measure will be debated and convention delegates could offer changes.

Fox and Hounds Daily’s Black Bart Award as Californian of the Year in Politics goes to: Abel Maldonado.

He was named by all three of our nominators as someone whose impact was felt in the California political world.

As stated earlier in the week, Maldonado’s wheeling and dealing on the state budget ended with a vote to raise taxes, force a special election in May, propose a major policy change with the open-primary measure in the coming June 2010 election, and moved the debate on how California should be governed. His actions, along with his nomination for Lt. Governor, have set off much maneuvering in Sacramento. Whether or not you approved of the senator’s positions, his impact on the state political scene cannot be ignored.

We decided to name the Californian of the Year Award after gentleman highwayman Black Bart, a California original. He mixed a bit of larceny, artistry, good manners with character to push-back when he thought the system was working against him as exemplified by his famous poem left at the scene of his first stagecoach holdup:

The admonition of speaking truth to power is especially significant when the speaker is one of the powerful and the object of his lecture are allies and members of his own tribe. That’s why I believe state treasurer Bill Lockyer should be recognized for his efforts to shame the legislature to get its act together. Lockyer is my runner-up for Californian of the Year.

The man displayed great courage in lecturing the legislature over the state’s fiscal insanity and the need to create an efficient government; railing for public pension reform to a majority party which is supported by those who oppose such reform; and excoriating legislators or all stripes for bringing “junk” bills forward, robbing the legislature of time to face important problems in the state. These lessons must be followed if we are to turn California’s fortunes around.

However, Lockyer makes runner-up for my Californian of the Year because while he put a spotlight on some of the shortcomings in Sacramento, actions taken by state senator Abel Maldonado actually moved the pieces around the great Sacramento chessboard. Maldonado’s actions and ambitions made things happen, some say for good, others say for bad, over the course of the year.

Black Bart was a notorious outlaw from California’s frontier days. But he was known as a gentleman outlaw. While robbing 26 California stagecoaches from 1875 to 1883, he never shot a gun (although he was shot in the course of a robbery), never cussed, and was polite to his victims. Another thing: he believed himself a bit of an artist leaving poetry at the scene of some of his holdups, signing at least one poem: Black Bart the po8.

We thought, since those of us who practice in the political world are considered scoundrels, that Black Bart would make a good symbol for saluting the Californian of the Year. After all, the winner could be a gentle soul but still is involved in the dark arts of political give and take. And, all of us Californians are artists in our own worlds—at least most of us have an unproduced or half-written screenplay.

Therefore, Fox and Hounds Daily proudly announces its first annual Californian of the Year, affectionately known as the Fox and Hounds Daily Black Bart Award.

Polls constantly indicate voters believe California is on the wrong track. Here are a few recent items that indicate the state is not merely on the wrong track; it is running off the rails …

BYOP—Bring Your Own Pen

I served a day on jury duty last week. In the telephone recording preparing prospective jurors for their service, jurors were advised because of the state budget crisis we had to bring our own black-ink pen to the courthouse. The government could no longer provide pens to fill out forms.

Unhappy Californians

California ranks lower than its sister states in a number of categories and here’s another one: Happiness. According to a poll by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Golden State ranks 46th among the fifty states and the District of Columbia. A number of criteria lead to the conclusion by the economists who did the study including commuting issues, availability of public land, local taxes and quality of life issues. Ironically, the top states in the survey were in the sunshine belt, but California, known for its great weather, fell way down the list. At least we topped New York, which finished last. Read about the study in USA Today.

So far, the Citizen’s Redistricting Commission looks like it could be made up of a whole bunch of white guys from Sacramento. And there’s a good chance they’re Republicans. Statistics on the commission’s website indicate those are the principal characteristics of the plurality of those who have applied for the job of drawing California’s assembly and senate districts during the first two days applications were submitted.

Sure, it’s early and things could change. The period for submitting applications to the Citizens Redistricting Commission created by Proposition 11 opened Tuesday. The commission has set up a website and will report daily on the number of applications and break down statistics into categories of Ethnicity, Political Party, Region and County.