Independent Expenditure (IE) campaigns attacking Republican Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman have started advertising. The first ad to air was produced by an outfit called Level the Playing Field 2010, made up of an A-list of Democratic political consultants.

This first ad claims Whitman is trying to buy the election with her billions. That argument won’t push aside the big issues of this election year: jobs and California’s budget problems. We’ll hear about jobs from the IE ads, as well. They will say that Whitman as a business executive made some decisions that reduced jobs. But, she will win that fight because she created many more jobs and the Democrats’ charge will open the debate on the policies of the Democratic controlled legislature that have driven so many jobs away from California.

The Democrats don’t want to talk about the budget problem, either. Their usual solution of tax increases won’t fly in the current political environment. And, they will have to defend a candidate in Jerry Brown who set California on its current wayward path by creating what columnist Dan Walters called the “hegemonic power of public employee unions” by granting them collective bargaining, which has resulted in such a strain on state and local government budgets.

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama laid out his plan to rebuild the U.S. economy through the National Export Initiative (NEI) — a five-year effort aimed at creating 2 million new jobs in America by doubling exports. The launching of this initiative, as well as the President’s public support of the pending Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, is welcome news for California businesses. The President should be commended for recognizing that free and fair trade is an important strategy to create jobs and ensure the long-term growth of the economy.

The President’s focus on international trade should also be a call to action for California businesses. Businesses need to vocalize their support for these FTAs to California’s Congressional representatives. Beyond that, California businesses are urged to take advantage of the export opportunities that will be presented by the NEI. Many companies — particularly small and medium-sized businesses — are not aware of the numerous export opportunities that are available. The NEI, through the U.S. Department of Commerce, will provide a vast array of tools and will help businesses identify new customers and business partners in foreign markets. The initiative will also help businesses access credit.

A Los Angeles Times article titled, “Weighed Down By Recession Woes, Jurors Are Becoming Disgruntled,” brought to light some serious concerns about the California jury system.

A few years ago when we went to the one day, one trial system everyone was excited and cheering about how great the system had become. Well, it seems like the happy times are over and our jury system is showing some signs of wear and tear. I will be honest that I was just called for jury service and I was not too thrilled. I have been called a lot and ironically, my wife never gets called. Can someone explain that to me?  We are both registered voters and we both have California drivers licenses and have lived at the same residence for 13 years.

I have been through this plenty of times and find the process rather demeaning. You take time out of your schedule and you are treated like cattle. But, as demeaning as the process is, you really need to serve, even in these hard economic times. We all are experiencing some form of financial hardship during this times, but don’t make excuses. This is only time our country asks us to take the time to serve. It should not be too much to ask considering all the freedoms that come along with being an American.

If politics is an addiction, Gavin Newsom needs an intervention.

A few weeks after telling the New York Times’ Maureen Dowd that he was ready to finish his term as mayor of San Francisco and become “the clerk in a wine store,” Newsom was talking Tuesday about a run for lieutenant governor.

“I’m considering it,” he said in a City Hall news conference, admitting that a campaign for the office is a serious possibility.

This is the same Newsom who spent a year running for the Democratic nomination for governor, then dropped out last October, citing his responsibilities as a husband, father and mayor.

The decision was “made with the best intentions for my wife, my daughter, the residents of the city and county of San Francisco and California Democrats,” he said.

“Sequels can be better than the original … T2, Get the DVD, you will see.”

With those words, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger defended his re-nomination of state Senator Abel Maldonado for Lt. Governor. Throwing his arm around the shorter Maldonado, Schwarzenegger called him a “good man” who was capable of doing the job.

Maldonado did not secure the necessary 41 votes in the Assembly to be confirmed, but neither did he have 41 votes against him to reject the nomination outright. To avoid a court battle over whether the lack of 41 NO votes meant rejection, Schwarzenegger simply decided to try, try again.

Sticking with his man may indicate what the governor’s going to do with the other big issue facing him – the budget. During the press conference, in response to a reporter’s question, the governor said once again the state must live within its means. The usual rhetoric? Or does the action with Maldonado add some significance to his determination?

Campaign 2010 is up and running, if money transfers by unions are any indication.

Enormous deposits by labor unions into campaign accounts are just now being disclosed, and the depth of their commitment is becoming evident.

Item: The California Teachers Association has staked more than $660,000 to a proposed ballot initiative to repeal several business tax incentives passed by the Legislature in 2008 and 2009.

Item: Two more government employee unions have dropped more than $1.1 million into a proposed ballot initiative to remove the ability to subject certain tax and fee increases and other state policies to a voter referendum.

The primary role of government is public safety. Sadly, there is no question our State often fails to fully fund essential public safety services. All too often, public safety takes a back seat in State budget discussions. Furthermore, bureaucrats and politicians frequently propose new taxes to fund public safety, when it should be funded with the first dollars of the budget, not the last. But given the current budget shortfalls, it is clear increased funding for public safety is not possible without new funding sources. That is why I and 30 other pro-public safety Legislators are proposing AB X8 42 to protect public safety by supplementing fire protection throughout California without adding painful or counterproductive taxes on families and small businesses that cannot afford them.

To boost public safety funding, AB X8 42 would utilize a portion of the new revenues that would be contributed to the state as the result of a proposal to allow more efficient and environmentally friendly oil drilling to occur off the coast of Santa Barbara at Tranquillion Ridge. This modern, high tech process would replace several existing oil platforms and allow more oil to be produced locally with minimal visual impact and minimal potential threat to the environment. While I cannot claim there is a consensus, many local environmental groups support this project because of the benefits it could provide to the region and state.

Given all the uncertainties of California politics, here’s one thing you can bet on:

We haven’t heard the last of a constitutional convention.

There are two reasons to believe the idea isn’t going away, despite the failure of convention backers to raise enough money to qualify two initiatives for the November 2010 ballot.

1. This was a successful failure.

The history of big changes in California is a history of successful failures, similar to con con’s. In the 30 years between statehood and the state’s last constitutional convention, in 1878 and 1879, there were three major efforts to call a convention, each of which failed.

Howard Jarvis, co-author of Prop 13, had a decade’s worth of failures with similar measures before he got his initiative on the ballot and changed California’s tax and governance systems forever.

Maybe if someone could figure out how to turn a profit on political reform, it would have a better chance of making the ballot.

Backers of the effort to call a new state constitutional convention to update California’s creaky government machinery waved the white flag last week, admitting they couldn’t raise the cash to put their measures on the ballot.

“The money basically ran out,” said Jim Wunderman of the Bay Area Council, who came up with the convention plan. “I’m very sorry we had to call it quits.”

Wunderman and other convention backers remain convinced there’s a groundswell of support for wholesale reform of the state’s political system, but you couldn’t prove it by the campaign’s bank balance.