Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jul. 8, 2014 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jul. 8, 2014 – 7:45 am
California politics is meandering into uncharted procedural and legal territory with former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez’s go-for-broke decision to seek a vote recount in his duel with Board of Equalization member Betty Yee for a spot on the November state controller ballot.
By KENNETH P. VOGEL | 7/7/14 9:00 PM EDT Updated: 7/8/14 5:41 AM EDT
At first, it seemed like just another example of Harry Reid being Harry Reid.
The Senate majority leader, whose unscripted attacks can veer into bellicosity and take liberties with facts, spoke on the Senate floor last October and appeared to blame billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch for the government shutdown.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jul. 7, 2014 – 12:00 am
At any given moment, dozens of comatose bills float around the Legislature – vessels to be filled with whatever the powers-that-be want to enact quickly and semi-clandestinely.
Politics and Policy
Presumed Presidential Candidate Makes Clear She Won’t Be Running for de Facto Third Obama Term
By Peter Nicholas
July 6, 2014 – 8:13 p.m. ET
Hillary Clinton has begun distancing herself from President Barack Obama, suggesting that she would do more to woo Republicans and take a more assertive stance toward global crises, while sounding more downbeat than her former boss about the U.S. economic recovery.
By Jessica Calefati
jcalefati@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 07/05/2014 04:00:00 PM PDT
Updated: 07/06/2014 06:47:14 AM PDT
SACRAMENTO — After state Sen. Leland Yee’s stunning arrest earlier this year, the Legislature’s highest-ranking member urged his colleagues to finally fix a long-standing problem in California politics — the corrupting allure of money.
Michael A. Memoli
July 4, 2014
Democrats headed into the Fourth of July recess facing stiff head winds in their quest to maintain a Senate majority this fall, contending with voters’ unease over the economy and a slew of Washington controversies.
June 26, 2014
Now that Lesli Gooch has dropped her request for a recount in the 31st Congressional District, Republican Paul Chabot and Democrat Pete Aguilar can now focus on the Nov. 4 general election.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in the P-E Political Empire Blog, click here.
Opinions
Charles Krauthammer Opinion writer
June 26 at 8:08 PM
The Supreme Court this week admonished the Environmental Protection Agency for overreaching in regulating greenhouse gases. The Clean Air Act covers polluters that emit 250 tons per year (or in some cases, 100 tons). This standard makes no sense if applied to greenhouse gases. Thousands of establishments from elementary schools to grocery stores would be, absurdly, covered. So the EPA arbitrarily chose 100,000 tons as the carbon dioxide threshold.
By Joe Nelson, The Sun
Posted: 06/24/14, 8:45 PM PDT | Updated: 1 min ago
A pair of legislative bills drafted by Sen. Norma Torres, D-Chino, in response to San Bernardino County’s Colonies corruption case passed two Assembly committees on Tuesday, continuing their path to Gov. Jerry Brown for final review and possible signing into law.
By Jerry Roberts and Phil Trounstine
June 25, 2014
Democrat Jerry Brown has little to fear from his GOP challenger, Neel Kashkari, according to the latest Field Poll that finds the governor leading by 20 points – 52-32% — including 13% among Republicans.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2014 – 9:31 pm
Jerry Brown may not be universally admired, but polls indicate that he’s virtually certain to win a record fourth term as governor, perhaps even in a landslide, and thus four more years to cement his place in political history.
However, that place depends largely on how well these major acts, all works in progress, of term No. 3 pan out:
By JAMES HOHMANN | 6/25/14 1:16 AM EDT Updated: 6/25/14 7:22 AM EDT
Tuesday night was bad for Democrats, good for the GOP establishment and great for incumbents of both parties.
By Annika McGinnis
WASHINGTON Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:25pm EDT
(Reuters) – U.S. first lady Michelle Obama will not go into politics after leaving the White House, she said on Monday, dismissing rumors she might follow in the footsteps of predecessor Hillary Clinton and run for the Senate after her husband leaves office.
By MANU RAJU and BURGESS EVERETT | 6/23/14 11:26 PM EDT Updated: 6/24/14 5:26 AM EDT
Harry Reid has a new dilemma on his hands: restless Senate Democrats who are frustrated they aren’t casting enough votes.
By Edward Klein
June 21, 2014 | 6:48pm
In his new book, “Blood Feud,” journalist Edward Klein gets inside the dysfunctional, jealous relationship between Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack and Michelle Obama — and how it could explode in 2016.
By JONATHAN TOPAZ | 6/18/14 6:18 AM EDT
President Barack Obama’s approval rating is tied for the lowest mark since the beginning of his presidency, a new poll says.
Dan Balz
June 18, 2014 at 7:42 PM
It is a near-perfect storm that has come together as Hillary Rodham Clinton tours the country promoting her new book and preparing for a possible presidential campaign in 2016.
By Josh Richman, jrichman@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 06/17/14, 9:04 PM PDT |
Gov. Jerry Brown in a steamy political scandal? Unlikely.
Another national economic collapse? Also a long shot.
After this month’s primary election, the real question is: Does a rookie Republican like Neel Kashkari have any chance of toppling a popular governor in an ultrablue state?
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 16, 2014
The California Senate reversed course Monday by approving a fundraising ban it rejected last week.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 16, 2014 – 9:45 pm
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 17, 2014 – 7:16 am
The political infighting over the next state budget began Sunday night, just minutes after the Legislature passed one that would spend $156.4 billion – $200 billion-plus when federal funds are included – in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 16, 2014 – 12:00 am
The Capitol has a long, sometimes unsavory, history of attaching extraneous matters of uncertain lineage to the state budget at the last minute.
Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross
Updated 2:01 pm, Sunday, June 15, 2014
Rarely has a major court decision been met with such stony silence by California politicians as the ruling declaring that the state’s teacher tenure laws hurt poor and minority-heavy schools and are unconstitutional.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jun. 15, 2014 – 12:00 am
The state constitution bans changing voter-passed initiatives unless voters agree, or the initiatives themselves allow legislative amendment.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 13, 2014
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders made it clear Friday that they have reached an agreement on a new state budget.
Post Politics
By Sean Sullivan
June 13, 2014
At least three polls released this week showed President Obama’s favorability rating hitting new lows.
In his first term, his favorable rating held steady even as his job approval rating slipped. But that’s no longer true.
Friday, June 13, 2014 – 03:00 p.m.
It’s official!
Mayor Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) will face Paul Chabot (R-Rancho Cucamonga) in a November runoff to decide who will replace retiring Congressman Gary Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga).
By Jim Miller and David Siders
jmiller@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jun. 12, 2014 – 11:16 pm
Two years after Gov. Jerry Brown first proposed using carbon-reduction revenue to prop up California’s beleaguered high-speed rail project, Brown and legislative leaders reached budget agreements Thursday that include the controversial funding plan, as well as money to pay overtime for in-home supportive services and increase welfare-to-work grants.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jun. 13, 2014 – 12:00 am
In the pecking order of statewide offices, controller falls somewhere in the middle – below the governor or the attorney general, certainly, but higher in political stature than the insurance commissioner, the state schools superintendent or, at the very bottom, the lieutenant governor.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 12, 2014
Against the backdrop of a ruling declaring California’s teacher dismissal rules unconstitutional, the Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown legislation speeding the teacher firing process.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jun. 10, 2014 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jun. 10, 2014 – 12:49 am
Months ago, without saying it publicly, Democrats gave up hopes of regaining control of the House of Representatives and began concentrating resources on saving their command of the U.S. Senate.
By BURGESS EVERETT | 6/9/14 8:26 PM EDT – Updated: 6/10/14 6:28 AM EDT
She stood beside President Barack Obama through the politically damaging revelations over NSA data-mining, but Dianne Feinstein can’t seem to stay on the White House’s call list.
By Jim Miller
jmiller@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 9, 2014 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Monday, Jun. 9, 2014 – 6:13 am
With less than a week before the constitutional deadline to pass a budget, the Democrats in control at the California Capitol are at odds on the big questions: how much money the state will take in, how it should be spent, and how major programs should be structured.
By Josh Hicks
June 8, 2014 at 11:58 am
The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee suggested Sunday that the White House has done a poor job of sharing information with Congress about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his recent release from Taliban captivity.
Sunday, June 8, 2014 – 11:30 a.m.
Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) will now face Paul Chabot (R-Rancho Cucamonga) in the runoff election to decide who will represent the 31st Congressional District.
What a choice!
At the Races — Roll Call’s Politics Blog
By Emily Cahn Posted at 8:22 p.m. on June 6
In California’s 31st District, Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar maintained a 181-vote lead over Republican Lesli Gooch Friday, after the San Bernardino County Elections Office released an updated vote tally.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jun. 8, 2014 – 12:00 am
Approval ratings of the California Legislature, as measured in periodic polling, were in the teens a few years ago but have since improved.
By Dan Balz
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Are you ready for Hillary? If not, this is a week to turn off the television, put aside your morning paper, get off the Internet, never look at your Twitter feed, avoid Facebook and stay out of bookstores.
By IE Business Daily
June 7, 2014
Democrat Pete Aguilar survived the race for second place to make the runoff against Republican Paul Chabot in the 31st Congressional Race.
Published: June 6, 2014 Updated: 10:46 p.m.
Two of the tightest Inland races from Tuesday’s primary election could be headed for recounts, as candidates hoping for a coveted November ballot spot have yet to concede.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in the Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 06/06/14, 7:50 PM PDT | Updated: 1 min ago
Another batch of votes added to the total Friday made it less likely though still statistically possible that Republican Lesli Gooch will knock Democrat Pete Aguilar out of the 31st Congressional District race, but already the campaigns are moving to the next stage.
Seema Mehta, Phil Willon
June 6, 2014
GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari, who struggled to raise money in his primary bid, said Friday he would need to raise at least $20 million to compete with Gov. Jerry Brown in the fall.
By JONATHAN TOPAZ | 6/6/14 1:32 PM EDT
Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said she has not seen any evidence that the Taliban would have killed Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl if details of an agreement had leaked, contrary to what Obama administration officials have said.
Seema Mehta
June 5, 2014
California GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari on Thursday challenged Gov. Jerry Brown to a series of debates, echoing a tactic Brown deployed four years ago against then-rival Meg Whitman.
Thursday, June 5, 2014 – 04:05 p.m.
Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) will likely be the candidate, who will face Paul Chabot (R-Rancho Cucamonga), in a November runoff to decide who will represent the 31st Congressional District.
Maeve Reston
June 4, 2014
Neel Kashkari launched his general election campaign Wednesday by charging that California Gov. Jerry Brown had failed the middle class, and insisting that he could win his uphill race by expanding the appeal of the Republican Party — creating “the biggest tent you’ve ever seen in your life.”
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 4, 2014
Last election cycle, the main story was Democrats claiming a decisive two-thirds supermajority in both houses of the Legislature.
By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE and CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | 6/4/14 7:07 PM EDT Updated: 6/5/14 10:31 AM EDT
President Barack Obama’s Rose Garden appearance Saturday afternoon with Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s parents was an attempt to humanize the prisoner swap to deflect potential criticism of letting five Taliban leaders out of Guantánamo Bay, White House aides say.
It didn’t work.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 – 09:00 a.m.
Here’s a recap of the June 3 Primary Election results for contests of interest.
Record low, and we mean low, turnout was projected, and it happened!
But no one expected it to be this low.
Melanie Mason, Patrick McGreevy
June 3, 2014
Republicans were the top vote-getters in early election returns for key legislative primary races Tuesday, indicating an uphill battle for Democrats seeking to regain their supermajority in November.
Posted on Tuesday, June 3 at 2:43pm | By Carolyn Lochhead
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Tuesday that she got a call from the White House apologizing for not letting Congress know about its exchange of Taliban prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a prisoner of Afghan rebels since 2009.
By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 06/02/14, 8:27 PM PDT | Updated: 1 min ago
While it’s anyone’s guess who will move on past today’s primary election, local political analysts do know one thing for certain – voter turnout will be low this year.
By BURGESS EVERETT and TARINI PARTI | 6/2/14 5:41 PM EDT
Updated: 6/3/14 10:16 AM EDT
Majority Leader Harry Reid and his caucus are bent on outlawing billionaire Koch-style political spending.
Monday, June 2, 2014 – 05: 30 p.m.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) hit Lesli Gooch (R-Rancho Cucamonga) in mailboxes again today.
Seema Mehta, Michael Finnegan
June 1, 2014
Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown holds a commanding lead in his bid for an unprecedented fourth term, but the race among GOP candidates seeking to take him on in November has become a dead heat just days before Tuesday’s election, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll.
By IE Business Daily
Saturday, May 31, 2014
What a difference a week makes, and a million dollars in independent campaign expenditures. Apparently, with the low returns on vote-by-mail ballots and expectations of even lower turnout on election day, no one is certain about what will happen in Tuesday’s California Primary.
Patrick McGreevy
May 30, 2014
Just days before the June 3 primary, California’s chief elections officer reported Friday that the percentage of voters registered with no party preference has increased while the percentages for registered Republicans and Democrats declined.
Friday, May 30, 2014 – 02:00 p.m.
The anticipated record low turnout for the June 3 Primary Election has made the contest for the 31st Congressional District seat an absolute “free-for-all”.
Friday, May 30, 2014 – 01:30 p.m.
Conservative Democrat Veronica Franco (D) lashes out on Congressman Mark Takano (D-Riverside) on The Lou Desmond Show, broadcast on San Bernardino-based KTIE-AM 590, Thursday evening (5/29/14).
To hear the interview in the second segment of the podcast, click the following link: The Lou Desmond Show
Melody Gutierrez
Updated 1:03 am, Friday, May 30, 2014
(05-29) 18:40 PDT Sacramento — Calling last year’s minimum wage hike a good first step, the California Senate approved a measure Thursday that would further lift the pay floor to $13 an hour by 2017.
Sunday, May 25, 2014 – 11:00 a.m.
No matter how you slice it, the contest to replace Congressman Gary Miller (R-Rancho Cucamonga), in the 31st Congressional District, has all the ingredients of fiercely competitive contest.
May 24, 2014
Today’s episode of “Inland Attack Ads” takes us to the 31st Congressional District in San Bernardino County, where four candidates are greedy lobbyists and another is a tax deadbeat if you believe what’s in your mailbox.
To read post by Jeff Horseman in the P-E Political Empire Blog, click here.
Seema Mehta
May 25, 2014
With Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown expected to romp to reelection this year against little-known rivals, many donors who gave Republican candidates more than $37 million in the last gubernatorial contest are now keeping their hands in their pockets.
But those who are writing checks are largely giving them to … Jerry Brown.
By Christopher Cadelago
ccadelago@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 25, 2014 – 12:00 am
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 25, 2014 – 7:43 am
Bill Bloomfield, a businessman and real estate developer from Manhattan Beach, spent more than $7 million of his own money two years ago in a losing attempt to win a seat in Congress.
Jean Merl
May 22, 2014
Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar has raised more than $1 million in his race for an open Inland Empire congressional district seat, his campaign reported Thursday.
NJ Daily
By Michael Catalini
May 21, 2014
A senior Democratic senator suggested Wednesday that President Obama’s race factored into opposition to the Affordable Care Act, sparking outrage on the part of one of his Republican colleagues.
Monday, May 19, 2014 – 09:00 a.m.
The race to represent the 31st Congressional District continued on a heated trajectory last week.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 19, 2014 – 12:00 am
Each year, the California Chamber of Commerce publishes a list of several dozen bills it calls “job killers,” targeting them for defeat or severe amendment.
Politics
By BRIAN KNOWLTON
MAY 18, 2014
WASHINGTON — Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, insisted on Sunday that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s health and age were fair targets for inquiry ahead of a possible 2016 presidential run, as both he and Karl Rove, the Republican strategist who injected those questions into the debate, suggested that such scrutiny might dissuade her from running.
Michael Finnegan
May 17, 2014
Republicans trying to unseat Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris share a common complaint: The two Democrats are so confident of reelection that they’re already laying ground to run for governor in 2018.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 18, 2014 – 12:00 am
Three years ago, early in the 2011 baseball season, the Florida Marlins’ Scott Cousins, while trying to score in a game against the San Francisco Giants, collided with Buster Posey, the Giants’ star catcher, who was blocking home plate.
By Alexander Bolton – 05/17/14 12:59 PM EDT
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to decide what Senate floor amendments Republicans can offer to guard against “gotcha” votes that could cost Democrats their majority.
Carla Marinucci
Updated 8:23 am, Saturday, May 17, 2014
Preparing for looming budget battles with the Democratic-controlled Legislature, Gov. Jerry Brown warned Friday that lawmakers must balance “desire and need” for expensive social programs – even as he defiantly doubled down on support for the increasingly unpopular high-speed rail system, saying it remains emblematic of his passion to “build great things” in his final term as governor.
May 14, 2014
One of Democrats’ biggest electoral embarrassments in 2012 could repeat itself this year, according to a pollster who recently surveyed a hotly contested Inland congressional district.
To read story by Jeff Horseman in the Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Philip Rucker and Zachary A. Goldfarb
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Amid all the speculation about her political future, Hillary Rodham Clinton has cast herself as a global icon tuning out the noise of domestic politics.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 13, 2014 – 9:46 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 14, 2014 – 12:44 am
As Jerry Brown sought the governorship again, 28 years after finishing his first stint, he promised to bring adult supervision to a Capitol that badly needed it, especially in managing the state’s roller coaster finances.
Cathleen Decker
May 14, 2014
Judged strictly as strategy, and not, say, for its morality, Karl Rove’s blast at Hillary Clinton on Tuesday demonstrated how the game of political trickery manifests itself in the Internet age. Allegation reported, allegation denied, outrage from the victimized party, all bouncing across the Web, the initial accusation repeated each and every time — a whisper campaign given full baying voice.
May 12, 2014; 10:10 PM
Rep. Raul Ruiz of Palm Desert is expected to ride his name recognition and other advantages of incumbency to one of the top two spots in the June 3 California primary.
To read story by Elizabeth Held in The Press Enterprise, click here.
Chris Megerian
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
When Gov. Jerry Brown releases his latest budget plan Tuesday, he will already have a major fiscal victory under his belt, having cut a deal to strengthen the state’s reserve fund.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 13, 2014 – 12:00 am
This is the drill in the state Senate this year, a least so far:
A scandal of some type erupts and Senate leaders respond with some supposedly corrective changes in rules governing the political game.
By Ron Fournier
May 12, 2014
In his forthcoming memoir, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner captures a moment at which President Obama faced a choice between forging ahead with a promise to seek GOP compromise on the nation’s debt crisis or bow to pressure from his liberal base.
Obama chose surrender.
Chris Megerian
Monday, May 12, 2014
California’s budget may be on the mend, but the race for a top state financial office could be one of the year’s most tumultuous election battles.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 12, 2014 – 12:00 am
Next month marks the 36th anniversary of Proposition 13, California’s iconic property tax limit, and time has not healed its political wounds.
Conservatives still love it, liberals still hate it and it’s perpetual fodder for academic, journalistic and political cogitating.
It was arguably the roughest week Clinton has had since she left the State Department.
By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 5/10/14 7:04 AM EDT
Hillary Clinton isn’t a candidate for president, at least not yet. But last week felt like she was very much in the 2016 grind.
By Neil Nisperos, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 05/08/14, 10:14 PM PDT |
An independent committee, sponsored by the Service Employees International Union, is spending half of a million dollars in support of Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod’s bid for Fourth District County Supervisor.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, May. 8, 2014 – 10:36 pm
Last Modified: Thursday, May. 8, 2014 – 10:46 pm
An agreement between Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on a rainy-day fund Thursday came uncharacteristically early in the state’s annual budget-making process, with none of the public rancor that seemed likely only recently.