City managers will gather in Sacramento on Thursday to discuss damage control. Some say more residents are seeking salary information from city halls. The Legislature considers reforms as well.

By Sam Allen, Abby Sewell and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

July 29, 2010

The scandal over high salaries paid to Bell officials has city leaders throughout the state scrambling to limit the political damage.

City halls have seen an uptick in residents calling to find out what their local officials make ever since the story broke two weeks ago and prompted widespread public outrage.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 28, 2010 | 5:31 pm

Three highly paid administrators in Bell will not be permitted to draw their state pensions until the attorney general determines whether the city broke the law in awarding the hefty paychecks, according to an official with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

“CalPERS is concerned about the situation, and our intention is to not [to] entertain applications for pensions from any of these people until the investigation is complete,” said Pat Macht, the agency’s external affairs director.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jul. 29, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Furloughs are back.

Less a month after ending unpaid days off for more than 200,000 state workers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is bringing back a scaled-down version of the policy that will take effect on Sunday.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 28, 2010 | 9:00 pm

With the campaigns in full swing over what are supposed to be lazy summer months, a new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California finds the races for governor and U.S. Senate are both up for grabs.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown is leading his Republican opponent Meg Whitman, 37% to 34%. Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is ahead of Republican Carly Fiorina, 39% to 34%.

Read the rest of this entry »

PoliticsBlog

Posted By: Carla Marinucci | July 28 2010 at 02:18 PM

California Working Families for Jerry Brown, the independent expenditure group working to help the Democratic State Attorney General’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, just got a powerhouse ally — the 325,000-member California Teachers Association.

CTA President David Sanchez, in announcing the move, called Brown “the education candidate for governor.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, Attorney General Jerry Brown repeatedly claims he’s all over the City of Bell salary scandal.

Brown’s office has subpoenaed thousands of city records. He’s giving city officials twenty-four hours to turn them over.

Otherwise one can infer search warrants will be the order of the day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Cooley

Investigators are looking into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest, as well as the $100,000 salaries paid to four council members. The D.A. says several elections are targeted.

By Richard Winton, Jeff Gottlieb and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times

July 28, 2010

Los Angeles County prosecutors have launched a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest involving municipal business in Bell, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Times, Cooley described an investigation considerably larger in scope than previously acknowledged by prosecutors, saying that it was “multifaceted, rapidly expanding and full-fledged.” Investigators have been gathering evidence since March, he said.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:15 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise

The Inland area’s laid-off teachers are cutting their household budgets and learning to tell their children no.

They have turned off their air conditioners and no longer can buy the things they used to take for granted.

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10:49 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest boosters Tuesday when officials triggered the demolition of the first building to make way for the proposed $3.7 billion March LifeCare campus.

The project could ultimately bring as many as 7,200 permanent jobs to the former March Air Force Base, at a health-care complex that will be anchored by a medical center, the project developer said. The ambitious plans call for a wide range of other medical buildings on the grounds of the former base, including facilities for senior citizens and retirees for ambulatory care patients.

Read the rest of this entry »

Meg Whitman

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 27, 2010 | 5:58 pm

Facebook users have seen ads soliciting thoughts on everything from their favorite vacation spot to the best engagement ring.

Now Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman is using so-called polling ads to determine what Facebook users see as the most important issue facing California, hoping to boost her online network in the process.

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Carly Fiorina

Senate hopeful meets veterans at Balboa Park

By Michele Clock, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 9:26 p.m.

In a San Diego campaign stop to showcase her support for veterans, Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina again criticized Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer for backing the federal economic stimulus act and questioned her support for the military.

Surrounded by about 60 people, many of them veterans, at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park on Tuesday, Fiorina said the stimulus act has actually cost jobs rather than helping create them. Boxer says just the opposite.

Read the rest of this entry »

The two parties are staging stunts as the state’s unpaid bills pile up heading into the fifth week without a spending plan.

By Shane Goldmacher, Los Angeles Times

July 28, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

As California staggers toward the fifth week of the fiscal year without a spending plan, a month of closed-door talks in the Capitol have produced little but tension and finger-pointing. The calendar is flipping toward August with no resolution in sight.

Top officials don’t even publicly agree about what they agree upon. The two parties are staging stunts at the Capitol and trading barbs in dueling radio addresses, each side accusing the other of being dug in or disengaged, or both.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted on 26 July 2010
By Robert Cruickshank

As progressive activists across America organize to fight the looming “cat food commission” proposals to destroy the futures of working Americans by slashing Social Security benefits and raise the retirement age, Jerry Brown is now proposing to do the same here in California – in this case with cuts to public employee pensions:

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By Jim Boren on July 27, 2010 2:16 PM

Remember right after the June primary when Democrat Jerry Brown said he’d debate Republican Meg Whitman any time, any place? Whitman has agreed to a Fresno debate on Oct. 2 at Fresno State. But Brown’s gubernatorial campaign today would only say the debate is under consideration.

The Fresno debate will be sponsored by The Bee, Univision, the Fresno-Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the city of Fresno and Fresno State. (Full disclosure: I have attended many of the planning sessions for the debate as a representative of The Bee). This is the same group that sponsored the July 1 town hall in Fresno with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 27, 2010

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has agreed to participate in a September debate co-sponsored by The Sacramento Bee.

Other sponsors of the event, to be held September 28 on the UC Davis campus, are KCRA, Capitol Public Radio and the University of California, Davis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Michael J. Mishak Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 27, 2010 | 1:08 p.m.

In politics, it’s all about the spin.

Take, for instance, a news release issued Tuesday by the Meg Whitman campaign that proclaims, “Meg Whitman Challenges Jerry Brown to Three Fall Debates.” It was an interesting take given that Brown, the Democratic attorney general, issued the debate challenge to Whitman and her GOP primary rival, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, at the state Democratic convention in April. Brown kept up the pressure after the primary, challenging Whitman to a series of 10 debates. In June, she accepted an invitation to an October debate, as did Brown, who then asked to speed up the schedule.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 27, 2010 | 8:36 am

Appearing on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman emphasized her tenure as chief executive of EBay, saying her experience at the company gave her insight into the conditions needed for small businesses to thrive. And she said she had no plans to run for higher office if she were elected governor.

Meg Whitman “Hundreds of thousands of individuals made most, if not all, of their living selling on EBay,” Whitman said. “I saw exactly what was required for small business to grow and thrive. If California is going to be led out of this recession, it’s going to have to be led out by small business.”

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown is apparently becoming a little sensitive to criticisms he is using his official capacity of Attorney General as a campaign platform.

In a Los Angeles Times story yesterday, Brown defended his investigation into pay practices in the City of Bell, deflecting allegations by the Meg Whitman campaign, that his actions were a campaign stunt.

Maybe someone should ask Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. The man with the tire tracks across his back.

Read the rest of this entry »

Number of days past constitutional deadline: 42

Status: Legislature on summer recess

By PE Politics
on July 27, 2010 6:45 AM

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will participate in a 10 a.m. demolition ceremony today for the March Lifecare project.

The project, at the former March Air Force Base, is being billed as the Inland area’s largest health care center. It will cover more than 3.5 million square feet once buildings are built on the base’s northeast corner. Projections show at least $80.1 million in work over 10 years.

Read the rest of this entry »

James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/26/2010 05:56:55 PM PDT

One of the Inland Empire’s most outspoken Democratic activists says he is unhappy with the county Democratic Party and is considering promoting Republican candidates for local office.

Gil Navarro, who earlier this month said his new political action committee – the Latino Caucus of the Inland Empire – would support only Democratic candidates, now says he might have had a change of heart after a meeting with Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:23 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON – As Republicans eye a takeover in the House of Representatives this fall, two Inland congressmen are well positioned to reap the benefits.

Reps. Darrell Issa and Jerry Lewis serve as the top Republican members of the House Oversight and Appropriations committees, respectively. But if the Republicans win back majority status, the two lawmakers could become significantly more powerful as chairmen of the two panels.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – Several Inland governments, businesses and other groups have rallied behind a recently introduced state bill meant to preserve millions in revenue for the agency in charge of redeveloping the former Norton Air Force Base.

The support comes even though some of the agencies would stand to get more money if current law was left alone.

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Carly Fiorina

By KEVIN FREKING (AP) – 16 hours ago

WASHINGTON — Republicans have reserved $1.75 million for television ads to help Carly Fiorina in the final week of the California Senate race.

The commitment signals GOP optimism about unseating three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in November. The Republicans plan to target the Los Angeles market and the money would buy enough air time for viewers to see an ad — at least in part — 10 times.

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By Ed Mendel

As CalPERS publicly said a decade ago that a major pension increase, now targeted for rollbacks, could be paid for with investment earnings rather than higher state costs, its actuaries made a startlingly accurate forecast of the impact if earnings fell short.

The actuaries said the annual state payment to CalPERS, $159 million in 1999, could soar to $3.954 billion in fiscal 2010-11 — a long-range forecast that scored a near bull’s-eye on the $3.888 billion state payment for the fiscal year that began this month.

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Attorney General Edmund “Jerry” Brown

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 26, 2010 | 4:45 pm

Ten television trucks and a crowd of reporters showed up for a news conference Monday where California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown announced that he had issued subpoenas for records as part of his investigation into “excessive” salaries in Bell, but the Democratic gubernatorial nominee insisted he was just doing his day job.

Last week The Times examined Brown’s dual roles as candidate and attorney general — prompting the campaign of his opponent, Meg Whitman, to request public records detailing Brown’s official travel and the personnel records of his communications staff.

Read the rest of this entry »

Unions are giving the candidate plenty of financial support, even though he has made no commitment to their causes.

By Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times

July 27, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

The television ads seize on the millions of dollars organized labor is spending to help elect Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, warning that if he’s victorious, he would be “their governor.”

Labor leaders watching the spots, which are funded by billionaire GOP nominee Meg Whitman, should be so lucky.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 26, 2010 | 3:54 pm

Nearly four weeks into the fiscal year without a budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested Monday that California might have to wait until his successor is sworn in next year to get a spending plan — unless lawmakers give him everything he wants.

Schwarzenegger says the Legislature must curtail public pensions and change California’s taxation and budgeting systems before he will sign a budget this year, his last as governor. He leaves office in January.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 26, 2010 | 4:37 pm

Reviving an old attack in his continuing effort to get Republican rival Meg Whitman to release her tax returns, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown accused her Monday of failing to pay unemployment taxes for household staff when she lived in Massachusetts in the 1990s.

The same charge was leveled by the California Democratic Party in March, using the same piece of evidence: a 1999 judgment filed against Whitman in Boston Municipal Court for $1,648.58.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 26, 2010

WASHINGTON — The campaign of Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer today criticized Republican Senate GOP candidate Carly Fiorina for opposing the creation of a new consumer finance protection bureau.

The bureau is part of a financial reform bill backed by Boxer and signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 26, 2010

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he’s against reducing the state’s supermajority budget vote requirement to a majority threshold, essentially voicing his opposition to Proposition 25 on the November ballot.

The Republican governor spoke during a “budget roundtable” he convened at the offices of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. In response to a question on ballot initiatives, he first said taxes and fees should not be increased by a majority vote, a restriction the California Chamber of Commerce is attempting to strengthen in Proposition 26. He then said he’s not only against approving taxes and fees on a majority-vote basis, but also a state budget.

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Brown

Today, Attorney General, oops! I mean democratic candidate for Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown was campaigning on the Bell pension fiasco vis press conference.

Yes indeed. Another “high-profile” issue has handed Brown a platform to campaign from for “free”.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 41

Status: Legislature on summer recess

July 26, 2010

By Clint Reilly
Special to Calbuzz

Today Calbuzz presents an assessment of the campaign for governor by political strategist, businessman and columnist Clint Reilly. Reilly, whose advice Brown recently sought, has a unique perspective, having run the 1994 gubernatorial bid of the Democratic candidate’s sister, Kathleen, against Pete Wilson, who enjoyed a substantial fundraising advantage.

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California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics

California WatchBlog

July 26, 2010 | Lance Williams

One of Carly Fiorina’s ads attacks Barbara Boxer for being “worried about the weather.”

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has obtained about $63,000 in donations this year from Appalachian coal-mining interests, much of the money from an outspoken Ohio mine owner who dismisses global warming as “hysterical global goofiness.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Published: Monday, Jul. 26, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

When California faced a major budget crisis in the early 1990s, thanks to what was then the worst recession since the Great Depression, a Republican governor – Pete Wilson – and the Legislature enacted a big, albeit temporary, increase in state taxes.

Despite the boost in sales and income taxes, however, state revenue continued to decline as the recession deepened, touching off years of political debate over causes and effects.

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Brown

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 25, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jul. 25, 2010 – 1:19 am

In summer 1978, 2,000 state workers rallied for a pay raise at the Capitol, shouting “Down with Brown” and hurling boos and catcalls as then-Gov. Jerry Brown addressed them from the stage.

Three months later, East Bay labor leaders refused to let Brown speak at their Labor Day picnic, and California’s largest state employees group publicly opposed his re-election bid. The executive secretary of the state AFL-CIO accused Brown of “leading a lynch mob against government workers.”

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Published: Sunday, Jul. 25, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jul. 25, 2010 – 1:19 am

With unemployment skyrocketing and the country recovering slowly from a painful recession, job creation is the catch phrase of the 2010 election. Every candidate, it seems, has a program to put people back to work.

California’s gubernatorial candidates, Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown, each have plans they say will help create jobs. Here’s a look at what each proposes to do. Most proposals would require approval by the Legislature.

– Dan Smith, Bee Capitol Bureau Chief

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By Dan Morain, Senior editor
dmorain@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Sunday, Jul. 25, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1E
Last Modified: Sunday, Jul. 25, 2010 – 10:31 am

The ghost of one California chief justice is about to reappear this campaign season as a new chief justice heads to certain confirmation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated Tani Cantil-Sakauye as chief justice, a step that places the appointment power of governors before voters.

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Under scrutiny, the public pension fund has hired a firm to examine its payments.

By Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times

July 24, 2010 | 9:56 p.m.

Reporting from Sacramento —

California taxpayers are on the hook when the state’s giant public pension system — lately plagued by corruption scandals and huge losses — makes a bad investment. Yet they are permitted to see little of what goes into its investment decisions.

Officials at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System have shrouded many of their multimillion-dollar transactions in secrecy, refusing to release analyses of potential investments, meeting materials and correspondence relating to venture capital, real estate and other private equity holdings.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 39

Status: Legislature on summer recess

Bell officials step down
July 23, 2010 3:16 PM
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

BELL (AP) • The city manager, assistant city manager and police chief of this small, poverty-plagued suburb of Los Angeles stepped down following a public outcry over their salaries, which total more than $1.6 million a year.

Robert Rizzo, who served as Hesperia’s city manager from 1988 to 1992, was the highest paid Bell employee at $787,637 a year — nearly twice the pay of President Barack Obama. Census figures for 2008 showed about 17 percent of the city’s less than 40,000 residents live in poverty.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/23/2010 05:57:50 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDIN0 – In a motion seeking dismissal of state charges of extortion and bribery against former San Bernardino County assistant assessor Jim Erwin, Erwin’s attorney claims state and county prosecutors have failed to clearly state the charges, thereby thwarting Erwin’s ability to properly defend himself.

Criminal defense attorney Rajan R. Maline on Friday filed the motion in San Bernardino Superior Court, in which he also alleges that the three-year statute of limitations has expired for the offenses in which both Erwin and former county Assessor Bill Postmus stand accused.

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Sarah Palin                 Carly Fiorina

By PE Politics
on July 23, 2010 12:20 PM

As the race for California’s contested U.S. Senate seat tightens, incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Republican challenger Carly Fiorina have each attempted in recent days to portray the other as an extremist from the fringe of their respective party.

This week, the two traded jabs on abortion and offshore oil drilling, two of the many issues on which the candidates have vastly different views.

Read the rest of this entry »

Brown

By Jon Ortiz and David Siders
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jul. 24, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, long a supporter of public employee retirement rights, is staking out territory in what is traditionally Republican ground: government pension reform.

On his campaign website and in recent comments to the media, California’s attorney general and former governor has advocated rolling back state retirement benefits. Many of his points mirror changes pushed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and tentatively accepted by some unions, but don’t cut into pensions as deeply as policies proposed by Brown’s Republican opponent, Meg Whitman.

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Trend in the Region
Property Values Dip for Second Year
Friday, July 23, 2010

By Rich Saskal

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Assessed property values in California are likely to decline for the second year running, according to a Bond Buyer review of data from the state’s larger counties.

Even though the state’s tax assessment system has the effect of muting the volatility of property assessments, 11 of the state’s 12 largest counties experienced a decline in their property tax roll this year.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 38

Status: Legislature on summer recess

James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/22/2010 05:14:57 PM PDT

More than four in 10 voters in Rep. Joe Baca’s congressional district say they don’t know who they’ll vote for in November, according to a poll commissioned by Scott Folkens, Baca’s Republican challenger.

Folkens, who is using the poll results in his campaign’s latest request for donations, said he is hoping to convince the national Republican Party it should get involved in his campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

By PE Politics
on July 22, 2010 9:34 AM

Assemblywoman Mary Salas has conceded defeat in the extremely close Democratic primary for California’s 40th Senate District, which includes part of Riverside County, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported today.

Former Assemblyman Juan Vargas, who led Salas by 22 votes, picked up several more in a recount requested — and paid for — by Salas in certain precincts in San Diego and Riverside counties.

Read the rest of this entry »

Barbara Boxer              Carly Fiorina

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 22, 2010 | 7:41 pm

In 2008, the Culver City-based Brave New Films used viral videos to take on then-presidential candidate John McCain’s health, his numerous homes and his shifting rhetoric. The company’s new target is Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, who is locked in a tight race with Sen. Barbara Boxer(D-Calif).

In one of the first independent expenditures of the general election campaign, Brave New Films has released a viral video that plays up Fiorina’s association with “tea party” groups in California and shows an image of her face morphing into that of Sarah Palin, who gave Fiorina a boost by endorsing her during the hard-fought Republican primary.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Democrat would adopt some Schwarzenegger ideas, such as asking current employees to contribute more to their plans and raising the retirement age for new hires.

By Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times

July 23, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

Unveiling one of his few major policy proposals Thursday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown called for public-pension reform, embracing some of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ideas for curbing the soaring cost of the state worker retirement system.

If elected, Brown said, he would ask current employees to contribute more to their pension plans and would raise the retirement age for new hires. The measures are core components of tentative deals Schwarzenegger has negotiated with half a dozen state workers’ unions.

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Ken McLaughlin

kmclaughlin@mercurynews.com
Posted: 07/22/2010 06:29:29 PM PDT
Updated: 07/22/2010 10:45:38 PM PDT

GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman came to Garlic City on Thursday to step up her attacks on opponent Jerry Brown, portraying him as a supporter of “Sacramento’s war on jobs.”

Speaking to campaign supporters and workers at Gilroy’s Christopher Ranch, the former eBay CEO pointed to the newly released second edition of “Meg the Magazine” — a glossy, 36-page publication that outlines her proposals for creating 2 million jobs in California by 2015.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 22, 2010 | 4:54 pm

There’s no evidence that Jerry Brown has done anything wrong as he’s attempted to balance his official duties as California’s attorney general with his gubernatorial bid, but that hasn’t kept his Republican opponent Meg Whitman from trying to stir controversy on the topic.

After an L.A. Times story this week about Brown’s dual roles, Whitman’s campaign said it had sent an open records request to the Department of Justice to determine if Brown is “using any taxpayer-paid staff or services to advance his gubernatorial campaign.”

Read the rest of this entry »

California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics

California WatchBlog

July 23, 2010 | Timothy Sandoval

Gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman have both repudiated partisan politics and attacks made against their campaigns.

But despite their concern about partisan attacks, Politics Verbatim has documented hundreds of attacks the two candidates have made since the beginning of the campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Public Safety

California WatchBlog

July 23, 2010 | Ryan Gabrielson

During normal times, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hears from two to three small towns a year wondering how much taxpayer money they’d save by hiring deputies to replace their own police officers.

These are not normal times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Brown

Thursday, July 22, 2010 – 08:38 pm

Listeners to the KFI AM-640 John and Ken show were treated to a surprise unannounced five minute call-in from California Attorney General Jerry Brown this evening.

Brown wanted to talk about his new investigation into the City of Bell salary scandal. However, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou wanted to talk about illegal immigration.

Prior to Brown’s call-in John and Ken had adopted Calbuzz’s nickname for Brown, a.k.a “Krusty”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Published: July 22, 2010
Updated: 4:42 p.m.

By MARTIN WISCKOL
COLUMNIST
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

But Whitman, the billionaire former eBay CEO, spent a record-shattering $91 million on her primary campaign and didn’t miss a beat in shifting her attention to Brown. Brown, meanwhile, had a relatively modest $21 million in the bank as of the May filings – so it’s little surprise he’s holding back for later.

California has a boatload of failed self-funding millionaire candidates, including Al Checchi (spent $40 million of his own dough, lost 1998 Democratic primary for governor), Steve Westly ($40 million, lost 2006 Democratic primary for governor), and Michael Huffington ($28 million, lost 1994 general election for U.S. Senate).

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 22, 2010

Update: This post was updated at 2:15 p.m. with a response from the Brown campaign.

GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman has a new television commercial blasting Democratic rival Jerry Brown.

Read the rest of this entry »

Number of days past constitutional deadline: 37

Status: Legislature on summer recess



Thursday, July 22, 2010 – 11:27 am

It’s time for republican Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman to clearly articulate her positions on each element of the illegal immigration issue.

Her post-primary campaign strategy has created some bumps in the road with some of the republican base. A potential problem if it continues.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted By: Drew Joseph | July 21 2010 at 03:07 PM

Don’t be surprised if Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown might just want to tout that draft report — currently being circulated by the campaign of Republican Meg Whitman — that names him the “worst” AG in the country. That’s because it comes from a Washington-based conservative organization that critics say have fought regulations on just about everything from drug safety to auto emissions.

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By Jennifer Chaussee | 07/22/10 12:00 AM PST

It’s old news for the Netherlands, Portugal has been doing it for about a decade now and the Danes are thinking about it. On Nov. 2, Californians will vote on it.

But Californians looking forward to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana might have to think twice before lighting up this November.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mitt Romney and Meg Witman

California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics

California WatchBlog

July 22, 2010 | Chase Davis

Gov. Mitt Romney and gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman

In political fundraising, as in life, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

As former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., once again gears up his national fundraising apparatus for another shot at the presidency, many of the big donors supporting him in California have also given thousands to his protege: Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

The ferocious pounding that high-profile conservative talk show hosts John and Ken delivered to Meg Whitman over the L.A. airwaves this week clearly shows that her blatant untruthiness isn’t playing any better on the right than it is on the left.

“If she’s going to lie to us during the engagement process then the hell with her,” said John Kobylt, one half of the dynamic duo featured on the “John and Ken Show.”

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But voters’ anti-Washington mood may be working in her favor against Boxer.

By George Skelton Capitol Journal
July 22, 2010

From Sacramento

Californians normally wouldn’t elect a Carly Fiorina to the U.S. Senate or any high office.

The conservative Republican, most specifically, opposes abortion rights. “I’m a proud pro-life conservative,” she says.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Ed Mendel

Although you may not find one in California, there is a place where officials get credit for handling public employee pensions, instead of a barrage of criticism about unaffordable debt.

It’s Wisconsin, a state with a tradition of good government and high taxes.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 36

Status: Legislature on summer recess

Brown

It files a public records request with attorney general’s office seeking documents

By Steven Harmon
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 07/20/2010 04:04:27 PM PDT
Updated: 07/20/2010 07:12:30 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO — Meg Whitman’s campaign, suspicious that Jerry Brown is using his office as attorney general for campaign purposes, filed a Public Records Act request seeking documentation that they hope would prove it.

The request, filed late Monday with the attorney general’s office by Mark Bogetich, a Whitman campaign consultant, seeks what could amount to thousands of pages of employment information on communications staffers dating back to the 2005-06 fiscal year, before Brown was elected as attorney general.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 07/20/2010 05:39:24 PM PDT

San Bernardino County leaders are applauding a new law that will allow the county to have more than one grand jury, but it’s not clear if or when the law might be used.

The law, signed last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gives the county’s presiding judge the ability to create a second civil grand jury that would be able to investigate government entities in the county.

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Lewis

July 20, 2010 4:43 PM
From Staff Reports

WASHINGTON • The Obama administration’s lawsuit against Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law is contrary to both current law and Congress’ authority, Rep. Jerry said Tuesday.

Lewis joined 76 members of the House of Representatives and five senators in filing a court brief opposing the suit attempting to overturn Arizona’s law designed to limit illegal immigration.

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Published: Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 8B

In a further sign of troubles in the real estate market, California new home sales fell 46 percent in May compared with a year ago, the California Building Industry Association said Tuesday.

The drop in greater Sacramento was 51 percent, the association said. Its figures are compiled in cooperation with Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.

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By PE News
on July 21, 2010 5:00 AM

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has fined a San Bernardino Community College board member and his campaign treasurer $6,000 for failing to report campaign contributions on time.

The state ethics watchdog agency approved the fine at its May meeting and sent an enforcement letter last month to John Futch, who was elected to the board in 2008, and his treasurer, Fermin Ramirez.

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Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, 50, would be the first Asian American to lead the state’s judiciary and give the court a female majority for the first time in history.

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times

July 21, 2010

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to name 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye as the next chief justice, making her the first Asian American to lead the state’s judiciary and giving the California Supreme Court a female majority for the first time in its history.

Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Sacramento native who rose through the trial courts, served as deputy legislative secretary and deputy legal affairs secretary under former Gov. George Deukmejian. He plucked her from the Sacramento district attorney’s office and later appointed her to the Sacramento Municipal Court.

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Carly Fiorina

July 20th, 2010, 3:24 pm · posted by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief

Republican Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina has changed her mind, saying on a San Francisco radio show Tuesday morning that she would have voted yes on the unemployment benefits extension bill that was cleared Tuesday afternoon for a full Senate vote with just two GOP lawmakers voting yes.

“I probably would have voted for this extension,” Fiorina said on KGO radio. “But I tell you what, I think that it is absolutely appropriate for people to stand on their desks and say when is it that we’re finally going to do what needs to be done and cut government spending.”

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

In the summer silly season of California’s 1990 campaign for governor, a strategist for Dianne Feinstein used to say that running against Pete Wilson was like “getting up every morning and having somebody throw marbles in front of you” all day.

The description perfectly expressed the challenge of facing the aggressive, always-on-offense style of Republican Wilson’s camp, which worked assiduously to keep Democrat Difi constantly off balance before defeating her in November.

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state’s perpetual budget crisis makes headlines, but California’s 5,000 units of local government – counties, cities and school, fire, park and water districts – also are feeling financial pain unseen since the Great Depression.

Stagnant or declining revenues – property and sales taxes and state aid – and unsustainable, sometimes improper, spending have brought many local entities to the brink of insolvency.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 35

Status: Legislature on summer recess

Another entry from the website tracking report.

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 19, 2010

Recount begins in state Senate race

A recount has begun in California’s 40th Senate District, where a mere 22 votes separate the two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.

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Benoit

By PE Politics
on July 19, 2010 2:50 PM

The state’s political watchdog agency has warned Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit over 5,000 mailers initially sent at public expense.

Benoit sent out the mailers April 7 featuring his name, position and photograph, according to the warning letter sent by the state Fair Political Practices Commission. The mailers cost $1,333 and advertised a home-preservation summit.

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Brown

By Michael J. Mishak Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 19, 2010 | 6:26 p.m.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman’s campaign filed a public records request Monday with the California Department of Justice, seeking detailed information on how her Democratic rival, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, is using his office’s resources while campaigning for governor.

The request, filed by GOP consultant Mark Bogetich, asks for personnel records related to the attorney general’s communications operation, including names, salaries, job descriptions and office locations. It also includes requests for his budget and an accounting of expenditures, including expenses related to travel and state-owned vehicles.

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Ronald Reagan

L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 19, 2010 | 6:46 pm

What do Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk and Ronald Reagan have in common? They each get a day named in their honor under California law.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills Monday honoring the conservative icon, one declaring Feb. 6 as Ronald Reagan Day, the other establishing a state commission to plan celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Reagan’s birth in 1911.

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By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 – 8:07 am

Despite the narrow passage of Proposition 8 in 2008, a slim majority of California registered voters favors allowing same-sex marriage, according to a Field Poll released today.

The poll’s results – 51 percent in favor, 42 percent opposed, 7 percent undecided – show big differences among age groups, geography and party affiliation.

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Villalobos

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 – 8:26 am

RENO – Alfred Villalobos, the former CalPERS board member accused of bribery, said Monday he plans to sue the pension fund for spreading lies about him.

Villalobos said he will sue the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for $10 million, though he didn’t say when. “You know that they lied publicly and said things that weren’t true,” he said in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

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By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
Last Modified: Tuesday, Jul. 20, 2010 – 8:29 am

CalPERS was sued Monday by the First Amendment Coalition over its refusal to turn over documents relating to a controversial real estate investment.

The nonprofit coalition sued in San Francisco Superior Court, seeking documents concerning the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s ill-fated $100 million investment in Page Mill Properties, a collection of rental houses in East Palo Alto.

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Ramos

Almost six months ago, on two seperate occasions, local private criminal attorney’s personally approached San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos with a complaint.

What was done about the complaints to Ramos? Nothing.

Why? The complaint involved supporters of the District Attorney.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 34

Status: Legislature out on summer recess



Brown

His high-profile actions as the state’s top prosecutor have helped keep his campaign in the spotlight. But wooing the media while minding state ethics laws is a tough balancing act.

July 18, 2010|By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from San Diego — Standing before a bank of television cameras, photographers and reporters, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown announced last week that he was filing a lawsuit against the nation’s two largest mortgage lenders and the federal agency that oversees them.

The elected leaders who flanked Brown, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, lavished him with praise for the move, meant to allow lending to homeowners for a clean-energy program that could create tens of thousands of jobs in the state.

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Issa

10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

Rep. Darrell Issa’s crusade to hold the Obama administration accountable from his perch as top Republican on the House Oversight Committee has earned him a flurry of newspaper articles dubbing him the president’s “annoyer-in-chief.”

The White House has declined to comment for the articles. But, as Issa told a New York Times reporter in recent days, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel weighed in himself when the two crossed paths outside the House gym on Capitol Hill.

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State Controller John Chiang

They say it should not be as hard as the controller says it is to reprogram the computer system to cut state employees’ pay to the minimum wage as Schwarzenegger has demanded while there is no budget.

By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times

July 19, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —

For the last seven years, demands that state worker pay be reduced when California has no budget have been met with a consistent response from union-friendly state controllers: Their computer can’t do the math.

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Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
San Francisco Chronicle

Monday, July 19, 2010

(07-19) 04:00 PDT Sacramento – –

California currently requires groups that run campaign ads that expressly tell voters how to vote for certain issues or candidates to disclose where they got their money and how it was spent.

But if an ad simply informs the public about an issue – even if that issue has some connection to an upcoming election – the state’s disclosure laws about who is bankrolling the effort are murkier.

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The party decides to adopt a neutral position on Proposition 19. Many favor the measure, but opponents cited one overriding concern: a yes vote could damage statewide candidates in competitive races.

July 18, 2010|By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from San Jose — The state Democratic Party decided Sunday not to endorse the marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot after a swift, passionate debate that left little doubt most Democrats in the hotel meeting room intend to vote yes at the polls.

The party decided to adopt a neutral position on Proposition 19, leaving the many local Democratic committees and organizations free to endorse the measure.

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By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 19, 2010

SACRAMENTO — Hate to break this to you: Time’s whizzing by. You’re getting older.

Need proof? Brace yourself.

Jerry Brown is 72 years old.

Yes, that Jerry Brown. The endless-summer wonder boy who dated Linda Ronstadt many moons over blue bayous ago. The bliss-following political son who was sooo California cool — back when California really was the empire of the laid-back, and fiscally solvent at that.

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Saddled with policies adopted when times were good, many face dire consequences now. San Diego is a case in point.

July 18, 2010|By Tony Perry and Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from San Diego and Sacramento — After losing billions of dollars in recession-wracked investments, public pension funds in California are seeking to pare back the historically generous retirement benefits they provide to government workers, but not without push-back from unions.

About 70 local governments, stretching from Redding to Long Beach, are coming up with new, stingier formulas for calculating pension benefits for future hires.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 33

Status: Legislature out on summer recess



Brown

At the Pasadena Senior Center, the Democratic candidate’s age fazes no one. His lack of a coherent plan is a problem, though.

July 18, 2010|Steve Lopez

The last time I walked into the Pasadena Senior Center, a few years ago, I felt people eyeballing me as if I might have stumbled into the wrong building. When I returned Friday morning, they asked what class I was looking for.

Have I aged that quickly? If so, it means I may not have much time left to run for governor.

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Lobbyists play huge role in bills
Karen de Sa, San Jose Mercury News
Created: 07/17/2010 07:10:37 AM PDT

Like all newly elected lawmakers, Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes arrived in Sacramento needing two things to ensure his political success: legislative achievements and campaign money.

If he established himself as a political force, the Los Angeles-area Democrat might breeze to re-election in two years and rise up the legislative ranks. And sure enough, there were folks who could help him along – the throng of lobbyists offering bill ideas on behalf of their corporate clients.

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Doom of both could be goal of one of them
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/17/2010 09:30:25 PM PDT

If you can’t beat ‘em, confuse ‘em.

That’s the thinking, some political observers say, behind Proposition 27, one of the measures that will appear on November’s ballot. Proposition 27 and another measure on the ballot have near-opposite effects, which could doom both measures.

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Schwarzenegger

By Kevin Yamamura and Jon Ortiz
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Five years ago, the state correctional officers’ union paraded a mobile billboard around the Capitol bearing an unflattering picture of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bathing suit.

That demonstration seems mild compared to the frustration state employees feel this year toward the Republican governor. Schwarzenegger has incurred the wrath of rank-and-file employees through efforts to reduce pay and benefits, particularly his latest push to impose minimum wage.

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Brown

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jul. 18, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The question keeps coming up for Jerry Brown: Can he compete with a self-funded billionaire and, if so, when will he start?

“Can you beat Meg Whitman if she’s going to outspend you 10-to-1, have staffs 10 times as big as you?” Chris Matthews asked the Democratic gubernatorial nominee recently on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

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THE WEEK

Those are the two things Californians give their elected officials.

By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times

July 18, 2010

Even a cursory look at events last week was enough to show the concept of “public service” being turned on its ear.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission took up the issue of elected officials getting freebie tickets, in the wake of investigations into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s acceptance of tickets to dozens of sought-after events, sometimes from companies doing business with his administration.

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Brian Charles, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/16/2010 09:02:50 PM PDT

State election officials Friday certified self-described Minuteman and Tea Party movement member Tim Donnelly as the winner of the Republican primary in the 59th Assembly District.

Donnelly, who lives in Twin Oaks, narrowly defeated veteran politician Chris Lancaster, a former councilman and mayor of Covina.

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Meg Whitman                Steve Poizner

PoliticsBlog

Posted By: Michael Collier | July 16 2010 at 02:47 PM

Whitman made the comments on KGET in Bakersfield yesterday, where she was asked about her stance on furloughing state employees.

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Friday, July 16, 2010 – 12:30 pm

I won’t waste much energy on this, since the far right-wing of the California Republican Party can’t seem to stop shooting themselves in the head.

True to form, Mike Spence and the California Republican Assembly (CRA) started shooting off their mouths in a story published in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.

The message. Were not happy with Meg Whitman.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 31

Status: Legislature out on summer recess





Meg Whitman

10:24 PM PDT on Thursday, July 15, 2010

By TIFFANY RAY
The Press-Enterprise

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman said she has a plan to create two million new private-sector jobs in California by 2015.

Speaking in Ontario on Thursday to employees at Mag Instrument Inc., the maker of the Maglite flashlight, Whitman said her three priorities as governor would be creating jobs, reducing government spending and turning around California’s public schools.

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By Susan Ferriss
sferriss@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jul. 16, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Friday, Jul. 16, 2010 – 6:53 am

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is backing away from a key immigration proposal she advanced in this spring’s competitive GOP primary after farmers and other business interests expressed displeasure with her idea.

As she campaigned this spring, Whitman said she would send state and local officials into California businesses to look for illegal immigrants – her own version of federal immigration workplace inspections.

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California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics

California WatchBlog

July 16, 2010 | Chase Davis

Meg Whitman has out-raised Jerry Brown four to one in large contributions during the month-plus since the June 8 primary, further adding to her already massive cash advantage heading into election season, state campaign records show.

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Joe Garofoli,Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writers
San Francisco Chronicle
Friday, July 16, 2010

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who recently campaigned with GOP former Gov. Pete Wilson as being “tough as nails” on illegal immigration, could alienate her crucial conservative base, some party members say, by declaring she’s in lockstep on the issue with her rival: former Gov. Jerry Brown.

In an opinion piece published this week in a Spanish-language publication in Southern California, Whitman wrote that there is “very little” that she disagrees with Brown on concerning the hot-button issue of illegal immigration.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 15, 2010

In the closest forum to a debate so far, Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman appeared on Larry Kudlow’s show on the cable business news channel CNBC this afternoon, but not at the same time.

Under quick-fire questioning from Kudlow, the two candidates talked about how they plan to create jobs and also fired rhetorical darts at each other.

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Meg Whitman speaks to Mag Instrument employees at the Maglite plant in Ontario. (Adam Lau, Associated Press / July 15, 2010)

.

By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times

July 16, 2010

The issue of employment dominated the race for governor Thursday as Meg Whitman slashed rival Jerry Brown for failing to offer a plan to create jobs while she unveiled a glossy, 34-page booklet on the subject that she plans to mail to voters across California.

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Barbara Boxer                Carly Fiorina

Campaign finance figures show the incumbent Democratic senator has $11.3 million available, compared with less than $1 million for her Republican challenger, who is closing in on her in recent polls.

By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times

July 16, 2010

Carly Fiorina may be closing in on California Sen. Barbara Boxer in recent polls, but reports released Thursday show the three-term incumbent with a vast advantage in one very important area: money.

Read the rest of this entry »

.

Editor’s Note: Favorable/Unfavorable – Whitman 49%/44%, Brown 47%/48%

Election 2010: California Governor

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Republican Meg Whitman and Democrat Jerry Brown remain virtually tied in the race for governor of California.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Whitman edging ahead of Brown for the first time with 47% of the vote. The Democrat picks up 46% support. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, while three percent (3%) are not sure.

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Number of days past constitutional deadline: 30

Status: Legislature out on summer vacation



A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics
California WatchBlog

July 15, 2010 | Lance Williams

To conceal the fearsome prospective impact of California’s pension bomb from the taxpayers, bureaucrats sometimes play hide the ball.

When they do, it’s up to open-government advocates to drag them into court and make them do the right thing.

Read the rest of this entry »

July 14, 2010 2:57 PM
Natasha Lindstrom

ADELANTO • San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday approved agreements that help secure $100 million from the state to triple the capacity of Adelanto Detention Center.

Clinching the $100 million hinged on the county’s commitment to sell 20 acres near the Apple Valley Juvenile Detention Facility for the construction of a state prison reentry facility.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/14/2010 12:23:04 PM PDT

Only one candidate for California governor, the American Independent Party’s Chelene Nightingale, openly supports S.B. 1070, a controversial new immigration law in Arizona.

Nightingale said she expects that position will help her attract new supporters.

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Carla Marinucci,Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Political Writers
San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, July 15, 2010

(07-14) 22:21 PDT SAN FRANCISCO –

California Republicans are buzzing about the possibility that billionaire gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman – who has spent nearly $100 million of her own money on her campaign – could be preparing another unprecedented personal investment in her political future: a $30 million-plus infusion into the state party.

The Chronicle has obtained a draft of a detailed 44-page state GOP “2010 Victory Plan” that outlines the party’s $85.5 million financial blueprint for a campaign effort that includes $30 million directed to the gubernatorial race.

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Jerry Brown
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

WSJ Blogs
Capital Journal
Columns and Observations from the Capital

By Peter Brown

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, is a former White House correspondent with two decades of experience covering Washington government and politics. Click here for Mr. Brown’s full bio.

If, as the conventional wisdom holds, that this is the year in which being a career politician is a problem for candidates, then one might think Jerry Brown’s effort to reclaim the California governor’s mansion would be toast.

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Voters perceive dismal voting records and advancing age as negatives.
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
July 15, 2010

From Sacramento

Cut to the core of the contest for California governor and you’ll find that each candidate has one very vulnerable weak spot.

For Democrat Jerry Brown, it’s his old age.

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Meg Whitman

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 14, 2010

After saying all spring that she opposed amnesty for illegal immigrants, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman tried to neutralize the immigration issue in the general election by arguing in an op-ed published Wednesday that she and Democratic rival Jerry Brown have virtually the same positions on the issue.

The two candidates, however, disagree on a key component of the immigration debate: Brown supports offering permanent residency and citizenship to illegal immigrants while Whitman proposes only a guest worker program without a path to citizenship.

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By Anthony York | 07/15/10 12:00 AM PST

Recount. The very word now conjures up decade-old images of a carnival-like scene in the county seats of Florida, where we all learned new terms like “hanging chads,” “overvotes” and “Kathleen Harris.”

Alas, those days are over, but elections officials in Riverside and San Diego counties are girding for their own journey into uncharted electoral waters this week. That’s because Assemblywoman Mary Salas, D-Chula Vista, asked for a recount in the two counties of the 40th Senate District where she did better than her Democratic opponent, Juan Vargas.

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Chief Justice Ronald George

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 14, 2010

CHIEF RONALD GEORGE.JPGCalifornia Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George announced today that he will step down in January instead of seeking another term on the bench.

George, who served in the courts for nearly four decades, has been chief justice since 1996. He was first appointed to the state supreme court in 1991 by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

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Brown

***Editor’s Note: Once again democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, who is falling in the polls against rival republican Meg Whitman, has once again filed a lawsuit and sought to garner publicity. This time federally-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the whipping posts for Brown. The following afternoon story in the Sacramento Bee is the latest episode.

The big question is who will be charged or sued next?

________________________________________________________________________________

Brown sues federal housing giants over home energy improvement program

By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 – 2:11 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, Jul. 14, 2010 – 3:29 pm

California Attorney Jerry Brown today sued federal mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for blocking green home improvement financing programs that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and would create thousands of clean-tech jobs.

In a filing in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Brown said the federal agencies have ignored California law and wrongly characterized the programs in shutting them down.

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Brown

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
July 14, 2010 | 11:30 am

Jerry Brown may not be up with any paid TV commercials, but he’s been active on the free talk circuit, making his case for California governor with local and national stations alike.

On Wednesday he was in San Diego on the local Fox affiliate’s morning program talking about the gubernatorial campaign, the man he hopes to succeed and the woman standing between him and his old Capitol office, Republican nominee Meg Whitman.

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Jerry Brown

By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 7/14/10 4:46 AM EDT

POLITICO 44

Democrats are fearful that various labor-backed, independent-expenditure efforts in the California governor’s race are needlessly divided, risking Democrats’ chances with their scattershot messages.

It’s no small matter in a race where the independent expenditures were touted as critical to Democratic nominee Jerry Brown’s campaign, a stopgap for the infrastructure and funding that are sorely lacking from the former two-term governor’s frugal, bare-bones campaign. But as former eBay CEO Meg Whitman free-spends her way toward the $150 million mark in a race that’s currently neck and neck, there is little margin for error against her spending juggernaut.

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Schwarzenegger

06:55 AM PDT on Wednesday, July 14, 2010

By GENE GHIOTTO
The Press-Enterprise

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s job approval rating among California voters is the lowest since he took office in 2003 and equals the lowest given in the more than 50 years the Field Poll has been conducting the assessments.

Today’s Field Poll places Schwarzenegger at the same level as former Gov. Gray Davis just before Davis was recalled.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/13/2010 04:59:09 PM PDT

“No a la Proposici n 187 y no a la ley de Arizona.”

Translation: “No on Proposition 187 and no on the Arizona law.”

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James Temple, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Two longtime eBay shareholders are demanding the e-commerce giant open up its records regarding a 2007 altercation between an employee and Meg Whitman, the company’s then-chief executive and current candidate for governor, in an action organized by a major labor union opposed to her candidacy.

The New York Times first reported on the incident in June, saying that as eBay communications employee Young Mi Kim tried to prepare Whitman for a media interview, the executive became angry and “forcefully pushed her.” Kim threatened a lawsuit, but ultimately received a legal settlement totaling about $200,000, the newspaper reported. After a hiatus of about four months, Kim returned to work for eBay.

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JULIET WILLIAMS Associated Press Writer

July 13, 2010 | 3:39 p.m.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Nurses Association, one of the most aggressive labor groups in the state, has never encountered a foe like Meg Whitman, the billionaire former chief executive of eBay who spent more than $90 million winning the Republican nomination for governor.

The 85,000-member union is accustomed to winning, often in attention-grabbing ways. But it now finds itself in Whitman’s crosshairs as part of her campaign against California’s Democratically aligned public employee unions.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 13, 2010

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman continued wooing the state’s nurses Tuesday by sending more than 100,000 of them a four-page letter highlighting her support for nurse staffing ratios and inviting them to join a campaign advisory board of nurses that will consult the candidate on nursing issues.

As her campaign has been doing for weeks, the letter also slams the California Nurses Association as a partisan group that’s misusing member dues on political activity.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 13, 2010 | 1:12 pm

Barbara Boxer has a real race on her hands this fall. As if she needed any more evidence, the website RealClearPolitics.com has officially declared the California Senate race a tossup. The site puts 10 seats up for grabs, with 48 safely in the Democratic column and 42 safely in the hands of the GOP.

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Barbara Boxer                 Carly Fiorina

By DAVID CATANESE | 7/13/10 10:30 AM EDT

It looks like that demon sheep has showed up snarling on Sen. Barbara Boxer’s doorstep.

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, the controversial Silicon Valley executive who exploded into the California Senate race with a series of colorful viral videos, is holding the Democratic senator to at least a tie, according to two polls released in the last week.

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PoliticsBlog

Posted By: Joe Garofoli | July 12 2010 at 05:25 PM

A quick round-up of the day in the Guv campaign….

Republican guv candidate Meg Whitman dropped a new 30-second TV ad Monday to run statewide It’s another negative piece on Democratic rival Jerry Brown that doesn’t raise any new material. Just repeats pounding on his support from unions, or, as Meg puts it the “special interests.”

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