findings
in today's web trawler
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Opinion Journal
Team
Arnold
Schwarzenegger's a strong candidate, but he's no shoo-in.
[John Fund] 8/8/03 | They say everything leaks in
politics except the airtight Bush White House. Add to that Arnold Schwarzenegger,
who kept his announcement that he's running for governor of California so close
to his chest that he stunned his own staff with the news. George Gorton, his
political adviser, stood in the parking lot of "The Tonight Show" studio
last night after the announcement and showed a reporter a statement he had prepared
that began, "I have decided not to run ..." | With
60 days before the Oct. 7 recall election, Mr. Schwarzenegger's brilliant political
tease has cost him valuable time in what will have to be a blitzkrieg campaign.
And now other big names are getting into the race. Now that Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante,
a Democrat, has announced his candidacy, hardly anyone expects Gray Davis to
win the 50% of the vote he'd need to hang on to the governor's mansion. And if
the voters oust Mr. Davis, all Mr. Schwarzenegger, Mr. Bustamante or anyone else
needs to win is a plurality of the vote. | The consultants
Mr. Schwarzenegger has assembled--call them "Team Arnold"--are all
battle-hardened veterans of the four successful campaigns that Pete Wilson ran
for senate and governor in the 1980s and 1990s. Several played a pivotal role
in Boris Yeltsin's come-from-behind re-election campaign for Russian president
in 1996. [more
at Opinion
Journal]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Town Hall
Wish
They All Could Be California Govs
[Jay Bryant] 8/8/03 | How'd you like to be the
guy who has to set up the debate format for the California gubernatorial campaign? | Let's
see, if we give everybody a two-minute opening statement, that takes…okay,
a little less than twelve hours. Now if we rotate the questions, hmm, how about
one minute answers with thirty-second rebuts…no, that won't work… I
foresee a multi-webcam, 24/7 reality TV experience that will make Ozzy and
Anna Nicole beg for mercy. | Why not put all the
candidates in the Governor's Mansion and vote 'em out, one by one? I'd watch
that on pay-per-view. | The other thing I want
to see – or at least hear – is the news conference when Henry Kissinger
comes in to endorse Arnold. | With all those names
on the ballot, it's going to be a real trick to find the one you want to vote
for, which is a big plus for Arnold, because his Schwarzenegger will stick
out farther than anybody else's. [more at Town
Hall]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Town Hall
The
Running Man: Go, Arnold, Go!
[Jacob Sullum] 8/8/03 | Years ago I was handing
out place cards at a banquet sponsored by the Reason Foundation when I was
approached by a square-jawed man with bushy eyebrows and a prominent forehead. "Schwarz-e-neg-ger," he
said helpfully. | The flat, Austrian-accented
delivery was familiar, but I was surprised that a big movie star would pick
up his place card personally. Didn't he have people for that sort of thing? | I
also was impressed that Schwarzenegger did not count on being recognized --
or, at least, pretended not to count on it. The appearance of humility was
not what you'd expect from a man who'd been publicly cocky since his days as
a Mr. Olympia contender. Also, he was shorter than I'd imagined. | But
the weirdest thing about my encounter with the bodybuilder turned action hero,
who announced Wednesday that he's running to replace Gray Davis as governor
of California, may have been that he was there at all. What was the Terminator
doing at an anniversary celebration for a libertarian think tank? | The
Reason Foundation (which publishes Reason magazine, where I work) may be based
in Los Angeles, but it's a world away from the glamour of the movie business.
The only plausible explanation for Schwarzenegger's presence was a genuine
interest in the ideas promoted by the foundation, which focuses on maximizing
individual freedom and minimizing government. [more
at Town
Hall]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Sacramento Bee
Is
This A Crisis Or The Start Of California's Recovery?
[Daniel Weintraub] 8/8/03 | The past 48 hours
have been the most tumultuous in the modern history of California politics,
and we are a state that has had its ups and downs. The approach of Saturday's
filing deadline for candidates hoping to succeed Gov. Gray Davis if he is recalled
from office has created an atmosphere of political chaos in a state already
teetering on the edge of a government fiscal meltdown. | But
as tempting as it might be to conclude that California is going over the edge,
we are not. We are on our way toward holding an election to decide whether
to keep the governor or dismiss him, just as the state constitution has allowed
since 1911. | And if we decide to dismiss Davis,
we will then decide who should replace him. | It's
not that complicated. [more at Sacramento
Bee]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
LA Times
Attention,
Arnold: This Is Real Life
[Doug Gamble] 8/8/03 | Leave it to a movie star
to come up with a stunning plot twist. Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be credited
with pulling off one of the biggest surprises in state political history by
throwing his headband into the ring. | It appears
he deliberately misled some of his own political advisors, who had been saying
that the actor was unlikely to run. The question is, can he mislead enough
Californians into believing that he is the one to rescue the state from an
unprecedented financial crisis and set it on a path back to its former glory?
At the moment, most Californians apparently don't think so; a recent Los Angeles
Times poll found that 53% of registered voters were not inclined to vote for
him. | Making his announcement on Jay Leno's "The
Tonight Show" rather than a legitimate news venue was an insult to everyone
who takes politics and California's problems seriously, indicating a candidacy
more about self-promotion than public service. Likewise his flip remark that
the decision to run was his most difficult since deciding to get a bikini wax
in 1978, something that millions of Californians who are in real pain and looking
for proven leadership must have found hilarious. | Schwarzenegger
will undoubtedly pump up his performance on the stump as the campaign progresses,
but his press conference outside the NBC studios in Burbank was pedestrian.
[more at LA
Times]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Front Page
Recall:
Revolt of the Common Man
[Tammy Bruce] 8/8/03 | I’ve been rather
amused by how panicked the Left Elite are with the prospect that Californians
have taken control of their political system and are poised to kick a particular
bum out of office. I can’t count how many times in the last few weeks
I have heard a Democrat or celebrity whiner bleat about the recall of inept
Governor Gray Davis: “This is not what a recall is for!” Or “You
can’t recall someone just because you don’t like them!” Or – and
this is my favorite – “This is just a right-wing conspiracy to
thwart a progressive agenda!” | Well, at
least they’re admitting that today’s leftist “progressive” agenda
includes selling a state to the highest bidder and becoming so beholden to
special interest groups that the citizens have become a freakish afterthought.
California has no money because Gray Davis has given it all to unions as payback
for political support. It’s that sad, that pathetic and that simple:
Davis is a mess and so is California. | Really
now, what part of 1.7 million signatures on recall petitions don’t they
understand? [more at Front
Page]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
LA Times
Chads
Hang Over Recall
Richard L. Hasen 8/8/03 | If you think that the
state Supreme Court on Thursday kept California from becoming the next Florida — a
national symbol of electoral fiascos — you may be celebrating prematurely. | The
decision by the court not to review five separate recall challenges cleared
away state law questions regarding the process, but significant federal issues
remain. And, ironically, the decision of the California Supreme Court in one
of the cases increases the chances that federal courts could find constitutional
problems in the recall procedures. | Among the
claims rejected by the court was Gov. Gray Davis' argument that the use of
punch-card voting and the loss of polling stations in some places — including
Los Angeles — through consolidation could create an equal-protection
problem under the U.S. Constitution.| Davis' claim
could well have merit.[more at LA
Times]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
The
Governor Loses Ground On Two Fronts
[the Editors]
8/8/03 | Gov. Gray Davis has to feel like he
has been sucker-punched in the gut, given that recent news events show a
complete undermining of his political and legal strategies to stave off a
recall. | On Thursday, the California Supreme
Court refused to intervene to slow or stop the election. That capped a week
in which the governor's political strategy took a beating. Key to that strategy
was to keep any big-name Democrat off the replacement ballot, which would
then deny this Democratic-leaning state any serious Democratic challenger.
As a result, Davis supporters figured voters would reject the recall. | Second
was to keep the focus on the nuttiness of the recall event given the large
number of candidates, many from the political fringes. | Third
was to depict the recall as the doings of so-called right-wingers, backed
by a man, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, who was trying to buy the governor's seat
by underwriting most of the cost of the recall campaign.| On
Wednesday, when popular Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein refused to enter
the race, the governor's strategy was holding. But later that day, Arnold
Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy, which then spurred Democratic Lt.
Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Democratic Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi
to enter the race. Mr. Bustamante said he still urges a "no" vote
on the recall, but it's too late. The floodgates are open. [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From Wall
Street Journal
'The Running Man'
[the Editors] 8/8/03 | That 1987 film wasn't one
of Arnold Schwarzenegger's better efforts, to be sure, but it does take place
during an economic apocalypse and features Jesse Ventura, another buff entertainer
who would later turn populist machismo into a Governorship. | So
why not try it in real life? The moderate Republican and former Mr. Universe
may be a celebrity who announced his campaign for Governor via the "Tonight
Show," but he could hardly do any worse by California than have the pols
in Sacramento. | "The people are working
hard," he told Jay Leno. "The people are paying the taxes. The people
are raising the families. But the politicians are not doing their job. The
politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing." They're also passing
the buck; witness Governor Gray Davis's insistence that his recall -- and 23%
approval rating -- is the work of a few right-wing crazies. | The
truth is that most of California's record $38 billion shortfall was due to
government overspending during the 1990s. Mr. Davis let his party's special
interests run wild -- especially public sector unions and the trial attorneys.
Late last month the state legislature finally passed a budget. But even the
liberal Sacramento Bee described it as a "house of cards" that rests
largely on a $10.7 billion bond offering, and a prayer. California's bond rating
recently fell to just above junk status, which is truth in advertising. [more
at Wall
Street Journal] subscription required
RECALL
FOLLIES/From Wall
Street Journal
Citizen Uprising
Hits Old Regime in California
The voters aren't crazy. The pols who put the state in a $38 billion
rut are.
[Daniel Henniger] 8/8/03 | California is famous
for originating ideas, so why should we believe that the conventional wisdom's
thoughts on the state's famous recall election could possibly be right? The
standard-brand view right now of the Gray Davis recall is that the place often
thought a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty has "lost it." Once
again, har-dee har-har, the people who brought us the Prop. 13 limitation on
taxes and Ronald Reagan are dancing amid the moonbeams. | They
will of course be mocked for entertaining the notion that the state could be
better run by the world's most illustrious Austrian-born émigré,
whose most famous utterance in life so far is, "Hasta la vista, bay-bee." Arnold
Schwarzenegger unconventionally announced his candidacy this week on the Jay
Leno show, which too will be seen as reflecting unseriousness about the difficult
art of holding high public office. Another actor, ohmygod. | Well,
let us see if we can place in rough context the idea that it is California's
fed-up citizens who are unserious. | This week,
some people with no ballgame to watch spent an evening with C-SPAN and the
AFL-CIO's Democratic candidates' forum. These were all professional politicians. | Not
least among those sharing their thoughts with the American people on governance
were the Rev. Al Sharpton, former Senator Carol Moseley Braun and Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, the formerly famous mayor of since-recovered Cleveland. Whatever
else their achievements, all three share a lifelong interest in the antic side
of what is often admiringly called "public service." [more at Wall
Street Journal] subscription required
CLASHING
CULTURE/From
SD Union Tribune
Confining
Growth To Small Patches Of America
[Joseph Perkins] 8/8/03 | San Diego was struck
by apparent domestic terrorism last week when a five-story, 206-unit condominium
and apartment project was burned to the ground. A 100-foot construction crane
came crashing down. A 500-gallon fuel tank exploded. | A
militant environmental group, the so-called Earth Liberation Front, claimed
credit for setting the arson fire, which caused an estimated $50 million in
damage. "If you build it, we will burn it," read a banner (with the
initials E.L.F.) recovered at the scene. | ELF
claims responsibility for setting dozens of fires in North America over the
past half-dozen years, most notably a 1999 blaze at the Michigan State University's
Agricultural Hall and a 1998 torching of a ski resort under construction in
Vail, Colo. | The environmental wackos delude
themselves into thinking that their acts somehow are justified because they
are dedicated to the supposedly noble goal of fighting urban sprawl. [more
at SD
Union Tribune]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE/ From
OC Register
A
Tax-Funded Union Lobby
UC think tank exists solely to provide academic cover for political
operations
[Lawrence J. McQuillan and Andrew M. Gloger] 8/8/03 | The
powerful California Labor Federation (CLF) and the national AFL-CIO have officially
joined Gov. Gray Davis in his fight against the recall, urging (if futilely)
elected Democrats not to run in the Oct. 7 election. Their support for the
beleaguered governor comes as no surprise. If Davis is defeated, they have
much to lose, possibly including a little-known, yet influential, think tank
called the University of California Institute for Labor and Employment (ILE). | Based
at UCLA and UC Berkeley, this institute has received $17 million from state
taxpayers since it was created in July 2000. It has been a driving force behind
union legislative victories on paid family leave, changes in overtime rules,
and a living-wage law. Bills are now moving through the Legislature on "play
or pay" health care and extending unemployment benefits, positions consistent
with ILE-funded research. [more at OC
Register]
CLASHING
CULTURE/From Wall
Street Journal
Passionate Professors
[the Editors] 8/8/03 | The Chronicle of Higher
Education brings news that, at long last, faculty at the University of California
will have some "wiggle room to express their political and personal opinions." A
dark cloud of oppression descended on the campus 69 years ago, when UC adopted
a policy that directed professors to "give play to intellect instead of
passion" and to "stick to the logic of the facts." The fear
then was that communist professors would use the classroom to indoctrinate
their students. | Somehow this policy survived
even through the turmoil of the 1960s. But last week, by a 45-3 vote, the university
system's Academic Assembly approved the new policy, which does away with the
distinction between "interested" and "disinterested" scholarship.
As the Chronicle puts it, "The new policy will allow professors to teach
about politics and to teach passionately." | In
a sense, the new policy is simply a bow to reality. Last year, a graduate student
named Snehal Shingavi taught an undergraduate English course called "The
Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance." The course description
warned that "conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections." [more
at Wall
Street Journal] subscription required
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
American Spectator
Here's
Arnold!
[George Neumayr] 8/7/03 | There was Larry King Live,
now there's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. What's next? Comedy Central's news
parody program The Daily Show? | The tittering Republicans
so enamored with Arnold Schwarzenegger undermine their own case that the crisis
is dire by addressing it in such a light setting. Doesn't it occur to them that
their candidate's announcement on a show of gags and jokes just buttresses Gray
Davis's argument that the state is not in a solemn crisis justifying a recall?
The superficiality of it all lends support to the Dems claim that the Republicans
are engaged in a frivolous power grab. | A serious
Republican filed papers to run in the recall this week. But his name is not Arnold
Schwarzenegger. It is Tom McClintock, a budget hawk in the state legislature
who was carefully laying out his plans to address the $38-billion budget crisis
while Schwarzenegger was screwing around on Leno. | A
Schwarzenegger run represents power without purpose. It seeks to substitute a
liberal with a D after his name for a liberal with an R after his name. Boy,
what a meaningful recall: We could go from a tainted pol to a tainted celebrity! | McClintock,
however, isn't engaged in a lark. He is not interested in a cheap celebrity victory
but in rescuing the state from a deadly serious budget crisis. [more at American
Spectator]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Sacramento Bee
Who
Is Gray Davis? State's Voters Still Don't Know
[Daniel Weintraub] 8/7/03 | The campaign to recall
Gov. Gray Davis may have gotten its start among conservative Republican activists
and their allies on talk radio, but it's clear now that the movement has spread
well beyond the "vast right-wing conspiracy" that the governor would
like to blame for his troubles.| It's also apparent
that Davis has precious few friends to call on in this time of political need.
And he will soon be needing a lot of them, because his usual strategy of running
as the lesser of evils, of trying to scare Democratic voters into choosing
him over "extremist" alternatives, is falling apart. [more at Sacramento
Bee]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
Schwarzenegger
Pumps Up The Recall
Arnold immediately became the front-runner to replace the highly
unpopular incumbent. The likeable, highly popular movie star sure
will shake things up.
[the Editors] 8/7/03 | OK, so what will he do
about the newly increased car tax? | We know,
at the moment, that’s about the last question on California voter’s
minds. People want to first absorb the meaning of Arnold Schwarzenegger entering
the governor’s race. First, surprise. Then, gratitude that he’s
pushing tedious Arianna Huffington and odd Larry Flynt off centerstage. Then,
weariness over every Arnold movie line being overplayed in headlines and even
by Arnold himself (“Hasta la vista,” Gray Davis). | So,
with one quick announcement, Mr. Schwarzenegger probably planted himself as
the front-runner – deftly waiting until Dianne Feinstein bowed out – sent
chills through the Davis camp and gave remaining Democratic potential candidates
new reason to jump in and Republican candidates new reason to step back. | But,
no matter who makes the filing deadlines, the serious issues remain... [more
at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
Davis
Tacks Left
[the Editors] 8/7/03 | Down in the polls and facing
an angry populace and now, the Terminator, in the Oct. 7 recall, Gov. Gray
Davis is lurching far to the left. After years of at least trying to appear
moderate, if only to make himself palatable to the rest of the country for
a potential presidential run, now we're finally seeing what shade of gray the
governor really is. | "It appears that Gov.
Davis is having a political fire sale. Anything goes," Jack Pitney, a
political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, told us. | Here
are some of the things the governor has been up to... [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
SD Union Tribune
Recall
Lawsuits
Davis seeks to change rules in his favor
[the Editors] 8/7/03 |Among the half dozen lawsuits
aimed at blocking the Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election, none is more glaringly
self-serving than the one filed by Gray Davis himself. The governor, in his
appeal to the state Supreme Court, is plainly and simply trying to recast the
rules halfway through the contest for his own political advantage. | With
polls showing a slim majority of voters already inclined to remove him from
office, Davis is not above legal legerdemain if he thinks it would boost his
chances for surviving the recall. | Consider his
plea that the Supreme Court order Secretary of State Kevin Shelley to place
Davis' name on the recall ballot not once but twice. [more at SD
Union Tribune]
FABULOUS
BUDGET/ From
Sacramento Bee
Bogus
Labor Concessions
Reworked contracts hurt the state
[the Editors] 8/7/03 | Gov. Gray Davis seems to
have a peculiar idea of what constitutes a concession. | The
governor says he obtained concessions from the California Highway Patrol and
the state firefighter unions. But these agreements are not concessions at all.
They are the opposite. | In exchange for delaying
a 5 percent pay hike for one year, the deals give CHP officers and firefighters
an extra day off a month. Those 12 extra vacation days are equivalent to a
5 percent pay raise. In budget terms, it's a wash at best, and no one expects
the best. [more at Sacramento
Bee]
JURISIMPRUDENCE/From
WallStreet Journal
NAACP
Kuhl-Down
[the Editors] 8/7/03 | The NAACP claims to be
a champion of diversity, but its tolerance apparently doesn't extend to its
own members who think for themselves. Attorney Leo Terrell learned that recently
when he spoke out in support of Carolyn Kuhl, one of President Bush's beleaguered
nominees for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The head of the NAACP's Washington
office called and ordered him to cease and desist, so yesterday Mr. Terrell
resigned from the "civil-rights" group rather than be muzzled. | Mr.
Terrell is a California attorney who has donated many hours of work to the
NAACP, representing litigants and participating in seminars on discrimination.
Mr. Terrell, who is black, has been outspoken in his support of Judge Kuhl,
who sits on the California Superior Court in Los Angeles and before whom he
appeared in 1999. [more at Wall
Street Journal] - subscription required
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Claremont Institute
Recall Ruling Creates More Confusion
[John C. Eastman, Edward J. Erler and Brian P. Janiskee] 8/6/03 | When
it comes to political chicanery, we have learned to expect the worst from Gray
Davis. The governor and his functionaries have launched a flurry of lawsuits
aimed at stopping the recall election. | Most of
the attention has been focused on two cases, the effort to invalidate the petition
process that placed the question on the ballot and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's
machinations to install himself as Davis' successor if the governor is recalled.
However, the decision that may have the largest impact on the Oct. 7 recall election
came and went with scarcely a whimper of protest from the major players in this
drama. The silence is deafening. | The recall ballot
will comprise two questions. The first is whether or not to recall Davis. The
second consists of choosing a successor should the governor be recalled. Federal
District Court Judge Barry Moskowitz struck down a particular element of this
process on July 29. Section 11382 of the California Elections Code states, "No
vote cast in the recall election shall be counted for any candidate unless the
voter also voted for or against the recall of the officer sought to be recalled." | In
declaring that this section violated the U.S. Constitution, Moskowitz declared
that "section 11382 substantially burdens the right of citizens of California
to vote on a successor governor in the event of a recall by conditioning the
counting of that vote on whether the voter cast a ballot on the question of
recall." [more at Claremont
Institute]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
American Spectator
Beyond
Delusion
[George Neumayr] 8/6/03 | "This is the most
gay-friendly governor California has ever had," says Gray Davis spokesman
Russell Lopez to the San Francisco Chronicle. Davis also brags that he is the
most abortion-friendly governor in Golden State history. And now Davis can
add to his resume a new boast: he is the most transgender-friendly governor
Junipero Serra's state has ever seen. AB 196 -- legislation that makes it illegal
for employers and landlords to discriminate against crossdressers -- received
Davis's hasty signature this week. "The state Department of Fair Employment
and Housing could issue fines as high as $150,000 to employers or landlords
who discriminate," reports the San Francisco Chronicle. | This
is the carnival wheel that state government has become under Gray Davis. [more
at American
Spectator]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
American Spectator
Davis Without Blinders
[Chris Reed] 8/6/03 | California's unprecedented
October 7 recall election has led pundits on the opposite coast to trot out
their usual clichés about the state's wacky ways and distasteful habit
of "direct democracy." If you can get past their nasty elitist streak,
the commentaries generally offer the sound, reasonable critique that voters
had their opportunity to get rid of Gov. Gray Davis just nine months ago and
didn't, so why are they demanding a second chance now? | But
what's far less sound or reasonable is the way so many national pundits essentially
let Davis off the hook for his resolute incompetence in five years running
the Golden State. [more at American
Spectator]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Opinion Journal
Expect
the Unexpected
The California recall has more surprises in store.
[John Fund] 8/6/03 | The effort to recall California's
Gov. Gray Davis has brought us one surprise after another. The next week could
see yet more unexpected turns in what has become a classic political soap opera,
including a possible postponement of the Oct. 7 recall vote. | Almost
everyone expects Arnold Schwarzenegger to use his appearance tonight on "The
Tonight Show" to explain why he isn't seeking the governorship and then
to tout the candidacy of former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan. But what
if Arnold makes a last-minute decision to join the race? Those who know his
Hollywood negotiating tactics tell journalists he often keeps producers on
hold until the last minute and then jumps in with a "total commitment." The
Western Political Report concluded yesterday that "Schwarzenegger is not
out of the running and Riordan is not a sure thing to jump in." His campaign
aides say they honestly don't know what he will do. Apparently, the 73-year-old
Riordan would strongly prefer his close friend Mr. Schwarzenegger to run instead.
[more at Opinion
Journal]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
SD Union Tribune
Unlicensed
Aliens
A desperate governor makes rash promises
[the Editors] 8/6/03 | Pandering politicians are
a buck a bushel, but Gov. Gray Davis stands out like an eggplant among zucchini. | Fighting
a recall election that is too close for comfort, Davis has taken to promising
support for a badly flawed bill to allow illegal immigrants to get California
driver's licenses. The embattled governor is hoping his sudden reversal on
this issue will encourage California's more than 2 million Latino voters to
rally behind him on election day, Oct. 7. | Twice
before, Davis has properly vetoed similar legislation, even one that included
the safeguards of a criminal background check, proof of identity from an applicant's
nation of origin, and proof of employment in California – all more important
than ever since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. [more at SD
Union Tribune]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE/ From
LA Times
At
Long Last, South L.A. Has a Prayer -- the Police
If criminals had been stigmatized instead of cops, anti-crime
activists say, the city would be far safer today.
[Heather Mac Donald] 8/6/03 | A new form of activism
is emerging in Los Angeles' crime belt: public support for the police. | Late
last month, a group of ministers and crime victims' families joined hands at
the site of a recent Watts homicide and prayed for the "men in blue that
they may continue to protect and serve." | In
the history of community efforts to stop violence, this one may be the most
promising. | Over the years, the surest way for
a would-be celebrity-activist to attract media notice was to denounce the cops.
Yet while police misconduct is deplorable, it is not the most pressing problem
facing inner-city communities. | Cops are not
killing hundreds of young black men in South Los Angeles every year; other
young black men are. Had a fraction of the press coverage and moral fervor
directed against the police over the last decade been dedicated to stigmatizing
criminals, the inner city would be a far different place. [more at LA
Times]
MEXIFORNIA/From
LA Times
Mexican
ID a Veiled Bid for Amnesty
[Edward J. Erler and Scot J. Zentner] 8/6/03 | Before
9/11, President Bush was intent on negotiating an amnesty deal with Mexican
President Vicente Fox. Hoping to ingratiate himself with Latino voters, Bush
urged compassion toward our neighbors to the south. | Fox
too had a strong interest in amnesty. Illegal aliens in the United States send
billions of dollars in much-needed revenue back to Mexico each year. In fact,
these remittances, which Fox is determined to protect, are Mexico's second-largest
source of income, behind oil exports. But, in the wake of the terrorist attacks,
the American public's enthusiasm for amnesty waned. | Still,
neither Bush nor Fox has given up on amnesty. Instead, they have been forced
to seek other means, less visible to the public.| The
most powerful alternative that has emerged is the matricula consular (literally "consular
registration"), an identification card issued by the Mexican government
to its citizens abroad. There has been a largely unnoticed, albeit well- orchestrated,
campaign to achieve amnesty or quasi- amnesty through this otherwise seemingly
innocent card. [more at LA
Times]
MISEDUCATION/From
Town Hall
Depends
On What The Meaning Of 'Expelled' Is
[Terence Jeffrey] 8/6/03 | In all the years that
liberal politicians have been using Locke High School in South Central Los
Angeles as a photo opportunity to show Americans they really care about poor
kids in public schools, one key indicator has remained sky-high.| It's
the school crime rate.| When Vice President Al
Gore visited Locke before the 1996 election, he told the students: "This
election is about you. Your future. Your prospects." | That
school year, according to data published by the Los Angeles Unified School
District Police, crimes connected to Locke (meaning they were committed against
faculty or students at the school, adjacent to the school, at a school event,
or in transit to or from the school) included 1 sex offense, 7 robberies, 14
weapons possessions, 30 property crimes, 24 batteries, and 7 assaults with
a deadly weapon. | Tipper Gore visited Locke in
April 1999 to promote a school jazz program. | That
school year, the crimes connected to Locke included 2 sex offenses, 30 robberies,
17 weapons possessions, 50 property crimes, 39 batteries, and 27 assaults with
a deadly weapon. | President Clinton visited Locke
on a much touted summer "poverty" tour before the 1999-2000 school
year. Democratic California Gov. Gray Davis joined him. [more at Town
Hall]
MISEDUCATION/From
OC Register
Another
Report Card, Another Failing Grade
[the Editors] 8/6/03 | As parents and students
get ready for the new school year, a new report released today shows that,
despite a decade of reforms, public education in California has improved only
in marginal ways and in some areas has declined. | The
report by the Pacific Research Institute is the third "California Education
Report Card: Index of Leading Indicators." It is written by Lance T. Izumi,
co-director of the PRI's Center for Innovation in Education, and Matt Cox,
a PRI policy fellow. The first two editions of the report came out in 1997
and 2000. It is available online.| "Most
performance indicators show that student achievement still is abysmally low," Mr.
Izumi told us. "This came in the face of increased per-pupil spending
of nearly 29 percent, adjusted for inflation, to $9,200 per student in the
decade between 1992-93 and 2002-03." [more at OC
Register]
MISEDUCATION/From
OC Register
School
Spending: Honesty, Please
Annual per-student cost is far higher than widely reported
figure of $6,887
[Alan Bonsteel] 8/6/03 | At long last, the Legislature
has reacted to the worst fiscal crisis in the state's history by passing a
desperation budget. It is full of accounting tricks, but allows us to stagger
into the next fiscal year. Newspapers throughout the state have reported the
latest K-12 per student spending figure, alleged to be $6,887. | That
number, in fact, is false. It is the "Proposition 98" figure, named
after the initiative passed in 1988 that set minimum annual per-student spending
mandates in California. It leaves off about $2,000 in big-ticket items, including
interest on school bonds, federal aid to education and teacher retirement.
California's real annual per-student spending this year will be about $9,200,
or $276,000 per year for a typical classroom of 30. | The
harsh reality is that hardly anything we have been told about public school
spending is true. [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
SD Union Tribune
Recall Ruling Creates More Confusion
[Brian P. Janiskee, Edward J. Erler and John C. Eastman] 8/5/03 | When
it comes to political chicanery, we have learned to expect the worst from Gray
Davis. The governor and his functionaries have launched a flurry of lawsuits
aimed at stopping the recall election. | Most of
the attention has been focused on two cases, the effort to invalidate the petition
process that placed the question on the ballot and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante's
machinations to install himself as Davis' successor if the governor is recalled.
However, the decision that may have the largest impact on the Oct. 7 recall election
came and went with scarcely a whimper of protest from the major players in this
drama. The silence is deafening. | The recall ballot
will comprise two questions. The first is whether or not to recall Davis. The
second consists of choosing a successor should the governor be recalled. Federal
District Court Judge Barry Moskowitz struck down a particular element of this
process on July 29. Section 11382 of the California Elections Code states, "No
vote cast in the recall election shall be counted for any candidate unless the
voter also voted for or against the recall of the officer sought to be recalled." | In
declaring that this section violated the U.S. Constitution, Moskowitz declared
that "section 11382 substantially burdens the right of citizens of California
to vote on a successor governor in the event of a recall by conditioning the
counting of that vote on whether the voter cast a ballot on the question of
recall." [more at SD
Union
Tribune]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
Gov.
Davis' Desperation
[the Editors] 8/5/03 | Thus far frustrated in
his attempts to forestall a recall, on Monday, Gov. Gray Davis filed a petition
with the California Supreme Court on two counts. First, he wants the election
postponed from Oct. 7 to the March primary. Second, he wants the court to allow
him to add his name to the part of the ballot that lists those seeking to replace
the governor should he be recalled. | We don't
see either request gaining much traction. | Davis
contends in the petition that holding the election as currently scheduled for
Oct. 7 would "deny equal protection to certain voters and denigrate their
fundamental right to a fair election." This will be caused by "a
vastly inferior election process" with only 75 days to prepare the ballots
and fewer polling places than in other elections. | Yet
county registrars are working quickly with a variety of solutions to make sure
an election is held properly, as the Register reported Monday. For example,
Fresno County announced that its managers and administrators will join the
registrar's workers in running an efficient election. Fewer polling places
means voters might have to drive a little farther to a polling booth. | If
more time is needed, the recall could be held in November or December. [more
at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
Arnold
the Prevaricator
Schwarzenegger strung us along, but he probably never planned
to run
[Doug Gamble] 8/5/03 | If Arnold Schwarzenegger
announces tomorrow that he won't be a candidate in the Oct. 7 gubernatorial
recall election, as most now expect, he'll become the latest celebrity to give
voters the big flirt only to stop short of the political arena. Whatever effect
his departure has on the race, at least it opens the way for Arianna Huffington
to run on the slogan, "The only one with an accent." | I
suspect Schwarzenegger's alleged interest in the governor's office was phony
from the start, either to pump up publicity in aid of a flagging movie career,
or, quite simply, an ego trip that he knew all along would stop short of a
political destination. | We've been through this
kind of thing before, with Lee Iacocca allowing speculation about a run for
the presidency in 1988, and both Donald Trump and actor Warren Beatty dipping
their toes in the presidential pool in 2000. Once they had milked the words "possible
presidential candidate" in front of their names for all they were worth,
Iacocca, Trump and Beatty bailed out, leaving gullible supporters with egg
on their faces. | What is particularly disingenuous
about these celebrity flirtations with politics, and I include Schwarzenegger
in this, is the pretense that after months of speculation about a candidacy,
their announcement is delayed by last-minute soul-searching. | Let's
face it; if he knew last week that wife Maria Shriver opposed his running for
governor, he knew it a year ago when his name was first floated. [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
LA Daily News
Davis'
ID Check
[the Editors] 8/5/03 | Driver's licenses become
first bargaining chip in governor's effort to stay in officeFearing that his
days in power could be nearing an end, Gov. Gray Davis has begun a campaign
to say or do whatever he can to stay in office.
Thus SB 60. | If you haven't heard of SB 60 yet,
you will soon enough. It's going to be a key plank in Davis' spare-me campaign,
and before all is said and done, it could become the law in California. | The
bill, a favorite among organized labor and Latino activist groups, would give
state driver's licenses to illegal immigrants -- an idea that's both rich in
potential and fraught with peril. | It's the peril
that caused Davis to veto similar legislation only 10 months ago, just as he
had done a year earlier. [more at LA
Daily News]
FABULOUS
BUDGET/ From
Sacramento Bee
State
Deficit Bond Rests On Shaky Ground
[Daniel
Weintraub] 8/5/03 | The California
Constitution says that the Legislature "shall not, in
any manner, create any debt or debts" greater than $300,000,
unless such an obligation is for a "single object or
work" and is approved by a vote of the people. The only
exception is in case of war, "to repel invasion or suppress
insurrection." | The pending
recall election aimed at Gov. Gray Davis might be considered
an insurrection, I suppose. But I don't think that such a
threat is the kind of exception the framers had in mind when
they prohibited the Legislature from using borrowed money
to pay for the ordinary, ongoing expenses of state government. | Yet
the budget passed last week and signed Saturday by Davis
is built upon a $10.7 billion bond measure to finance the
state's accumulated budget deficit. These bonds, to be repaid
over five years, are in an amount far greater than $300,000.
They will not be used for a "single object or work," such
as building a school or buying parkland. And they will not
be submitted to a vote of the people. | How
then, can the bonds possibly be legal? Some people, not surprisingly,
think they are not. The Pacific Legal Foundation has threatened
to sue the state to halt plans to sell the bonds without
a vote. | "There are big
dangers in letting the state pile up debt in order to pay
off bills," said Harold Johnson, a lawyer for the foundation. "Giving
politicians this new tool -- the red ink option -- for funding
their wish lists threatens to put the state on a fast track
to bankruptcy. That's why the state constitution's framers
insisted that voters should have a say when politicians are
tempted to go on a borrowing binge." [more at Sacramento
Bee]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE/ From
Front Page
Challenging
the Racist Democrats
[David Horowitz] 8/5/03 | Everybody knows -- but
no one wants to say -- that the Democratic Party has become the party of special
interest bigots and racial dividers. It runs the one-party state that
controls public services in every major inner city, including the corrupt and
failing school systems in which half the students -- mainly African Amerian and
Hispanic -- are denied a shot at the American dream. It is the party of race
preferences which separate American citizens on the basis of skin color providing privileges
to a handful of ethnic and racial groups in a nation of nearly a thousand.
The Democratic Party has shown that it will go to the wall to preserve the
racist laws which enforce these preferences, and to defend the racist school
systems that destroy the lives of millions of children every year. | On
the other side of the aisle, the Republican Party has shown itself to be tongue-tied
and lame-brained when it comes to opposing this racist stain on American
life. Republicans rarely mention the millions of young victims claimed by the
Democrats' racist school policies every year. They are too cowardly to openly
challenge race preferences that constitute a true American apartheid.
Consequently, for nearly a decade it has been left to one man and those he
inspires to take on these injustices and he is doing so again in the upcoming
California recall election. [more at Front
Page]
FABULOUS
BUDGET/ From
Wall Street Journal
Taxifornia
[Tim Ferguson] 8/5/03 | A few killjoys have pointed
to the Pandora's Box prospect of the California recall -- the precedent for
putting any governor at the mercy of a concerted, well-financed interest group.
But there's another reason for conservatives or libertarians to be apprehensive
about the Oct. 7 election: It's likely to open the door to higher taxes no
matter what the result. | Pre-recall, the state
government is effectively stymied. Enough minority Republicans in the legislature
are willing to resist a general tax increase that none could be passed, even
in the face of the huge deficit. (Gov. Gray Davis by fiat tripled the vehicle
license fee.) This state of affairs was likely to continue for some time, so
long as the courts let stand the dubious borrowing plan headed for adoption
for this fiscal year. | Now, California is going
to have a changed dynamic on Oct. 8. Either Mr. Davis will have beaten the
recall and humbled the GOP, emboldening him and the runaway progressives in
the statehouse majority to cow the Republican holdouts -- or a new governor,
probably a centrist Republican or Democrat, will assume the executive and make
a fiscal initiative the first order of business. The current standoff in Sacramento
would be broken, and some tax increases could follow. [more at Wall
Street Journal] subscription required
RECALL
FOLLIES/From Weekly Standard
Gladiator
Think California's getting a new governor? Don't hold your breath.
[Larry Miller] 8/4/03 | Anyone who thinks
Gray Davis's goose is cooked knows nothing about Gray Davis. |
Oh, it's in the oven, all right (his goose, that is), and it's been basted, and
it's been going for a while. And the table is set, and the guests are seated,
and they're all smacking their lips. | But it is
by no means cooked. In fact, the Republican party of California has just handed
him oven mitts and offered him a chance to take it out. | And
I think he will. Maybe I'm screwy, but I think on October 8, the day after the
special recall election, California Governor Gray Davis will still be California
Governor Gray Davis. Moreover, I think he's going to be Senator Hillary Clinton's
running mate in 2008 and the next Democratic vice-president of the United States.
And after that? Oh, I think you all know what comes after that. | Don't
get me wrong, long before any of this happens (very shortly, in fact, and as
a direct result of Davis' pitch-perfect boneheadism), the state of California
will have a bond rating just above Chechnya's. Our roads and power plants will
look like, well, Chechnya's, and all the schools and businesses are going to--Come
to think of it, let's just stay with Chechnya. | But
this is not about whether the guy is any good at being governor, or even has
the slightest idea of what's in the drawers of his desk. Governing is not his
field. That may sound contradictory, or at least ironic, but it's neither. He
knows nothing about running an office; his field is running for office, and he
is pre-eminent in it. [more at Weekly
Standard]
RECALL FOLLIES/From
American Spectator
Senatorita Sanchez
[the Prowler] 8/4/03 | Democrats in Washington
and California were surprised at how forcefully Rep. Loretta Sanchez was touting
Sen. Dianne Feinstein's candidacy for governor last week. At one point, Sanchez
said that Feinstein was the only Democrat who could successfully heal the wounds
inflicted on the party and the state by Gov. Gray Davis. Well, other than herself.
Sanchez also said that if Feinstein didn't run, she might have to run in her
place. | Sanchez attended the meeting in San Francisco
last week set up by Mayor Willie Brown. She is not considered a likely candidate,
particularly given her poor performance as a congressman. But her desire to suck
up to Feinstein and tout her candidacy makes a lot of sense to Democratic Party
insiders in the Golden State. "Sanchez thinks that if Feinstein wins the
governor's race, she'd nominate Sanchez to the Senate," says a state party
staffer. "Her naïveté is kind of cute, but her goals are wholly
unrealistic." | Sanchez wouldn't stand a chance
of making the cut for political appointment, given the long list of other Democrats
Feinstein would doubtlessly draw on. Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante would be on the
top of it. And party insiders say that if a woman is going to get appointed,
it would be Rep. Jane Harmon, not Sanchez. |
As it stands, Feinstein won't be running. After meeting with advisers in California
and a conversation with DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe -- who has been holding
back other Dems from challenging Davis -- Feinstein again reiterated that she
wasn't in line to run ... yet. [more at American
Spectator]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE/From Wall Street Journal
The Color of California
[the Editors] 8/4/03 | As if the unprecedented
effort to recall California Governor Gray Davis isn't enough excitement for
one special election, the campaign promises some racial fireworks as well. | Sharing
ballot space on October 7 with Mr. Davis's would-be successors will be Proposition
54, also known as the Racial Privacy Initiative. The measure prohibits state
and local government entities from collecting and using racial data. It reads,
in part: "The state shall not classify any individual by race, ethnicity,
color or national origin in the operation of public education, public contracting
or public employment." For champions of identity politics, and the media
are certainly among them, these are fighting words. |
The main proponent of Prop. 54 is Ward Connerly, the University of California
Regent behind the state's successful Prop. 209, which banned public-sector
racial discrimination in 1996 and prompted copycat initiatives elsewhere in
the country, most recently in Michigan. | Mr.
Connerly has said the goal of his current initiative is to get the state government "out
of the racial classification business" and move us one step closer to
a colorblind government. The backers of Prop. 54, he says, "seek a California
that is free from government racism and race-conscious decision making." | That
sounds like a core American aspiration, or at least it was until racial preferences
became a political industry. Mr. Connerly can take comfort in the fact that
many of his current critics -- educators, civil rights groups, Democratic public
officials, liberal journalists -- also predicted catastrophe if Prop. 209 passed.
They claimed, for instance, that minority enrollment at state universities
would plummet without racial preferences. It didn't happen. Both minority enrollment
and, more importantly, minority graduation rates, have increased. | Now
these same folks are claiming that if Californians aren't forced to check off
some hyphenated-American box on a government form, medical research will suffer
and anti-discrimination laws will go unenforced. [more at Wall
Street Journal] - subscription required
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Sacramento Bee
If Appropriate ...
Why court should reject two recall suits
[the Editors] 8/4/03 | The California
Supreme Court is scheduled this week to review two lawsuits that seek to stop
voters from choosing a candidate to replace Gov. Gray Davis should they decide
to recall him on Oct. 7. If one or both of the suits prevail, a successful recall
would create a vacancy, which would be filled by the governor's understudy, Lt.
Gov. Cruz Bustamante. | Interestingly enough, Bustamante
is named as the respondent in one of these lawsuits because he was the state
officer responsible for calling the election. If Bustamante loses the suit, he
stands to win the governorship. The other names Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.
While Shelley has supported the right of the voters to choose a potential successor,
he hasn't been exactly firm on the constitutional issues at stake here. | This
then might be a good time to review why these suits are without merit, and why
the voters deserve their full say at the polls. | Both
suits claim that two words -"if appropriate" -- added to the constitution
in 1974 mean that it's not necessary to have an election on a Davis successor
because the constitution says Bustamante gets the job in the event of any vacancy.
But there is a big hole in this reasoning: There will be no vacancy if the voters
are allowed to choose the governor's successor at the same time they vote on
the recall. | It's clear from reading the original
1911 constitutional amendment with which the voters created the recall that a
successor election was part of the package. [more at Sacramento
Bee]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
Fixing California
Would-be governors need a clear vision of how to get state back on track
[Steven Greenhut] 8/4/03 | The big question
is who, but the right question is what. | Political
junkies want to know if Bill Simon or Arnold Schwarzenegger or Darrell Issa
or Richard Riordan or someone else is the front-runner to replace Gray Davis
if the Oct. 7 recall of the governor succeeds. That's important and interesting,
but before voters decide who they want they ought to think about what they
need. | The problem with Gray Davis isn't that
he is a bad governor, but that he is no governor at all. What is he known for?
Doing nothing as an electricity problem exploded into a crisis. Doing nothing
as a budget crisis turned into a meltdown. Doing nothing, that is, except for
fund-raising and blaming other people for his inaction. | Anyone
could have been governor when times were good and the booming economy was filling
the state's coffers. How hard is it to lavish benefits on special interests?
A leader would have known that the state couldn't keep spending money as if
the short-term capital-gains windfall would keep blowing to Sacramento. A leader
would have some respect on Capitol Hill, even among his own party members.
A leader would have known when to say no to his own constituencies. | But
Davis is no leader. [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From LA Daily News
It Could Cost Us Even More To Keep Davis
[Chris Weinkopf] 8/4/03 | Well, well,
well -- look who's suddenly concerned about the proper use of taxpayer money:
It's members of the Los Angeles City Council, the same group that thinks nothing
of keeping an army of consultants gainfully employed, of shelling out $4 million
in public funds to subsidize the 2000 Democratic National Convention or of
spending $300 million to spruce up its own City Hall digs. | Last
week, the council voted 13-0 to denounce the recall of Gov. GrayDavis because
it costs too much. | The price is just too steep
for Californians to bear, council members concluded. They even discussed putting
a financial disclosure statement on the recall ballot, as though to warn voters:
Exercising your constitutional rights ain't cheap. | This
unprecedented fiscal frugality has infected Democratic big spenders across
the state. [more at LA
Daily News]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
The Recall Carnival
[the Editors] 8/4/03 | Early
last week, about the time the Legislature passed the fiscal 2003-04 state budget,
it seemed that Gov. Gray Davis was pushing back the tide of the recall. But
by the end of the week it looked like somebody had dumped him into a fish tank
filled with piranhas. | As of Friday, more than
258 Californians had filed papers to run to become the governor's replacement,
according to the secretary of state's Web site. That doesn't mean all will
run, but it indicates great interest. And Friday's Register reported that 10,000
voters had been "added to Orange County's rolls since April, most of whom
registered as the recall campaign fired up interest in going to the polls." | Then
there's the show-biz element of Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing just before
a Wednesday appearance on the Jay Leno show whether the Terminator will try
to become the Governator. | The recall campaign
has the spirited aura of Proposition 13 in 1978, another time when Californians
were fed up with the status quo of wild government spending paid for by wild
tax increases. | Even Gov. Davis' fellow Democrats
are beginning to sense that he might be fish food. [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From LA Times
After the Jokes, Then What?
[the Editors] 8/4/03 | Will Arnold run?
Probably not. Will former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan go for it? Maybe
to probably. What about Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein? That's a mystery.
Why not Angelyne, Los Angeles' all- image-and-no-substance professional celebrity?
She may well be on the ballot, the ultimate symbol of this incomprehensible
election. | Is Democratic unity behind Gov. Gray
Davis shattering? Perhaps crumbling slowly. Will a promised legal challenge
delay the election? That's a wild card. Or could a court case make Lt. Gov.
Cruz Bustamante governor if Californians vote Oct. 7 to recall Davis from office?
Probably not, but who knows? The untested law governing recall elections is
vague in some places and seemingly in conflict with itself in others. One more
chore for the Legislature next year: fix the previously untested recall process. | One
certainty is that the flood of potential candidates cements California's reputation
as the political loony bin of the nation. [more at LA
Times]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From SF Chronicle
Democrats Not United On Davis -- And Not On Feinstein, Either
[Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross] 8/4/03 | Whether
you call it fraying, floundering or in free fall -- the fact is, Democratic "unity" behind
Gov. Gray Davis is anything but united. | And
neither is support for putting Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the ballot to save
the party in the recall election Oct. 7, when voters must decide the fate of
Davis. | While she may be popular -- the Field
Poll gives her a 49 percent job approval rating -- labor would choke on a Feinstein
candidacy. That's especially true of the powerful California Teachers Association,
which is reeling from the senator's recent endorsement of school vouchers for
children in the District of Columbia. | "A
Dianne candidacy wouldn't be a walk in the park by any means," said one
Democratic consultant. [more at SF
Chronicle]
FABULOUS
BUDGET/From
Sacramento Bee
Budget Is A House Of Cards
Legislators and governor merely postpone the pain
[Daniel Weintraub] 8/4/03 | When Senate
leader John Burton rose on the floor of the Legislature's upper house last
Sunday night to speak in favor of a the budget deal then pending, he noted
that the Democrats he leads and the opposition Republicans had both achieved
their top goals. The Democrats, Burton said, protected the poor and the infirm
from deep cuts in programs on which they depend. The Republicans, meanwhile,
prevented any new taxes beyond the tripling of the vehicle license fee already
ordered by Gov. Gray Davis. | How did lawmakers
manage to make a $38 billion shortfall go away without those cuts and taxes?
They didn't. | Despite the hugs and the back-patting
in the Legislature and Davis' claim that the state's leaders made significant
progress in reducing the scope of California's fiscal meltdown, this budget
is more a restructuring of debts than a real attempt to arrest the tailspin.[more
at Sacramento
Bee]
FABULOUS
BUDGET/From
OC Register
The Good Old Days Of Gridlock
In Sacramento and D.C., one-party rule opens the floodgates on spending.
[Tim Cavanaugh] 8/4/03 | Most
Americans understand former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson's old joke that there
are two political parties: the Evil Party and the Stupid Party. In California,
though, the joke has a special poignancy because it's almost impossible to
tell which one is which. | On the surface, the
arguments both for and against recalling Gov. Gray Davis appear airtight. Proponents
of the recall argue persuasively that the governor deserves punishment for
building up the largest deficit in state history, that the state Constitution
provides the recall mechanism for exactly this kind of emergency, and that
the probable replacement of Davis with a candidate from the Republican party
- the party of "fiscal responsibility" -is the only way out of our
budget crisis. | Davis is the most hated governor
in recent memory, and it's unreasonable to expect voters to live with such
a character; indeed, if not for the almost criminal stupidity of the Republican
Party in nominating Bill Simon - the one person in California who couldn't
have beaten Gray Davis last year - Davis would be out of office already. | The
arguments against the recall also have weight. [more at OC
Register]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE/From
OC Register
Unspin - Licenses For Illegal Immigrants
[the Editors] 8/4/03 | The
tactical front: Gov. Gray Davis' vow to sign a bill that he'd twice vetoed
previously allowing illegal immigrants to hold California driver's licenses
was depicted as a smart strategem to boost his Latino support and help his
chances in the Oct. 7 recall. The Los Angeles Times reported many Latino politicians
were cool to Davis last election because he vetoed the license bill. Now, those
pols - led by the bill's author, Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles - are firmly
in his camp. | The reality is that Davis signing
the bill is at least as likely to hurt him as help him. Obviously, California
is increasingly Latino, and Latinos are a key part of the Democratic base.
But the same anxiety - and anger - over illegal immigration that made Proposition
187 a big winner in 1994 is still evident today. So when Sept. 12 arrives and
hundreds of bills passed by the Legislature are dropped on Davis' desk, none
will be more incendiary than the license measure. | How
trumpeting this bill helps Davis is hard to fathom - especially given what
the Gil Cedillos of California politics never want to mention: A great many
Latinos who are legal residents of the state also are upset about illegal immigration.
And that Davis twice vetoed the measure before but now signs it will also underline
just what it is that everyone dislikes about the governor: his spineless, principle-free
opportunism.[more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
OC Register
Recall
Brings Out The Big Guns
Republicans, Democrats prepare for a fierce fight to control
the state.
[John Howard] 8/2/03 | The weapons in the fight
over the recall of Gov. Gray Davis are slipping into position. | The
Democratic governor is poised to expand his depiction of the recall as a costly,
partisan mistake, and his mostly Republican foes are preparing ads and mailers
blasting Davis for higher vehicle license fees and the electricity crisis. | Both
sides are already working up major voter-registration and get-out-the-vote
drives. | And both say the nature of the shortened
campaign season - less than nine weeks to the Oct. 7 election - will require
large numbers of the parties' volunteers to shepherd people to the polls. | "There's
going to be a huge field campaign," said Gabriel Sanchez of Fullerton,
the Davis campaign's main spokesman. | For their
part, Republicans agreed. "You're going to see the entire party apparatus
campaigning," said Newport Beach Republican Buck Johns. | Davis
will campaign above the fray, targeting the recall as a political event but
leaving attacks on his potential replacements to the rank and file of the Democratic
Party. | "It will be the party that goes
out dealing with the Republicans," said the party's official strategist,
Bob Mulholland. "We will be the snipers." | The
campaign also is organizing union groups to urge their 2.1 million members
to oppose the recall. [more at OC
Register]
RECALL
FOLLIES/From
Sacramento Bee
A
Bumper Crop Of Suits
So many recall litigants, so little time
[the Editors] 8/2/03 | So many lawsuits have been
filed involving the attempt to recall Gov. Gray Davis that voters need a score
card to keep track. So here's a recap of the runs, hits and errors so far... [more
at Sacramento
Bee]
WEST
BANK OF THE SEINE/ From
Opinion Journal
Left
Coast Quagmire
[James Taranto] 8/2/03 | California is a desert
land roughly the size of Iraq. It is also an object lesson in the dangers of
trying to impose democracy in a culture that is not ready for it. California "is
degenerating into a banana republic," writes former Enron adviser Paul
Krugman in his New York Times column. Leon
Panetta, himself a Californian, writes in the Los Angeles Times
that California is undergoing a "breakdown in [the] trust that is essential
to governing in a democracy." Newsday quotes
Bob Mulholland, another California political activist, as warning of "a
coup attempt by the Taliban element." Others say a move is under way to "hijack" California's
government.| What isn't widely known is that the
U.S. has a large military presence in California. And our troops are coming
under attack from angry locals. "Two off-duty Marines were stabbed, one
critically, when they and two companions were attacked by more than a dozen
alleged gang members early Thursday," KSND-TV reports from San Diego,
a city in California's south. | How many young
American men and women will have to make the ultimate sacrifice before we realize
it isn't worth it? Is the Bush administration too proud to ask the U.N. for
help in pacifying California? Plainly California has turned into a quagmire,
and the sooner we bring our troops back home, the better. [more at Opinion
Journal]
day-by-day
~ a week's worth of web findings in the bin:
Your
Car Tax Estimate
posted at OC
Register
Say
you bought a new Toyota Camry in October 2000
for $20,360.
Here’s
how the new vehicle license fee will affect
you.
|
$
105.87
You paid this in 2002
|
$285.04
You’ll owe this in October |
And
some
Lingering Observations
Driven
to Judicial Fiat
Desperate Davis Turns to the Courts for "Leadership"
[Carol Platt Liebau] 7/24/03 [CaliforniaRepublic.org]
|
King
of the Ring
Big-time strategists, a jungle recall/election, and Democrats scheming over
a live microphone. You won't believe what's happening in California.
[Hugh Hewitt] 7/24/03 [Weekly
Standard]
|
Recall
Strategy
The California GOP Needs to Stay
Flexible – and Above All, Unified
[Carol Platt Liebau] 7/21/03 [CaliforniaRepublic.org] |
Highway
Robbery
Illegal taxes are what political
revolutions are made of.
[Tom McClintock] 7/9/03
[CaliforniaRepublic.org] |
A “Taxing” Responsibility
The Power to Change Sacramento
Rests With Us
[Carol Platt Liebau] 7/7/03 [CaliforniaRepublic.org]
|
Pull
My Trigger. . .
An
unaccountable, self-triggering tax that
only a liberal could love
[Ray Haynes] 6/28/03 [more inside CaliforniaRepublic.org]
|
California's
Coming 100-Year Political Storm
[Tom
McClintock] 6/18/03
[more at Claremont
Institute] |
Wannabe
the Next Governor?
[Streetsweeper] 6/13/03
[go to CRO
Recall Follies] |
Slap
the Greedy Hand [Reprint
6/16/03]
Authorizing
Local Taxes Is Just Plain Wrong
[Carol Platt Liebau] 6/9/03
[more inside CaliforniaRepublic.org] |
People
Must Demand Recall
After the Damage Davis Has Caused
In One Term, Can State Afford to
Go Through Another?
[Shawn Steel] 6/2/03
[more inside CaliforniaRepublic.org] |
Memo
to My Wife
A household budget - Gray Davis style
[Tom McClintock] 5/29/03
[more inside CaliforniaRepublic.org] |
Recalling
Our Principles
Why the Davis Recall is Worth
Reconsidering
[Carol
Platt Liebau] 5/9/03 [more
inside CaliforniaRepublic.org] |
A Judicial Candidate Feminists Should Support
Politicians
In Bond-Age
Open
Mike, Insert Foot
A
Budget With No New Taxes
Groundhog
Day
Recall
and Recollection
