tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70013142011-08-31T07:28:20.831-07:00A weblog dedicated to California politics. A thriving democracy depends on an informed body politic.Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.comBlogger201100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1124996685594449882005-08-26T16:09:00.000-07:002005-08-27T10:09:32.096-07:00

Did you really think Arnold Schwarzenegger was pushing a mid-decade redistricting in California out of the goodness of his heart?Make no mistake about it, redistricting is nothing more than a power struggle. It's about who has power, who wants power, and who is going to do whatever it takes to get power. Read the fine print.Much has been made about the fact that Schwarzenegger's plan takes

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1121883886880097992005-07-20T11:07:00.000-07:002005-07-20T11:38:12.500-07:00

While Washington is spell-bound by the scandal involving Karl Rove's inability to keep a state secret, Arnold Schwarzenegger is having a scandal of his own. It seems Arnold has a bit of a money problem.Let's walk through the timeline. First, it was reported last Wednesday, July 13th in the Sacramento Bee that Arnold is being paid at least $5 million by a fitness magazine which advertises

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1098924346486071692004-10-27T17:33:00.000-07:002004-10-27T17:45:46.486-07:00

Governor Schwarzenegger won't be caught dead with George W. Bush here in California, but he will do it halfway across the country. The LA Times has the story here: The governor, popular in California, had expressed some reluctance earlier this year to campaign for Bush outside the state, saying he needed to tend to state business. But Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he wanted "to be a support

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1090389666932213572004-07-20T22:57:00.000-07:002004-07-20T23:01:06.933-07:00

Democrats came to the table on Propositions 57 and 58. They helped negotiate a better deal on the pension obligation bonds--saving taxpayers millions of dollars. Democrats were instrumental in negotiating the gaming compacts and re-working the dysfunctional behemoth of the Californians Worker's Compensation system. And what did Democrats get in return for listening to the people of California

Jorge Noticierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09893448569563174145noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1089999412582106282004-07-16T08:32:00.000-07:002004-07-16T10:38:05.823-07:00

Let the Games Begin! Governor Schwarzenegger officially renegged on his campaign promise to end "politics as usual" in Sacramento by pouring gasoline on an already smoldering fire of political rhetoric over a state budget that is over one month late. Just days after comparing state legislators to kindergarteners, Schwarzenegger offered the following at a late afternoon press conference

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1088744237280299062004-07-01T21:56:00.001-07:002004-07-01T21:57:17.280-07:00

The people of California unceremoniously and zealously tossed out their democratically elected governor in an unprecedented and wildly successful recall campaign. Fair enough. That's what democracy is all about. Bill Clinton gave a consenting adult a blow-job and the country impeached him. Consider them spanked. Really hard. But did we get what we asked for? Has Awnuld performed? Or do we

Jorge Noticierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09893448569563174145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1088704657503318862004-07-01T10:17:00.000-07:002004-07-01T16:31:32.910-07:00

Republicans Squirming on Budget Today's LA Times reports today on what many in the Capitol have been speculating for weeks. Will Republicans vote for a budget full of gimmicks and accounting tricks? Not that Democrats like to vote for a fiscally irresponsible budget, but if that's what Arnold wants to do, Democrats are more than willing to give him as much rope as he needs to hang himself.

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1087968857466788882004-06-22T22:16:00.000-07:002004-06-28T12:53:12.820-07:00

New Compact Expands Gambling, Will Not Help Budget Crisis Once again, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (GAS) is touting another compact that really isn't good for anybody. Yesterday, Schwarzenegger took a couple of hours out of the day (when he's supposed to be working on the budget) to hold a major press conference announcing his new Indian gaming compacts. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly)

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1087315875250359132004-06-15T08:48:00.000-07:002004-06-28T12:50:02.483-07:00

Today is technically the deadline to pass a budget in California. I know everyone will be shocked to know that the budget will not be ready. Almost all budget handicappers are forecasting that the budget will be passed by the real deadline, June 30th. Democrats are once again making their demands crystal clear to the new governor. Lynda Gledhill has the story in the SF Chronicle. Democratic

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1087250534955084662004-06-14T14:54:00.000-07:002004-06-14T18:12:14.686-07:00

Oh, hi, ya'll, What up with this noticia? I thought the Shrub (thanks, Trudeau) was persona non grata for the Gropenator? Any thoughts from the good Dems out there? Oh, by the way, I think this could be a good break for us... Oh, and I swear I've already let it go, but I found this searching through the Trudeau hysteria. -JN

Jorge Noticierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09893448569563174145noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1086927391959742822004-06-10T20:24:00.000-07:002004-06-10T21:18:11.620-07:00

Jefe Legran asks on the last open thread: What your read on the budget this year? Are the dems going to roll on Arnold's cuts to higher ed? Two short answers. One, the budget will be passed on time. This means it will be passed before the start of the new fiscal year, but it won't be passed before the June 15th Constitutional deadline. Two, the Democrats will not roll on Arnold's cuts to

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1086295799264175632004-06-03T13:45:00.000-07:002004-06-03T13:50:15.733-07:00

CalPolitic aims to be an open-ended conversation about everything political in California. Most of our posts are focused towards eliciting a conversation about what is going on in the Golden State and how we can do it better (the other posts are just good ol' rants). What do people want to know more about? What's on your mind? This thread is yours.

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1086244144719765722004-06-02T23:28:00.000-07:002004-06-02T23:29:04.720-07:00

So, we have the Republinator who has eliminated the bad guys, used enough ammo to wipe out a small country (not Iraq), and terrorized a roomful of kindergarten eventually-California-deferred 5-year-olds. So, why hasn't Mr. Shoe Lifts "blown up the boxes" he promised he would during that highly produced State of the State B-movie event he orchestrated last January? We're quite accustomed to the

Jorge Noticierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09893448569563174145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1085766800182799572004-05-28T10:20:00.000-07:002004-05-28T10:55:31.286-07:00

Joe, from My Humble Opinion, in a recent comment string, posed the question: Who are the prominent statewide Democrats? Since this is Cal Politic, home to all things political in California, I offer up what should become a regular feature here, The California Democratic Power Rankings. This list will be updated as people move up and down the list of top 10 most powerful Democrats in the state

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1085623074923179472004-05-26T18:55:00.000-07:002004-05-26T19:00:17.223-07:00

I gotta tell ya, the Right Wing never ceases to amaze me. They've claimed sole ownership of the American flag, the bible, anything moral, the words "trust", "honesty", and "forgiveness." Just ask Ollie North, Pat Robertson, Richard Nixon, Rush Limbaugh and Jerry Falwell-just a few of the upstanding Reep stalwarts. Now, if it wasn't bad enough, the Reeps can add another feather to their right

Jorge Noticierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09893448569563174145noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1085103182827542432004-05-20T18:31:00.000-07:002004-05-20T19:06:25.163-07:00

Thousands of college students have traveled to the capitol, as have many good activists before them, to beg Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (GAS) to rethink heavy cuts and steep fee increases at our public universities and colleges. Their calls went unheard. Instead, GAS secretly met with top UC and CSU officials and worked out a deal comfy for the fatcat administrators, but largely ignored the

Jorge Noticierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09893448569563174145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1084988576929763442004-05-19T10:25:00.000-07:002004-05-19T11:45:04.640-07:00

There's a few reasons. 1. Limited Access. Ahnald's handlers have given the press corps little time to treat him like the punching bag Gray Davis was. They are penned off, pushed asided, and their questions usually ignored. (See Sacramento News and Review article a few weeks back on this.) Anyone who dares ask Ahnald a tough question can forget about any possibilities of being a chosen one for a

Rob Flackmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03678513222425899295noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1084946314329803412004-05-18T22:29:00.000-07:002004-05-18T22:58:34.330-07:00

Arnie's Budget Slammed By Independent Analyst Despite his approval ratings hovering near 70% and Capitol Press Corps journalists drooling all over themselves as they wait to write another flattering story about the actor/governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was taken to school today by nonpartisan super analyst Elizabeth Hill. The LA Times has the story. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's revised

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1084888357383821502004-05-18T06:49:00.000-07:002004-05-18T06:52:37.383-07:00

Mr. Conner: Looks like this could be a useful place to focus on Sacto. Just try an keep the focus off all those dip-shit campaign consultants and lobbyists. Who cares what they're up to. > Smarty Jones

Smarty Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785762545531868883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7001314.post-1084860521590467602004-05-17T19:59:00.000-07:002004-05-17T23:08:41.590-07:00

California is in political chaos. The wild recall election of 2003 was a loud crescendo to a quarter century of California's serious experiments with the most psychedelic of all political drugs, direct democracy. The wild ride brought us signature driven ballot initiatives like Howard Jarvis' crusade against property tax (Prop 13), a formula locking in minimum education funding levels (Prop 98)

Jack Connerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06389227505205345298noreply@blogger.com2