It just keeps getting worse in Cali

Instead of a $21 billion deficit, we are now looking at $24 billion. Ughhhhhh. Not many good choices at this point and it is guaranteed to get ugly. Here's a snippet from SFgate.com of what's being cut:

On Tuesday, the governor's finance officials released the following details on how the governor would cut $5.5 billion through June 2010:

-- $750 million from the University of California and California State University systems, bringing the total reduction over two fiscal years to nearly $2 billion.

-- $10.3 million - Eliminate all state general fund spending for UC Hastings College of Law.

-- $173 million - Eliminate new Cal Grants.

-- $70 million - Eliminate general fund support for state parks, potentially closing 80 percent of them.

-- $247.8 million - Eliminate the Healthy Families program, which provides health care to nearly 1 million poor children.

-- $1.3 billion - Eliminate the CalWorks program, which primarily helps unemployed single mothers find jobs.

The fact that we are now eliminating programs that help unemployed single mothers find jobs is like revoking the reduced bus fares for war widows (Simpsons reference).

Cutting two billion from the University system and eliminating Cal Grants is mortgaging the future of our state. Similar to when companies slash R&D spending- it might temporarily help the bottom line, but it is a disaster in the long run.

Governor Arnold rode in to office saying how we could roll back the vehicle tax and happy days would be here again. Hasn't quite worked out so well. But it is fun to look back at his campaign commercials:

Sotomayor

President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, appears to be a home run. Despite a few stumbles (Daschle, Bill Richardson), the Obama team has put forth a solid string of nominees for top positions. I'm still taking a wait-and-see approach on Treasury Secretary Geithner, but can't think of another pick that I've been disappointed in.

It's kind of funny seeing the Republicans try and muster up a rational argument for opposing Judge Sotomayor. President Bush the Elder first nominated her to be a federal judge and she's been approved twice by the Senate. Maybe they will come up with something really witty, like the Hispanic equivalent of Magic Negro....Rush, our eyes turn to you.

Up and Comers

So as a new feature, we'll periodically profile some up and coming politicians- feedback would be appreciated and please send suggestions.

Cory Booker is the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He won on his second try- his first attempt ended in a close defeat to long-time incumbent Sharpe James. The first race was the subject of the documentary "Street Fighter"- a fantastic movie- here's the trailer:



Sharpe James was the symbol of corruption in Newark- a troubled city that is in the shadow of New York.

Booker had moved to Newark after his graduation from Yale Law School. He'd previously been a Rhodes Scholar and graduated with degrees in political science and sociology from Stanford. Booker moved in to one of the worst housing projects in Newark and helped organize tenants to fight for improved conditions. In 1998, Booker won a seat on the City Council.

The biggest challenge facing Booker in Newark is the rampant crime. He's equipped the police department with innovative technologies that allow them pinpoint criminal hot spots and deploy officers quickly. Business Week proclaimed it to be the future of crime fighting. The result is that Newark just announced its fewest numbers of homicides since 1959.

Booker is a close ally of President Obama and certainly seems like he'll be a candidate for higher office. There were rumors that he might challenge incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, but he took a pass on it this year.

State of California tells the politicians to get back to work

The voters of California appear to have rejected 5 of the 6 ballot measures. The only one that is passing is 1F- it would ban pay hikes for politicians until a budget is passed.

Voters are fed up with our broken political process and both Democrats and Republicans need to take note. We'll see if they listen and are actually able to get a budget in on-time this year.

Republicans have been the ones who have held up the passing of the budget the past few years, but Democrats haven't done a good job of pointing that fact out and telling voters what the impacts will be.

Politically astute Dems? It's like the West Wing has come to life!

For all you Toby Ziegler and Josh Lyman fans, President Obama's nomination of Utah Republican Jon Huntsman to become the new Ambassador to China is an inspired choice. By all accounts, Huntsman is extremely qualified- fluent in Mandarin, former Ambassador to Singapore, former deputy US trade rep, etc. But he's also the guy that former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe singled out as being the most worrisome potential GOP nominee in 2012. Huntsman becoming the Ambassador to China pretty much rules him out from making a bid in 2012. Two birds, one stone. Nice change from past Democratic operations that resulted in lots of stones, no birds, many bloody foreheads.

Marriage is bankrupting small businesses

Well, that's the take away I get from RNC Chairman Michael Steele's last statements, but I'm not real sure that even he knows what the hell he's talking about. Mr. Steele, uncle to Mike Tyson's children, is now casting his opposition to gay marriage as being driven by economics. The AP quotes him:

Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles. Steele said he used the argument weeks ago while chatting on a flight with a college student who described herself as fiscally conservative but socially liberal on issues like gay marriage.
"Now all of a sudden I've got someone who wasn't a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for," Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. "So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money."

So when Jack and Diane want to get married, they are costing you money. Ungrateful punks.

Special Election...Yawn

Here in California, we are having a special election today, but in reality it is not all that special. Governor Arnold's diminishing clout has become more apparent every day and it will be emphasized in the next 24 hours. The man who came rolling in to office promising reform and to blow up the boxes of government....well, that guy must have snuck away in the last 6 years.

It looks like all of the propositions except for 1F, will go down to defeat tomorrow. Politicians are whining that failure to pass the measures will leave us with a $21 billion budget gap. That's a complete cop-out. Our elected officials are elected to handle these exact sorts of things. We've gotten in to a vicious cycle in California- we can never pass a decent budget, out come a bunch of propositions, most don't pass, the props that do pass hamstring the budget even more, repeat.

California going over the cliff

The California budget is just an utter mess at this point- a deficit of $21 billion. If all of the measures pass next week in the special election, then we'll be down to a mere $15 billion.

The Governor is completely helpless at this point. The energy and enthusiasm that he brought in to office have been slowly fading away. He's basically evolved in to Gray Davis with better pectoral muscles.

One of the biggest obstacles to fixing the deficit is that California requires a 2/3 vote of the Legislature in order to pass a budget. That means that the minority party can hold the process hostage. Furthermore, because of how incumbents have protected themselves in the redistricting process, we have almost no competitive seats in California. Therefore, the Republicans have reached a point where they are much more worried about the primary than they are about a general election. Republican candidates are terrified about voting for a budget that has any hint of a tax increase because it leaves them vulnerable to a primary challenge.

Until we fix the 2/3 rule, we are going to have budget disasters on a yearly basis in California.

Retractions you don't expect to see

From today's NY Times on the Pope's trip to Israel:

"...the German pope’s spokesman first said that Benedict “never, never, never” had belonged to the Hitler Youth but later had to issue a retraction."

I'm sure you could have gotten really good odds in Las Vegas years back on "Next Pope would have been in the Hitler Youth at one point". Probably the same odds they would have given you on "Black guy with Arab name and crazy preacher" being the next Preisdent.

The lady doth protest too much?

Sarah Palin is coming out with a book (insert own joke here) and from her quotes she seems to be just a little sensitive about her reputation, don't you think?

"Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up. And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book,..Palin said. "I've read a variety of books, and that helps shape my opinions and my views."

Most authors don't feel the need to prove they actually read books, but then most authors never had an interview like this:

Does Jack Bauer know the Bush era is over?

Kiefer, Kiefer, Kiefer- you can't go around head-butting fashion designers and breaking their noses. It is certainly understandable to have violent feelings if you think someone has antagonized Brooke Shields- she's a national treasure and we all feel duty-bound to defend her honor. But no more water-boarding, no more breaking noses, OK?

John Kerry comments on the newspaper industry

John Kerry today discussed his take on the future of the newspaper industry. I found it fascinating. Not his take - but the fact that apparently John Kerry is still in the U.S. Senate. Haven't seen that guy in a while. It's still kind of amazing that one of the worst Presidents in U.S. history was running for re-election, and this guy somehow lost to him.

Kerry was quoted in the article as saying "paper and ink have become obsolete, eclipsed by the power, efficiency and technological elegance of the internet." Just replace "paper and ink" with "John Kerry" and "the internet" with "Barack Obama" and I think we have the current state of affairs in the Democratic party.

Edwards- the broken promise

Prior to the rise of Barack Obama, the two most talented politicians I had ever seen were Bill Clinton and John Edwards. They had obvious similarities- smooth talking Southern lawyers who were viewed by their adversaries as being too slick. I always liked both of them, but never fully bought in to them.

In 2000, Edwards was one of three finalists to be Gore's running mate and I really hoped he'd be the pick. Even at the time, I thought Lieberman was an uninspired choice- guy was just so drab and boring. In debates with Cheney, Lieberman never bothered to point out the extreme positions that Cheney had taken throughout his political career. The VP nominee normally doesn't make a huge impact, but I really believed that the difference between Edwards and Lieberman could have eliminated all the nonsense in Florida.

In 2004, I was an early and ardent supporter of Wesley Clark, but Edwards was a close 2nd choice. When Clark fizzled early on (skipping Iowa was huge mistake), I quickly switched over to Edwards. I think he was really close to being the nominee- he just missed a few breakthroughs that I think would have catapulted him to the nomination. He almost won in Iowa; narrowly lost to Clark in Oklahoma; and then almost beat Kerry in Wisconsin once it was a two-person race.

Despite not being a huge fan of Edwards on a personal level, John Kerry picked him to be his running mate because of Edwards obvious abilities as a campaigner. As the VP nominee, Edwards never really went after Bush and Cheney- second time in a row that the Dems needed a pit bull as the VP nominee and instead got a poodle (Biden was a refreshing change).

After the 2004 election, it felt to me like Edwards' time had passed. Since he had given up his Senate seat (in part because he would have had a tough time winning reelection), he didn't have a natural platform to build a 2008 campaign. He announced that he was founding a poverty center at UNC. I wasn't always sure of his sincerity, but it was good to see a politician addressing the issue of poverty in America.

With Obama and Hillary Clinton in the race, there never seemed to be a plausible path to victory for Edwards. He banked everything on Iowa, but his fund raising was so far behind the other two that he was incapable of running a truly national campaign. Once Obama won Iowa, Edwards had no hope of winning the nomination, but he stayed in the race. He continued to hammer on the issues of poverty and universal health care- in a lot of ways, it seemed like he was keeping Hillary and Barack on their toes- keeping them honest about some of the tough issues.

When the whole mistress scandal exploded, I was split between sadness and anger. I certainly felt horrible for Elizabeth Edwards and their children. But I was angry that he had the audacity to run for the Presidency when he had this ticking time bomb shoved in his closet.

Now Elizabeth Edwards has written a new book and she'll be on Oprah tomorrow. She's certainly handled herself with dignity and grace when faced with numerous tragedies- her son's death and her own battle with cancer being the most prominent ones.

Unfortunately, part of the book seems to be an attempt to settle a score with Rielle Hunter. It's America and Elizabeth Edwards certainly has the right to tell her story- but it just seems like everyone would have been better off without this book. It stirs up some uncomfortable questions- the obvious one being the paternity of Hunter's baby. Hard to believe that Edwards isn't the father and his denial doesn't have much credibility. Furthermore, it just takes an unbelievable amount of gall to run for President when tabloids are already writing about your mistress being paid by your campaign and your wife is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Since John Edwards had his televised confession, the couple had largely withdrawn from public view. I have a feeling that over the next few weeks, I'm going to find myself wishing they had stayed out of view.

Wendy Button, a former Edwards speech writer, has an interesting article at Politico.

Obama sneaks out for a burger

Last month Brian noted that the First Lady had snuck out of the White House for a burger, and I couldn't help but notice the President doing the same today. If there is a story involving the nexus between politics and hamburgers - Brian and I are on it! You are talking about two guys that tried to volunteer for the Mayor McCheese campaign. I don't care what anyone says, the man was framed.

Anyhow, here is Obama's burger run. Watch him ordering - its the most professional I've ever seen anyone order a burger. And I've watched a lot of people order burgers. You would think he was answering a question about counter-terrorism policy in a debate from the tone. I'm sure deep down he was just happy Biden didn't make some accidentally racist statement, before tripping over the counter and into the food.

Sarah Palin: Conservatism's most "articulate" voice?

I'm still not quite sure what to make of Rush Limbaugh's comment today that Sarah Palin has been one of conservatism's most articulate voices. Part of me thinks its just another in a long line of Rush making comments that make zero sense whatsover. But part of me thinks maybe she really was one of their more articulate voices, which explains why the Republican party and the conservative movement are at a political and intellectual nadir.

Well, you judge for yourself on Ms. Articulate ....



My favorite though was when she couldn't name one newspaper she reads. I mean the question isn't even really "name a newspaper you actually read", which should be simple enough. In basic political terms the question is really "just name a newspaper" - its not like they are going to fingerprint newspapers to make sure you really read them. Then she complained about "gotcha" journalism, when its hard to think of an easier question than what newspaper do you read.

Specter's not helping his cause....

With answers like this:

NYT Q: With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?

Arelen Spector: I sure do. There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.

Read Jon's post below about why Specter hasn't yet been embraced by all members of the Democratic Party.

And Arlen can't be real happy about the fact that Senate Dems just stripped him of his seniority on Senate Committees.

And he's now backing away from his support for Norm Coleman (I'm getting dizzy here). In Congressional Quarterly today:

But questioned outside the Senate chamber Tuesday, Specter said the comment was a mistake.

“In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates,” he said. “I’m ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I’ve made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke.”

Asked who he’s backing now in elections, Specter said, “I’m looking for more Democratic members. Nothing personal.”

Pennsylvania 2010 Senate craziness?

When Arlen Specter announced he was switching parties and becoming a Democrat, it seemed as if what could have been an interesting 2010 Senate race would be over. Had he run as a Republican, Specter was going to lose to Toomey in the primary, and then a moderate Democrat would likely win the seat. But once he switched, it looked as if he would be an overwhelming favorite to retain his seat in a general election. Particularly after Obama pledged his support.

But first came rumblings that new Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak may challenge Specter in the primary. Then Specter alienated labor, a major Democratic constituency, voted against the President's budget, and followed it by denying having ever said he would be a "loyal Democrat". As excited as Democrats are to have him switch, if he bucks the party on too many core issues, he invites a strong primary challenge from the left. Ironic for a man who left the Republican party because he was facing too strong a primary challenge from the right.

And for a while the Republican side seemed like a clear field for Pat Toomey, a right wing former Congressman who would be a relatively easy candidate for Democrats to run against in a general election. Pennsylvania has been moving to the center-left politically, and Toomey is way out on the right. But now there is talk popular former Governor Tom Ridge may run. Ridge would be a strong candidate for the GOP. He is well liked, fairly moderate (his pro-choice views kept McCain from being allowed to pick him for VP in 2008), and he has won statewide there before. His successful stint as Secretary of the Homeland Security Department won't hurt either. Indeed, early polls show Specter beating Toomey pretty badly in a general election, but a Ridge-Specter race being a virtual toss-up. It would certainly be one of the key races in 2010 if it happened.

Rep. Sestak is an interesting guy and somebody to watch, even if he doesn't throw his name in the hat this time. He retired from the Navy as a 3-star Admiral, then knocked out 20 year GOP Congressman Curt Weldon in the 2006 elections. He has made a strong early impression in the Congress, and has been a solid fundraiser as well. If he was to make it to the U.S. Senate, from a key battleground state like Pennsylvania, its easy to see him as an attractive national candidate some day. The one negative could be his reputation as a tough person to work for. But he is a definitely a politician to keep an eye on.

Depending on what Specter does as a Democrat, and who jumps in as a candidate, this could be among the most watched and interesting races of 2010.

Big John talking about his Congressman

Bill Durston, the Democratic nominee in the 3rd Congressional District in 2008, is standing in the background, looking like he just found out Dan Lungren ran over his dog.

Condi Rice has a touch of the crank-crank

Favorite quote from the former of Secretary of State: "No dear, you're wrong. You're wrong. We didn't torture anyone. Guantanamo Bay was considered a model medium-security prison."

Bush and Cheney actually less popular now

A recent poll shows Bush's approval having dropped from 31% to 26% now, and Cheney's dropping from 21% to 18%.

It's crazy to think that a two term President and Vice-President could be at 26% and 18% in the polls. Even unpopular national leaders tend to hover in the low 40% range. It's almost impossible to get 80% of the country to agree on anything in a poll, but after 8 years of the Bush/Cheney debacle the public is pretty together on this one. I guess George Bush really was a uniter. Heck, even if you add their approval numbers together, you still get a pretty unpopular politician.

Cheney's diminishing popularity I kind of get. Since the election he has been all over the airwaves slamming the new administration, claiming we are more likely to get attacked, and attacking Obama's economic policies. After leaving the nation in a historical economic ruin following his 8 years, that last one makes Dick Cheney an early runner for the 2009 "pure balls" award. It's almost as if someone told him "there is no way you can get less popular than 21% approval" and he took that guy up on the dare.

Bush, on the other hand, kind of surprised me. People generally liked him as a person, they just despised his policies, record, and Presidency. I figured once he was out of office and unable to do any more damage to the country, the dislike would subside and he would creep up in popularity. Further, he was classy and supportive during the transition, and has refused to bash Obama - unlike some Vice-Presidents of his I can think of. Yet he dropped 5%. Which is not easy when you are already hovering at 31% - somewhere around the approval rating Americans tend to give Somali pirates. The only thing I can figure is people watched Obama for 100 days and thought "Oh yeah, that's what having a good President was like".