Links from around the state:
• This Miss California situation is interesting. She answered a question about gay marriage in a nonsensical way (“Everyone can choose,” she said, which is only true if you are cool with moving all around the country), stated her belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, and now is whining that her answer cost her the crown. Maybe it did, because the answer made no sense at all. By the way, a note to the right – Miss California wasn’t “persecuted for her views” by finishing second in a beauty contest. Also, we have an economic crisis, so stop talking about who finished second in a beauty contest.
• AG Jerry Brown is sponsoring a “vexatious requestors” bill in the Assembly. Apparently there are a few people who request lots and lots of documents from an agency, to an extant that really can only be classified as harassment. The downside here is that this does chill the efforts of legitimate journalists who are looking for something real. While it is easy to understand the frustration with this use of resources, we need to be sure we don’t go too far down the road of limiting the sunshine in government.
• SEIU 1000 reached a labor contract with the state, and now the Yacht Party is threatening to hold it up. For some reason the contract needs a two-thirds vote. Another hijacking.
• The Governor didn’t answer any of Dave’s questions in his online town hall meeting. Sob. Somehow moderator Bill Bradley must have been behind this… Amazingly, Schwarzenegger thinks “the question is not the 2/3 vote” but how hard it is to get things done because of redistricting and closed primaries. What a fresh, Twitter-ready perspective!
• Jim Beall has a bill, AB 1019 for an alcohol tax. It is structured as a fee, rather than a tax, so it only needs a majority. It would raise about a billion and a half, which would be ticketed for drug and alcohol programs.
• More cuts in the Capitol Media. Today, NBC’s Mike Luery was the latest victim of the downsizing of coverage.
• The San Diego USD is selling bonds that offer no interest, but do offer a tax credit.