Meg Whitman has made it abundantly clear that her campaign is tightly focused on a few key area – one of them being jobs and the economy. There is no doubt that AB 32 is a job-killer. Whether she is the next Governor of California or not, our state will be better positioned to come out of this recession is AB 32 is mothballed until the economy is humming – which will likely take a lot longer than the next Governor’s ability to temporarily suspend AB 32’s draconian regulations for just a year.
First, I welcome this. I think campaigns should be about ideas. And in this case, Jerry Brown is strongly opposing Prop 23. Meg Whitman, well, like all other areas, she’s nowhere to be seen. Instead, she airs another million of TV and pretends that she is owed something. Let’s have a real debate, and see Whitman take a strong position one way or the other.
Of course, this being a conservative discussion, you have to toss in some willful ignorance to have a real party. Besides the throwaway use of “Democrat Party”, (I get it, very cute, Jon.) you have a heaping helping of climate denial:
There is certainly a vibrant debate taking place in the scientific community about whether or not changing temperature around the globe are tied to actions of people on the planet, or possibly part of a large, epic cycle of atmospheric change that is naturally caused.
To that, well, the quick response is no, there isn’t a vibrant debate. Ignorance does not make a debate vibrant. Study after study after study show that humans are contributing to climate change, trying to come up with some false dichotomy only distracts us from finding long-term solutions.
Whitman has been skating along on her vagueness for too long. Whichever way she chooses to come down on Prop 23, she should give the voters a sense of who she really is. As of right now, all we have is a few snippets from 30 second spots.
On Meet the Press, Meg Whitman’s consultant, Mike Murphy, laid it out for all the Californians that are getting extremely annoyed with Whitman’s incessant ads:
MR. ASLAN: My question, Mike, is, why does Meg what to be governor of California? Why would anyone want to be governor of California?
MR. MURPHY: Because…
MS. MYERS: Let alone spend 140 million of their own money to get it.
MR. MURPHY: Yeah, but the money is about getting–California is so expensive, $3 million a week for television, it’s about getting a message out against the entrenched public employee unions.
MR. GREGORY: OK.
MR. MURPHY: I’m mean, I’m…(unintelligible)…but I believe it. I live there. I care about it. (Meet the Press, h/t to LA Times)
So, the reason that she wants to buy the governor’s office? Well, we didn’t really get an answer to that one, now did we. But what did we get an answer for? Well, apparently Meg Whitman needs to spend 3 million per week to fight the unions that put up…a grand total of around $8 million this summer. And there’s not going to be a lot more than that.
The truth is that Meg Whitman is using the state of California. She wants to decimate the middle class by crushing the organization of labor in the state and to use the gig as a jumping off point for her further national political ambitions.
But when you come down to it, there is no there there. Her plans, even according to her Republican “friend”, the current Governor, are nothing more than cheap campaign promises. And when she does come close to laying out a plan, she gets the facts wrong in her haste to make state employees the face of all that is wrong in California.
What is wrong is that we have stopped investing in our state. We have stopped building infrastructure, reduced our investments in K12 and higher education, and stopped planning for the future, instead coasting on the success of the master plan legacy. That will not be sufficient if we are to compete in the 21st century. Maybe Meg Whitman knows that, maybe she doesn’t. But either way, her stated goals are just wrong for California.
Ken Calvert is pretty much your generic, right-wing Congressman. There’s nothing too special about him. He’s slightly corrupt, but hasn’t yet gotten his freezer raided. However, he has been named as one of the top 15 most corrupt. But you know, that is kind of par for the course these days.
Now, Bill Hedrick ran a tight race against Calvert back in 2008. So, what is Calvert doing to bolster his campaign these days. Why by signing Grover Norquist’s inflexibility pledge.
Calvert, who in a recent press release touted his signature on Americans for Tax Reform’s anti-tax pledge, helped protect companies that ship American jobs overseas by voting against the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. The deficit neutral legislation, passed by Congress and signed into law, saved and created 320,000 jobs and was paid for in part by closing tax loopholes that enable companies to take advantage of foreign tax credits and move assets, production and jobs overseas.
“Congressman Calvert needs to get his priorities straight,” said Hedrick. “Local teachers and first-responders are losing their jobs due to budget cuts, and Congressman Calvert showed us that he’d rather protect tax loopholes used by companies that ship American jobs overseas than close them to help keep local police officers on the beat. I can’t think of anything more elitist than a career politician bragging about how he puts corporate special interests before his constituents at a time when communities in Orange and Riverside counties are facing unemployment rates at or near double digits.”
It is good to see Democratic challengers going after Republicans for signing this stupid pledge.
The Governor is off to China, and he’s left his trusty puppet lieutenant in charge of the place. And look, he even gets to play like he’s important, getting to sign bills and everything!
Maldonado, who is battling San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the November election for lieutenant governor, is making arrangements to hold a bill signing ceremony in front of Bell City Hall on Monday, according to an e-mail to that city from one of his staffers. A spokeswoman confirmed Maldonado may sign AB 900, which would refund property taxes overcharged by the city of Bell.
“Should the bill be sent to the governor’s office, the people of Bell deserve to have their money returned to them,” said Erin Shaw, a spokeswoman for Maldonado. “The lieutenant governor will be in Los Angeles on Monday and it makes sense for our staff to put our logistics in place should he be needed to expedite the state’s business.”
Having been appointed lieutenant governor by Schwarzenegger, who is seen as his mentor, it appears Maldonado is getting some assistance from the governor to grab the media spotlight, according to the e-mail, which talks of the governor’s office supplying some of the equipment for the ceremony. (LA Times)
I guess St. Abel is now completely buried the hatchet with the Governor over their little dispute about whether he really loved him or not. In theory, it isn’t really all that common for Lt. Governors to actually sign legislation, mostly because they are frequently of differing parties in California. But, in this case, St. Abel has so much experience being Arnold’s sock puppet, there really isn’t anything new going on here. When you see Abel, you might as well see Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And the people of California just loooooove Arnold Schwarzenegger these days, right?
Carly Fiorina is the guest of honor at a tea party rally today in Marin. While she has apparently closed the event to the press, it is open to the public! And it is free! So, come one, come all, and learn about Carly’s plans for mocking climate change, and her support for overturning Roe v Wade. And you know, bring your cell phones, flip cameras, audio recording devices. Now, I’m not telling you to break any rules, but you know, it is a public event and everything.
Of course, Carly is trying to play both sides of the tea party coin, by officially closing the event to press:
Just when we were wondering what — if any role — the Tea Party would play in statewide California races this fall we hear that US Senate candidate Carly Fiorina will be meeting with Tea Party grassrootsers and GOPers at noon Friday in Mill Valley at the Mill Valley Community Center.
Billed in the invite as “your opportunity to hear Carly speak and get your questions answered!” it’s sponsored by the Bay Area Patriots and San Francisco Tea Party, the Marin GOP and Novato Republican Women, Federated.
We’d love to tell you about it, but it is billed as “open to the public — closed to the press.” What’s up with that? Not very transparent, which is what the TP wants of government, no?(SF Gate)
Ooh, and you can buy a delicious turkey sandwich for $10! If you are near Mill Valley, definitely stop by.
Hey look at that, a better than expected August bought us some time to avoid IOUs:
The Democratic controller said the state took in 3.9 percent more revenues in August than the Department of Finance projected it would. Chiang said the August cash totals were sufficient to ward off an IOU threat for now. He previously said IOUs might be necessary by mid-September at the latest.(SacBee)
Not sure what that will do to get the budget in place any sooner, but as for right now, with Arnold in Asia, a deal still seems a long way off. It just might be that we don’t have anything until the election is decided. In case this election needed to become more important, well, there you have it.
Carly Fiorina made a pilgrimage to the land of my people this weekend, certainly an interesting development with just over eight weeks left in the campaign. (By the way, L’shanah tova!)
For the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, what happens in the Holy Land, apparently stays in the Holy Land. Fiorina had told an Israeli business magazine that she wanted to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. But there hasn’t been a peep out of the Israeli press about any meeting between Fiorina and top officials in Israel.
Nor is Fiorina’s campaign saying bupkis about the getaway. A campaign spokeswoman says, “This was a personal trip for Carly, so it had nothing to do with the campaign.”
Over at the Republican Jewish Coalition, which was approached by Fiorina to arrange and fund the trip, they didn’t see anything campaign-like in the visit.(Daily Beast)
So, why exactly did she decide to take a vacation that is half a world away. It’s not like there aren’t relaxing vacation spots in the Golden State where she could get away and do a bit of relaxation. But contrary to Fiorina’s campaign, this was completely about the senate race. It is especially hard to argue otherwise when she asked the Republican Jewish Coalition to pay for it. It’s not like she doesn’t have enough money to pay for a couple of first class tickets to Ben Gurion airport.
But while there is part of the typical foreign policy education component here, with Carly there is the question of her sales to Iran hanging over the whole foreign policy debate. While Carly likes to claim that she had no knowledge of the Iranian sales, she was either purposefully sticking her head in the sand in order to get the money from Iranian sales or she was a terrible CEO who didn’t know what her company was doing. As Chuck DeVore pointed out in the primary, there are simply too many questions here left unanswered.
I hope that Ms. Fiorina’s trip to Israel is a safe and enjoyable visit, but a few days in Jerusalem hardly changes her record in the Middle East. Over the flip find a letter from several Jewish leaders in Los Angeles regarding her trip.
Carly Fiorina for Senate
915 L Street, Suite C-378
Sacramento, CA 95814
September 7, 2010
Ms. Fiorina:
On behalf of CEO Watch, we are excited that you have agreed to make an educational visit to Israel. Israel is one of America’s strongest allies in the world and we hope that you go with an open mind so you can avail yourself of the many lessons you will have before you.
However, we have learned about your behavior when you were CEO of Hewlett-Packard, which we find very troubling. Over the course of the few years you ran HP before you were fired, a HP subsidiary sold equipment to Iran. According to the State Department, Iran is a state sponsor of Hamas, Hizballah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad; those terrorist groups are targeting the State of Israel.
According to news accounts, this subsidiary was started with the sole purpose of selling HP products to Iran, and you awarded this subsidiary “Wholesaler of the Year” in 2003. Earlier this year, when your behavior was reported in newspapers, your former company HP acknowledged that some of its equipment may be in use by the Iranian military. HP has now severed its relationship with this subsidiary company. During the time you were selling equipment to this state sponsor of terrorism, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called “for the destruction of Israel, describing it as a ‘cancerous tumor’ in the Middle East,” according to Reuters.
Your decision to do business with Iran has undermined Israel’s security and important US trade sanctions. We hope you can apologize in Israel for your deplorable behavior. With the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days and peace talk resuming in Washington, we hope you will join us on the journey of real peace and security in all of the Middle East.
Safe travels,
Rabbi Steven Jacobs
Recipient of Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award, Executive Board Member of Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Founder of Progressive Faith Foundation
Rabbi Jonathan Klein
Los Angeles
Rabbi Linda Bertenthal
Managing Congregational Representative, West District
Union for Reform Judaism
Howard Welinsky
Former Chair of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation, Los Angeles
Andrew Lachman
Los Angeles Jewish Federation, Young Leaders Division and Jewish Community Relations Committee
There is a lot of work to do between now and November 2, but right now we are pretty much looking at an even race:
It's too close to call in California's Senate and gubernatorial battles, according to a new poll.
A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates that Sen. Barbara Boxer holds a 48 percent to 44 percent margin over her Republican challenger, Carly Fiorina, but Boxer's 4-point advantage is within the poll's sampling error. Five percent of people questioned say if the general election were held today they'd vote for neither candidate and three percent were undecided. (CNN) Full results (pdf)
Care to see a 1990s style witch hunt against the administration? Well, you are set for a fun ride. Otherwise, it's time to get in gear and work for the Democratic ticket.
Robert mentioned Jerry Brown’s new TV ad. It’s likely not going to make the crowds go wild or anything like that, but it shows the formation of an economic plan and a campaign strategy.
As for Whitman’s plan, it looks like she has some champions for her in the ring: Wall Street.
At a fundraiser she held in New York, Whitman said she met with people who “have suffered the financial reforms that are going to crimp our ability to raise capital, and they want California to turn the corner.” … Now the financial industry has lined up behind her gubernatorial campaign.
According to a Bee estimate, investment banks and firms, private investors, financial advisers, venture capitalists and even the chairman of the Federal Reserve in San Francisco have poured $4.7 million into her effort, more than a fifth of total outside contributions she’s received. Whitman has also given her campaign $104 million of her own money.(SacBee)
Her plan to rally California is to, umm, let Wall Street run amok? Turn back the clock on the reforms in the financial markets? Under Whitman, governance will apparently be done by the best hedge fund managers that money can buy.
It is no small fact that of the little money she has raised, much of it has been from Wall Street interests. Her campaign is geared towards the long-term benefit of those who have been made rich by the excesses of the last decade, and to continuing the false expectations of bubble economies. The end result can hardly be a surprise for anybody: continuing and growing disparities between the ultra wealthy and the middle class.
Meg Whitman briefly checked in with the San Mateo County Courts a couple of days ago, and was told that she was on call. She got that call, and apparently the whole buying the governor is going to get her out of jury duty for the time being.
Earlier in the day, while being questioned, Whitman told attorneys she would serve if selected but acknowledged this is “not a good time for me to give 100 percent.”
Defense attorney Richard Keyes asked the former eBay CEO if, considering “the nature of your current position “… this might be one of those cases that it’s not the right time” to serve on a jury.
“I would try my very best,” Whitman replied. “Whether it is the right time for me is another question,” she added, drawing laughs from the courtroom.(SJ Merc)
Whitman was “Juror No. 11”, which meant that unless she was disqualified for some reason, she would have been on the pool. We all have lives and commitments, some of us choose to honor them, and honor our democracy by doing the little things, like jury duty, and, well, voting. Running for governor is great, and it takes a special person to do it.
It also takes a special person to sit on a jury for a terrible child molestation case. Or to work as an in-home support service worker, or as a teacher.
Perhaps Queen Meg would be served well by partaking in the tasks of everyday Californians a bit more.
