Broad coalition will work towards ending the death penalty in California

by Brian Leubitz

It is often said that California voters are attached to the death penalty, that they would never vote against it.  That something like 2/3 of voters support it in concept.  But reality is far different from concept, and voters know that.  We don’t actually carry out the death penalty, yet we spend millions of dollars prosecuting it.

It’s time for something different.

Today a statewide coalition of law enforcement, murder victim family members, exonerees and community groups announced the launch of signature gathering for the SAFE California Act (the Savings, Accountability and Full Enforcement for California Act), a ballot initiative that will replace the death penalty with life in prison without possibility of parole.   The SAFE California Act will save California taxpayers millions of dollars, protect the innocent from execution, and direct funds to local law enforcement to solve more rapes and murders.

Over the last thirty-three years, we have spent something on the order of $4 billion pursuing the death penalty, but executed only thirteen prisoners.  That money could have gone to solving some of the 46% of murders or 56% of rapes that go unsolved. Or it could have gone into prevention efforts that actually lower the crime rate.

Now is the time to end the death penalty. We can help save our budget, our prisons, and make us all safer at the same time. This is the right answer for California.

In another setback for troubled bank, Attorneys look into possibly false claims

by Brian Leubitz

It’s not easy being Bank of America these days.  Oh sure, you get to have the pride of advertising on Hulu and well, everywhere, but are there people out there that don’t hate you?  You have those Occupy Wall Street folks, the people who hate you over the ridiculously greedy $5 debit card charge, and, oh right, their sketchy dealings in the foreclosure crisis.

Add a different (but related) worry onto the pile:

Investigators with the state attorney general’s office have subpoenaed Bank of America Corp. in connection with the sale and marketing of troubled mortgage-backed securities to California investors, according to a person familiar with the probe.

The state is trying to determine whether the bank and its Countrywide Financial subsidiary sold investments backed by risky mortgages to institutional and private investors in California under false pretenses…

Harris has created a mortgage fraud strike force with a mandate of looking into all aspects of mortgage fraud, including securitization. Many of these investments plunged in value as the housing market collapsed. Under California’s False Claims Act, which makes it a crime to defraud the state, damages of up to three times the amount of the claim can be awarded if the victim was an institutional investor, such as one of the state’s pension funds.(LA Times)

It is possible this is part of the 3-dimensional chess being played with the foreclosure mess, but if the AG’s office can prove that BofA made the false claims, we are talking about a lot of money for a bank that already has capitilization issues.

But don’t worry Brian Moynihan is still doing a-ok!

Former Lt. Gov. makes suspicious loans to his Congressional campaign

by Brian Leubitz

You would assume that Abel Maldonado would have preferred to be lapping up the nothingness that Gavin Newsom is currently enjoying.  But that LG race didn’t turn out like he would have liked, so he’s off to a different campaign, the new 24th Congressional.

One of several Republicans hoping to challenge incumbent Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, Maldonado has dropped big money into his campaign, retrieved it quickly and then dropped it back in again.

The rapid cycling of money, timed to fundraising deadlines, could appear like a way to inflate campaign reports and demonstrate political viability. Or, as Maldonado’s campaign consultants say, it could be simple prudence.  

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Seemingly mirroring campaign moves seen last year in a Northern San Joaquin Valley congressional race, Maldonado loaned his House campaign $250,000 on June 30. Coming on the last day of the fundraising period, the loan, combined with contributions, enabled Maldonado to show a respectable $531,401 on hand.(SLO Tribune)

Mighty convenient for St. Maldo how awesome it makes you look without well, actually having to raise the money.  Meanwhile Capps has almost $900K in the bank to fight what will likely be one of the most competitive races in the nation. But, who knows, maybe our friend Abel will simply talk himself out of a real race.

Capps is a solid member of Congress that knows the district and represents it well.  Abel? Well, opportunist is the first word that comes to mind.

Doctors want focus off punishment, and into ways to properly use drug as a treatment.

by Brian Leubitz

The California Medical Association, the 30,000 strong organization of California doctors, has just issued a statement calling for the reclassification of marijuana away from its current Schedule I status.

The California Medical Association (CMA) has adopted official policy that recommends legalization and regulation of cannabis. The decision was based on a white paper concluding physicians should have access to better research, which is not possible under the current policy. The paper, available here, is a thoughtful study and response to an important issue, continuing CMA’s tradition of providing guidance on public health.

CMA is the largest physician group in California and the first statewide medical association to take this official position.

“CMA may be the first organization of its kind to take this position, but we won’t be the last. This was a carefully considered, deliberative decision made exclusively on medical and scientific grounds,” said James T. Hay, M.D., CMA President-Elect. “As physicians, we need to have a better understanding about the benefits and risks of medicinal cannabis so that we can provide the best care possible to our patients.” (CMA)

There are a lot of questions about the pros and cons of marijuana, but because of the classification, very little serious research has been done.  CMA is just taking a look at what the reality is on the ground, acknowledging the facts and seeing what they can do to make the situation better.  We have far too many people locked up in prisons for drug crimes, we’re spending money on a losing battle.  How do we actually address the problem instead of pretending we are still fighting a war on drugs that we clearly lost years ago.

Of course, there are plenty of groups out there to go crazy over this, and one Republican running for the Assembly obliges MediaNews on that front:

But critics, like Paul Chabot, president of the Coalition for a Drug Free California, said the CMA recommendation would harm society. … Chabot, who said his group has more than 1,000 members, called on doctors to tear up their CMA membership cards “in light of leadership’s pro drug legalization stance.”

“Research has shown marijuana use has been linked to testicular cancer, schizophrenia, and depression,” Chabot said. “It’s because of so-called medical marijuana, we now have the highest use-rate for kids in America. What an irresponsible and unethical position the CMA has taken.” (MediaNews)

It is perfect that Chabot is running for Assembly, he’ll fit in well with the pretend reality doesn’t exist GOP caucus.  The “studies” he cites are far from comprehensive and don’t accurately tell anywhere near the full story.  At the very least, we should be doing real research on both sides of the drug, instead of just pretending it is purely this insidious thing.  

Because, you know, tobacco isn’t linked to, oh, I don’t know, every imaginable form of cancer, yet we allow recreational use of that known-killer.  Let’s see Chabot call for outlawing tobacco and see how far he gets in the political world.  I suppose Altria has better lobbyists and more cash than Oaksterdam.

Democratic “Super-PAC” goes after Lungren’s anti-middle class record

by Brian Leubitz

House Majority PAC isn’t necessarily a household name, but as one of the so-called “Super PACs” it will play a big role in the 2012 elections.  And in one of their first major ad buys, they are looking at our very own CA-03.  The new district is decidedly different than Lungren’s old district, and Ami Bera continues to do well in the fundraising race.

Both Bera and Lungren reported large fundraising hauls in campaign finance filings due over the weekend. Lungren reported raising $596,228, closing the period that ended Sept. 30 with $421,888 in the bank. Bera raised $860,159, leaving him with $707,760 cash on hand. The Elk Grove doctor also reported about $250,000 in campaign debt, mostly from personal loans from 2010 his campaign has said he does not intend to get back. (SacBee)

Bera underperformed slightly in 2010 for the California race.  However, 2012 is shaping up to be a very different year than 2010, and the presidential race will likely help Bera in this new district.

California is officially back in play with these new maps.  We are likely to see several competitive races in 2012, something that we haven’t really seen much since the 2002 maps.

Government reform organization runs out of funding

By Brian Leubitz

Hey, the economy sucks, and all sorts of businesses are going under, and that is certainly true in the non-for-profit good government area.  The Center for Governmental Studies has been around for about theory years, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t vulnerable to the same economic forces as the rest of us.

The nonprofit Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles is shutting down after 28 years of researching and recommending improvements to political and government processes in California and other states.

Over the years, the center has helped develop reforms of campaign finance laws, state budgeting, ballot measures and higher education, often advising local and state agencies on improvements. (LA Times)

I certainly had my differences with CGS, but they were a valuable resource on any number of government reform issues. As many of the California government nerds said on Twitter last night, we are better off with more people watching our government.

Rep. Speier takes a different tack from Senate legislation.

by Brian Leubitz

Sen. Durbin has already introduced the “Main Street Fairness Act” in the Senate to create something of a national sales tax, but Rep. Jackie Speier is looking for another way.  She’s looking to simply authorize states to collect the taxes.

n July, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a Main Street Fairness Act with support from trade organizations such as the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association; both groups voiced support for the Womack-Speier bill, as well.

But Speier said her bill is “dramatically different” from Durbin’s in that his creates a national sales tax covering all states, while hers authorizes states to collect their own.

Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president of global public policy, issued a statement agreeing that the sales tax issue must be resolved in Congress, and that a federal law will let states address their budget shortfalls.(BayArea News)

In theory, Amazon’s deal with the state calls for them to support some sort of legislation over the next year, or collect sales taxes for the state in 2013.  Amazon has said previously that they generally approve of Durbin’s framework, but as Michelle Bachmann would say, the devil is in the details.

Brown’s signature makes California Dream Act a reality

by Brian Leubitz

The California Dream Act is not quite the major reform that the Dream Act represents at the federal level, but it is a nice place to start.  There was some doubt as to whether Gov. Brown would sign the second piece of legislation, as there was a $14.5 million redirection of funds involved.  However, ultimately the Governor came to the right decision:

“Going to college is a dream that promises intellectual excitement and creative thinking,” Brown said in a statement. “The Dream Act benefits us all by giving top students a chance to improve their lives and the lives of all of us.”

Under AB 131, illegal immigrants who are accepted into state universities can receive, starting in 2013, Cal-Grant assistance, which last year provided grants averaging $4,500 apiece to more than 370,000 low-income students.

The measure also allows students who are not in the country legally to get institutional grants while attending the University of California and California State University systems, and to get fee waivers in the California community college system. (LA Times)

While Rick Perry attempts to walk back his statement on stopping undocumented immigrants from attending universities at in-state tuition was “heartless)”, it is good to see that in California we are going in the opposite direction.