(Edited to add blockquote. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Kudos to U.S. District Court Judge Karlton, who today decided that the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance is not constitutional.  While his decision immediately affects only three school districts in Sacramento County, it means that the 9th Circuit, and likely the U.S. Supreme Court, will address the issue again soon.  Unfortunatley, without O’Connor, God may prevail at the Supreme Court.  But at least this time the Sups can’t punt – all three plaintiffs in this case unquestionably have standing.

From SFGate:

In deciding the current case, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton in Sacramento said he was bound by the Court of Appeals’ previous decision.

Karlton said he would sign a restraining order prohibiting the recitation of the pledge at Elk Grove Unified, Rio Linda and Elverta Joint Elementary school districts, where the children of Newdow and his fellow plaintiffs are enrolled.

The order would not apply to other California districts unless it was affirmed by a higher court.

Referring to the previous decision in the court of appeals, Karlton wrote, “I conclude that binding precedent requires a narrow resolution of the motions, one which will satisfy no one involved in the debate, but which accords with my duty as a judge of a subordinate court.”

( – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Apparently, California has just decided it worthwhile to enter into the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

California became the last of the contiguous states to join a nationwide emergency compact Tuesday, after legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger were spurred to act by the hurricane devastation along the Gulf Coast.

The 1996 Emergency Management Assistance Compact helps states share emergency aid during times of disaster.

It will help California send aid more efficiently to states devastated by Hurricane Katrina, and it will let other states help in the event of a large earthquake or other disaster in California without waiting for bureaucratic paperwork, Schwarzenegger said in signing the legislation.

It certainly is a curious statement about California that we are only doing this now.  We are a state that is particularly prone to natural disasters with several very large population centers.  Yet we were the last state to enter into this pact?  Bizarre.

The Governor showed up in Antelope Valley yesterday to raise money for his hugely unpopular special election campaign.  While he did get the wads of cash he wanted from his big money donors, he and his backers also probably got more than they bargained for:

Schwarzenegger raised at least $300,000 from local supporters, but he and everyone who attended had to pass through a gantlet of opposition at the Antelope Valley Fairground gate where several hundred protesters, many from public employee unions, turned out to catcall the governor.

Arnold just can’t hide from the hardworking Californians his that special interests election is targeting.  Teachers, nurses, firefighters, and public servants from all over the state have kept the Governor on his toes at events all over California.  Our “man on the scene” sent in this report . . .

At the rally today we had well over 350 volunteers chanting and sending the message that Arnold has the wrong agenda. Our volunteers held hundreds of picket signs with the message “No on prop 74, 75, and 76”.  Vehicles passing by could not help but honk their horns in support or our efforts.  At past events held throughout California, the governor tried to evade activists –  and at today’s event was no different.  He arrived approximately two hours before the event to avoid public employees.

Moreover, individuals driving into the Arnold fund raiser event could not look into the eyes of our volunteers who were chanting in unison “Shame on you”.

If you want to let Arnold know just how you feel about his special election, you can join Alliance Volunteers at a Chase Arnold event like those in Bakersfield tonight, or in Burlingame (San Mateo Co.) tomorrow.  We’re not going to take this lying down.

(posted by Drew on the BetterCA blog)

(crossposted on the BetterCa blog Arnold is preparing to announce on Friday that he is running for re-election…big surprise there. What is interesting is the timing of the announcement and the reasoning for the change in plans.

SignOnSanDiego.com:

The timing is seen as a move to generate excitement among Republican activists heading to the California Republican Party convention, which convenes Friday in Anaheim.

The politically coy governor has long signaled that he probably would not disclose his political future, or even give it much thought, until after the special election.

He was apparently persuaded to move up his timetable by business supporters who have given a lukewarm reception to Schwarzenegger’s special election, but desperately want a Republican governor to fend off what they regard as bills hostile to business passed by a heavily Democratic Legislature. [emphasis mine]

The governor has to resort to making an early announcement because even the buisness interests that his special election is designed to benefit aren’t jumping out of their seats to help.  

Given Schwarzenegger’s low poll numbers, this early announcement will have little effect on undecided voters. Rather, as the article mentions, it is intended to rally that 34% who somehow believe he’s doing a good job.  His announcement won’t be an offensive move, but rather a defensive attempt to shore up the tiny bit of popular support he still has left.

(cross posted at the BetterCa blog, My Left Wing and Booman)

Today, the Governor launched the campaign in support of his wildly unpopular special interests election. But instead of taking his message to directly to the people, he took a page from the president’s playbook and sequestered himself in a warehouse full of handpicked supporters, far away from the chanting crowds outside.  

PE.com:

Schwarzenegger touted his three ballot initiatives, Props. 74, 76 and 77, before an invited audience of politicians, businesspersons and employees of K&N Engineering, Inc., an air-filter company that hosted the event in a warehouse.

The article has a great shot of some protestors outside with “No on 75” signs.  I wonder if he managed to walk in on red carpet this time, instead of the warehouse equivalent of the playground?

( – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Agreed…He Won’t be Back.

From the SF Examiner:

SAN FRANCISCO — Saying “shame on him for this,” Mayor Gavin Newsom blasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday, calling him hypocritical and discriminatory for announcing he would veto a historic bill that would have allowed gay couples to marry in California.

Newsom, who usually prefers a joke to a critical word, made unusually fiery and stinging comments about Schwarzenegger, who announced he would veto the bill less than 24 hours after the Legislature approved it Tuesday night. At one point, Newsom even challenged Schwarzenegger to “come on out,” and publicly explain why he could not sign the legislation.

“I hope he stops hiding behind his press secretary,” Newsom said. “This is the worst type of politician. [Schwarzenegger’s] said [he supports gay marriage] publicly, but couldn’t adhere to those comments publicly.”

You tell him Gav!  I guess it scores political points in SF, so you see why he does it.  I’m somewhat suprised that he hasn’t actually started moving more towards the center publicly.  In actuality, he’s pretty moderate on economic issues.  I’m curious if he will sing a more moderate tune when he runs for statewide office .

(I think it’s abundantly clear that the California GOP does not like unions (and nurses, teachers, gays, etc….) – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Despite the assertions of it’s backers, Prop. 75 is designed only to weaken the political power of public employees and increase the political power of big business special interests.  Time, and time again the author of Prop. 75, Lew Uhler, has shown shocking frankness in discussing his intentions and made clear that they have nothing to do with protecting worker’s rights.

San Francisco Chronicle, 6/8/05:

“This time we’re focusing exclusively on public employee unions.”

San Francisco Chronicle, 1/12/05:

Uhler said the anti-union theme this year is in part a response to what he characterized as the increased political activity of unions such as the one representing state prison guards, which is annually one of the biggest givers to California politicians.

Sacramento Bee, 3/20/05

“To the extent that the political activities of unions might be diminished, then their demands for the kinds of working conditions, pensions, et cetera, that they are now getting will be mollified,” Uhler said. “And I think that will be a boon to our control over governmental activities in our state.” [emphasis mine]

Uhler belives that slicing off the private-sector unions turns the matter into a more purely focused taxpayer issue.

“After all, you and I pay their salaries, and you and I are accomplices in the withholding of funds for political purposes,” he said.

Proposition 75 is not about the rights of workers, it is not about protecting our cities, or healing our citizens. It is about consolidating power to futher a right-wing fiscal policy.  Uhler’s constiuents are not our firefighters and nurses but right-wing ideologues like Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich, and Robert Bork.  Prop 75 is about curbing the power of advocate groups to prevent cuts to vital services, and enable more tax breaks for the wealthy.  If teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police are unfairly restricted by Prop. 75, and their voices are silenced, who will fight for the issues that matter to California?

In addition to pushing the deceptive Prop. 75, Uhler runs the National Tax Limitation Committee (NTLC), and organizattion whose primary agenda is the repeal of the federal estate tax.

Andy Furillo of the Sacramento Bee paints a vivid picture of his ideology:

He is an unapologetic McCarthyite and a former member of the John Birch Society whose hard-right ideology has taken him to the fringes of American conservatism.

[snip]

At Yale in the early 1950s, one of Uhler’s closest associates was author and journalist M. Stanton Evans. According to Uhler, Evans is now finishing up a book that “I think has confirmed that Joe McCarthy was on target” in exposing the alleged Communist infiltration of American government and society.

Not only does he think that McCarthy was a swell guy, but he also has a history of adulterating the truth as Reagan’s lackey.  In the late 70’s he was Reagan’s hatchet man in their “fight to shut down California Rural Legal Assistance, the program best known for helping farmworkers and other poor people seek legal redress.”

From the same article:

A panel of retired judges appointed by the Nixon administration investigated the charges and found that the Uhler report “in many instances … misrepresented the facts” and that the allegations against CRLA were “totally irresponsible.”
Cruz Reynoso, the former state Supreme Court justice and a law school classmate of Uhler’s at Boalt Hall, was in charge of CRLA at the time of the controversy.
“I used to tell people, if half of what they said in the report was true, we should all be in prison for the rest of our lives,” said Reynoso, who is now a law professor at the University of California, Davis. “So I have to conclude that these were folks, including Lew at that time, for whom the ends justified the means.”

25 years later Ulher is up to the same old tricks: trying to dismantle organizations that represent ordinary working Californians in order to silence their political voice.  This time, we know him. This time we have the power to stop him.

(Schwarzenegger ’06 – Less information. Fewer rights. – promoted by Be_Devine)

At the same time that Girlie Man is trying to pose as some sort of defender of the people by vetoing the gay marriage bill and citing Prop 22 as the reason why, he has quitely vetoed another mesure that would empower voters by helping to improve their knowledge of who and what they are voting for.  

The measure he vetoed was even supported by his own, hand-picked Republican Secretary of State.

Here’s the press release from the bill’s author, Jenny Oropeza, who represents the 55th Assembly District (Carson, Wilmington, parts of Long Beach and Lakewood), and previously served as a Long Beach City Councilwoman, representing the racially-diverse downtown 1st District:

Jenny Oropeza
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Asm. Oropeza’s ‘fair campaign’ measure receives surprise gubernatorial veto

SACRAMENTO – Despite support from senior elections officials who are charged with conducting elections and working closely with candidates and voters, Gov. Schwarzenegger today announced his veto of a measure that would have made it easier for voters to hold candidates accountable for waging sleazy campaigns.

Schwarzenegger’s action on Assembly Bill 215 by Asm. Jenny Oropeza, D-Carson, came despite strong support from Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, whom Schwarzenegger appointed last March, and the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials.

“The governor’s veto is surprising because his own Secretary of State and election leaders statewide endorsed my bill,” Oropeza said. “Why would California’s top elected official want to limit voter access to key information about candidates for public office?”

AB 215 sought to raise public awareness of those candidates who comply with California Elections Code 20440, which outlines the “Code of Fair Campaign Practices.”

Specifically, the measure would have:

· Required the code language be published in the voter pamphlet.

· Directed the Secretary of State to list on its Web site those candidates who have pledged to wage fair and accurate campaigns.

· Encouraged local election officials to post a link the state’s Web site.

“The best elections are when voters are well informed about the issues and trust the candidates,” Oropeza said. “With this veto, the governor has limited voter access.”

AB 215 marks the first bill in Oropeza’s 2005 election-reform package to go to the governor.  She also introduced a measure to improve notification of closed polling places and another that would make it easier for new citizens to vote.

Oropeza in 2003 authored The Voter Bill of Rights, found at polls statewide.

For an analysis and Op-Ed on Oropeza’s election bills, visit her Web site.

Elected to the Assembly in 2000, Jenny Oropeza is among the highest-ranking Latinos in the Assembly and chairs the Assembly Transportation Committee.  More at www.assembly.ca.gov/oropeza