Here is the second part of the interview Rob Haswell, Democratic candidate for Assembly District 4, has granted my local blog Turn Tahoe Blue. (You can read part I at Turn Tahoe Blue or my diary here at Calitics.)

In this part he talks about Charlie Brown, the Doolittle political machine and the importance of national issues and the disillusionment with Bush for this election.

What is your relationship with Charlie Brown, who’s running for Congress and who’s district over lapses with yours? Do you think a success by his campaign could be helpful to you since your opponent Ted Gaines has aligned himself closely to corrupt Congressman John Doolittle?

  I have a good relationship with Charlie. He’s stepped up to take on one heck of a challenge in John Doolittle and everyone in the Brown campaign is working extremely hard to defeat him. There is no question that my opponent, Ted Gaines, is a product of the Doolittle political machine. Ted was essentially handpicked for this seat by John Doolittle and we don’t hesitate in pointing that out to folks. If both campaigns do well it will signal that Doolittle’s reign is over. To turn your question around a little, I think our success will help Charlie’s campaign because the voters our campaign turns out for an assembly race have a high likelihood of voting for Charlie in an “up ballot” race. I can tell you one other thing: This October and November we will produce the best coordinated GOTV operation that this district has seen from Democrats in years.

Do you think the general disillusionment by voters with the Bush administration will help you win? Have national issues come up often when you talk to voters?

  National issues are always on everyone’s mind, but I have to say, they don’t come up in the context of my race all that often. My race is relevant in national terms because, in some ways, it’s a microcosm of what’s happening at the Federal and State level. In the 4th Assembly District, big-city mega developers wield all the political power. Developers have invested, literally millions of dollars in state and local campaigns here. My opponent alone has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers. This is an example of the undue influence the big corporate and special interests wield in today’s politics. It’s a big reason why we can’t have meaningful healthcare reform, while big pharmaceuticals and big insurance companies and big HMOs keep turning record profits while the rest of us pay more and get less, or don’t have health insurance at all. As far as disillusionment with the Bush administration goes, I think if Republicans are less inclined to go to the polls, while democrats and independents are more motivated to vote for change, that this could have a profound effect across the country and certainly in this district.

Towards the end of this part of the interview Rob mentioned health insurance. Just yesterday the Haswell campaign came out with a news release on this issue titled “Schwarzenegger Punts on Healthcare Reform – Governor Side with Failing Status Quo” (the following is from the news release, not part of the interview):

Democratic Candidate for State Assembly Rob Haswell took time off from his Whistle Stop tour to denounce Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s stand against universal healthcare. The State Legislature passed SB 840, which would establish a single-payer healthcare system that would offer health security for all Californians. Today, Schwarzenegger vowed to veto the bill.

“Time and again this governor has sided with large insurance companies and large corporate special interests, while turning away from California’s working poor, uninsured children and small business owners. Once again, the Governor is showing his true colors,” Haswell said.

Haswell derided Schwarzenegger’s claim that healthcare is a “top priority” and that he’d unveil his plan after November’s election. “Arnold’s political hero is Richard Nixon and it looks like he’s taking a page out of the Nixon playbook,” stated Haswell. “We’re still waiting for Nixon’s secret plan to end the Vietnam War, and I suspect we’ll be waiting just as long for Schwarzenegger’s secret healthcare plan. Meanwhile, the rest of us continue to pay more and get less while insurance companies make record profits.”

Recent estimates put the number of Californians living without insurance at between 6-7 million. SB 840 (Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) would establish a single-payer system in which the state would take over the role that private insurance companies now play. Private medical groups and hospitals would continue to provide care as usual but would be paid through the state system.

You can do your part in helping Rob get elected to the Assembly by clicking on the following links:

Rob Haswell’s Campaign Website

Haswell Campaign Journal

Contribute to Rob Haswell!

Watch out for Part III tomorrow!

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-11, CA-04, John Doolittle, Richard Pombo, Proposition 89, redistricting, health care, minimum wage, reform.

Governor’s Race

• Dan Ancona on Phil.
• Two new TV ads from Angelides’ team: one showing Schwarzenegger’s ties to Bush (see also this campaign press release, courtesy Randy Bayne), and one on Angelides’ support of the middle class.
• Julia has a quote from a Steve Maviglio piece concerning the Schwarzenegger team’s Bush/Cheneying of the press and some comments thereon.
• Bill to give one-time bump to minimum wage passes in election year, after Schwarzenegger threatens veto of indexed minimum wage. Angelides would support indexing, just like we do with the tax code. Great Analysis from Frank Russo.
• Even Daniel Weintraub has grudging respect for the Angelides budget plan. Julia has the commentary.
• Not entirely relevant, but amusing: Schwarzenegger in “Carnival in Rio”
• Schwarzenegger: Always willing to pander to the hard-line Republicans, but without the strength of his convictions in an election year.
• Schwarzenegger on Health Care: No plan, not now. Too hard. Maybe next year. Watch me pose.
• It’s election time, so Schwarzenegger pretends to care, unless you’re an extremist Republican, and then he really does care as long as nobody’s watching too closely.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• Veterans for McNerney
• Down With Tyranny asks why the DCCC is not helping either Jerry McNerney or Charlie Brown.
• It’s election time, so Paid-For Pombo pretends to care.
• Paid-For Pombo: Rubber-Stamp Bush Republican.
• Defenders of WildLife has a couple ads in the district. They’re really pretty good.
• I recently said to a friend of mine that the last 6 years could be described by the phrase: “I could not make this shit up.” Paid-For Pombo’s response to the massive oil pipeline leak on Alaska’s North Slope was to advocate for more drilling and fewer regulations. I could not make this shit up.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• If 15% Doolittle thinks stem cell research is immoral, will he pledge never to use any of the results? Well, even if he did, since when can you trust him?
• 15% Doolittle: After a sudden change hits a forest, the FIRST thing you want to do is rush in the clearcutters!
• Dump Doolittle raises a good point: when you’re focused on raking in the bribes and doling out the pork, you don’t do a very good job at anything else. Tough talk and wrapping yourself in the bloody flag does not make the country safer.
• Dump Doolittle has a great series of LTEs: One, two, three, four and five, six, seven, eight.
• 15% Doolittle: Corrupt or ineffective? Don’t worry, it’s an inclusive or.
• 15% Doolittle flips the bird to our planet.

Health Care

SB 840, a plan for universal health care, is coming up for a vote. This PowerPAC contribution explains why it’s important and has a link for you to contact your rep.

Propositions

The Prop 89 folks are having a blast showing why clean money is necessary.

Reformalicious

• Debra Bowen continues to do good work on voting integrity. Let’s get this woman elected to Secretary of State. And throw her some cash.
• D-Day on the bill trying to make corporations report all of their income to California, instead of hiding some. Will Schwarzenegger sign? More here.
• Bill Cavala on redistricting.
• D-Day has an interesting post up about possible voting and electoral reforms.
• Frank Russo has a great summary of the bill currently making its way through the legislature to kickstart a national popular vote for president.
• This came up in the context of a coordinated fear campaign by the Schwarzenegger team, but why exactly is Prop 13 a good idea again?

The Rest

• Badlands Journal has a great long piece up on water politics and policy in California. Whiskey’s for drinkin’, waters for fightin’ over.
• Randy Bayne (nice new theme on his blog) on the minimum wage bill.
• D-Day on Monet Politics: bills that look good from election-distance, but are really not all that impressive up close.
• Mmmmm, Burritos.
• A bill to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the verboten grounds for discrimination in California’s schools is slowly wending its way past the Republican bigots in the legislature.
• Endorsements for SF residents: Rescue Muni, and the SFDP.
• Sheila Kuehl on resources and the environment in the 2006 Budget.
• s9 at the MojoWire on the coming housing crunch.
• SoHum Parlance has some genuinely interesting thoughts on the Humboldt County marijuana industry.

I just love talking about Rob Haswell cause here is one candidate who has never run before and who’s running one of the most energized and smartest campaigns in the Lake Tahoe area.

In case you haven’t heard about Rob Haswell yet, and considering we’re mostly talking about congressional and gubernatorial campaigns you probably haven’t, he’s running in California’s open (!) 4th Assembly district which ranges from the suburbs of Sacramento up to Lake Tahoe. The district mostly overlapses with the 4th Congressional district represented by Abramoff buddy John Doolittle. Running against Doolittle is fighting Dem Charlie Brown.

A couple of days ago I also talked about Rob in my post The Modern Campaign.

Rob Haswell’s Republican opponent Ted Gaines is proud of his connection with Abramoff buddy John Doolittle as becomes apparent from his endorsement list and his photo page.

Recently, Carlos Alcala of the Sacramento Bee has also taken notice:

Placer-grown rivalry: Assembly candidate Rob Haswell scheduled some recent events with the theme of preserving open space and boosting local agriculture. Promoting his Loomis “Keep it Rural” rally, Haswell backers noted his family has been in Placer for five generations. It started with great-great-grandfather Frederick Birdsall, who came to Auburn in the 1870s and started an olive oil company that was family-run until the 1970s. (Street Whys mentioned this stuff in June, because some Auburn streets are named for Birdsalls.) We like Haswell’s rural and ag focus, but we have to point out that his opponent in the race has deep Placer ag roots, too. County Supervisor Ted Gaines’ great-great-grandfather was James William Kaseberg, who showed up in these parts in the 1850s or 1860s. He amassed up to 50,000 acres stretching from Roseville to the Sacramento River, and raised wheat, among other products. Roseville has a school, drive and park named Kaseberg. … One could see the Assembly race as a Wild West duel of farm histories, but we prefer a more peaceful scenario: Imagine that at some point in Placer’s past, someone sat down to eat and dipped bread made from Kaseberg wheat into Birdsall’s Aeolia Olive Oil.

That olive oil story is great and here is what Rob has to say about the “rural” background of Ted Haines:

My opponent, developer-backed Ted Gaines, also comes from deep agricultural roots in the county. Although we are both 5th Generation, we have come to very different conclusions about what the future of our region should look like. This race will be about those competing visions.

It’s fantastic to see a candidate take real interest in local issues and think about what’s best for the future. Rob Haswell’s support of PlacerGROWN is a great example. Encouraging people to buy local produce has several advantages: it’s good for the environment, it safes energy resources, it supports and creates employment in the area and of course the produce is always fresh.

Help Turn Tahoe Blue by contributing to Assembly candidate Rob Haswell!

This is an edited version of a post on my local blog Turn Tahoe Blue.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-11, CA-04, John Doolittle, Richard Pombo, Republican corruption, Proposition 87, Proposition 89, redistricting, term limits, health care.

Governor’s Race

• Some takes on Phil’s tax fairness speech and economic plan:

• Frank Russo has a transcript of the speech.
• D-Day’s take, at Governor Phil.
• Details of the tax fairness plan.

• From Connecticut to California.
• trossmei from ABC on possible paths to victory for Phil.
• Why is Schwarzenegger afraid to debate Phil? Surely, if the Republican has the better position, he would welcome the ability to let the voters compare it to Phil’s ideas.
• Randy Bayne: step up, Phil! Time’s a wasting.
• Ah, surface over substance. Arnold is a Bush Republican whenever it’s not an election year.
• Just like George Bush, Schwarzenegger has no plan to pay down the debt.
• Schwarzenegger: “I’d like to do something symbolic about global warming without actually upsetting Big Oil. How can I do that?”
• Nurses versus Arnold.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• Looks like it’s tough to work up enthusiasm to volunteer for Paid-For Pombo.
• Paid-For Pombo: selling out Americans every day in every way. Today it’s the Trans-Texas Corridor, something out of a William Gibson dystopia, guaranteed to make working Americans less safe and more poor.
• Paid-For Pombo shows his contempt for working Californians: constituents who want to meet with him are a “political stunt”. Hear that CA-11? You work for Pombo. He doesn’t work for you.
• Paid-For Pombo is bad for fish, bad for fishermen, bad for other living things.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• 15% Doolittle: Pro-sweatshop. Seriously, pro-sweatshop. Don’t people working in sweatshops have families? Isn’t 15% Doolittle all about family values? Wonder what his love of sweatshops does to those families? Here’s some media.
• 15% Doolittle needs to learn that factual news of his dishonesty is not “negative publicity“, or at least not in the way that he means it.
• Here’s a piece of the 15% Doolittle corrupt lobbying machine. And here’s another small piece of 15% Doolittle’s lobbying machine.
• Abuse of the franking privilege? Could be, but it’s certainly campaigning on the public’s dime.
• 15% Doolittle: racist and nativist. Tasty.

Other Republican Paragons

• Republican Gary Miller (CA-42) looks an awful lot like a tax cheat from here. Of course, if you don’t believe in paying your way, I can see where you wouldn’t hesitate to cheat.
• The Left Coaster on the Republican corruption and thuggery in San Diego Politics.
• I’m not going to bother to link to a particular post at Long Beach Politics. Just read everything with the words “Dana Rohrabacher” in it, and you won’t be disappointed.

Health Care

• SB 840, the universal health care bill, moves closer to passage and a Schwarzenegger veto, even while the existing health insurance system collapses.
• trossmei at Alliance for a Better California ponders SB 840 and the possibility of a Massachusetts-style hybrid.

Propositions

• The Santa Clara County Dem blog has the CDP’s official positions on all of this November’s propositions.
• Hannah-Beth Jackson on clean money. Also, CA Progress Report has the scoop on 89Now.
• Quick Prop 87 update.
• Great DKos diary on Prop 87.

Goo-Goo Stuff

• OK, here’s the deal. Redistricting lives for now, but won’t be combined with term limit reform.
• The Mad Professah on the 2001 redistricting deal and reforming it. Have a read, but remind yourself that anything involving spending requires a 2/3 majority, so a gerrymander into a simple majority is nice, but not ideal.
• Cathy Feng from Common Cause on redistricting. If people want to redistrict the state in some nonpartisan way, that’s fine (subject to endless caveats about the way it’s done), but for California to redistrict Congressional districts that way when Texas doesn’t is just stupid unilateral disarmament.
• Oh, and term limits? Basically useless for anything except putting control of government in the hands of staff and lobbyists.

The Rest

• Rob Haswell’s going on a whistlestop tour of his district.
• David Dreier Bad. Nuff said.
• Telcom deregulation at the CPUC.
• The follow-up on the Courage Campaign’s CA-50 post-election poll.
• The straight dope: PPIC’s prison report.
• Look, it’s a Christian cross. On public land. That’s pretty much a no-go, no matter how much the Republicans want to be the Party of God, it’s still a no-go.
• Bay Area home sales at ten-year low, prices flat to declining. On a related note, this.
• Lloyd Levine on preserving our wilderness.
• OK, so some people in the UK are caught in what was plainly the early (and incompetent stages) of planning a plane bombing. So Schwarzenegger sends National Guard troops to the airports purely for the sake of appearance. What are we, foolish children to be taken in by this kind of ruse?
• I continue to wonder why Log Cabin Republicans support people who plainly hate them.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-11, CA-04, Bill Durston, Charlie Brown, John Doolittle, Richard Pombo, Dan Lundgren, Republican corruption, Proposition 90, Proposition 89, Proposition 87, health care, global warming.

Bloggers on GovernorPhil.com

As I’m sure you know, a group of independent California bloggers (including our own sfbriancl) launched Governor Phil yesterday, to track the race and tell folks how they felt about Governor Phil (good, they feel good). Here are some bloggy reactions, in no particular order:

• Berkeley Bubble
• Left in SF (with some nice words for Calitics as well — thanks!)
• D-Day
• SoHum Parlance
• Alliance for a Better California
• DNC

Governor’s Race

• Manoj Mate reminds us of Schwarzenegger’s recent history — you know, Schwarzenegger’s attempted power grab in last year’s special election, the history that the Republicans are trying to stuff down the memory hole.
• In a post from earlier this week at Governor Phil, Dan Ancona takes on all the BS that the Republicans are spewing about taxes. Note in particular Dan’s explanation that Schwarzenegger has increased the structural deficit by relying on borrowing. Just one more way that Schwarzenegger is a true Bush Republican — looked at the national debt lately?
• For serious moves toward sustainable energy policy, you need Governor Phil.
• Frank Russo was at a press event where Phil explained his commitment to actual action to curb global warming.
• Look, Governor Phil in action.
• Some advice for Phil: Step up and start swinging — your opponent is a big ol’ pinata full of lies and failures.
• Schwarzenegger: endorses every extremist Republican running for statewide offices (except Dick Mountjoy), including rabid extremist Tom McClintock. Puts Schwarzenegger in good company, that does, right next to his fellow action star Mel Gibson.
• Schwarzenegger pretends to care about global warming, but fights any effort to actually do anything about it.
• Fleet of Hummers != concerned about the environment.
• Once again, it’s election time, so Schwarzenegger pretends to care.
• Women, remember, the Governor is only pretends to care.
• Schwarzenegger gets one more big ol’ Bush Republican corporate shill for his “leadership team”. Seriously, Schwarzenegger will say anything — you have to watch what he actually does.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• Paid-For Pombo: Use it up, wear it out, global warming can’t come soon enough.
• Seriously, Paid-For Pombo: Use it up, wear it out, global warming can’t come soon enough.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• Charlie Brown wants to know why 15% Doolittle drove your tax dollars and mine to a government that turned a blind eye to sex slavery and sweatshops. I’d like to know that too. (BTW, here’s a hint for 15% Doolittle’s campaign staff: it’s not a smear if it’s factually true, unlike most of your talking points.)
• Charlie Brown and Rob Haswell aren’t just running against 15% Doolittle, they’re running against his corrupt machine.
• Snakes of a, erm, feather, flock slither together.
• 15% Doolittle likes canyons better when they’re flooded, but pretends to care about the environment when some money may be on the table for him.
• Oh, and we’re reminded that 15% Doolittle supports the failed invasion and occupation of Iraq. No questioning his unfailing servility to George Bush.
• 15% Doolittle (and Dan Lundgren) want you and your relatives to suffer for lack of medical research.

Health Care

• Universal coverage under SB 840 is coming: let’s see if Schwarzenegger is serious about actually helping Californians with their health care. Nope, but he does have a secret plan he’ll roll out after he’s re-elected.
• And here’s something you can do to help with SB 840.

Propositions

• Think Progress rips into Big Oil’s lies about Prop 87.
• Remember Brian’s post about Howard Rich, the dark lord behind Prop 90? Well, this ultra-wealthy right-wing extremist from New York has his dirty fingers in a lot of pies out West. I thought one of the core values of Western Republicans was that they didn’t like a lot of interference from back east…
• D-Day on the impact of both Governor Phil’s endorsement of Prop 89 and the CDP’s neutral stance.

The Rest

• Randy Bayne hosts a piece on Bill Durston, the Democrat running against Dan Lundgren in CA-03.
• Dave Johnson from Seeing the Forest gets some broadcast media time.
• Leland Yee: Democrats continue to acknowledge reality and support those who come to the country hoping for a better life. Republicans continue to pander to their nativist base.
• Something happening on redistricting. Dunno what, though.
• Dan Gillmoor is not impressed with Diane Feinstein.
• Here’s the kind of thing that works not just in local politics, but generally.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-11, CA-04, John Doolittle, Republican corruption, Proposition 89, Proposition 85, Jerry Brown, health care.

Governor’s Race

• Frank Russo on Phil’s “Restoring the Public Trust“. The more I learn about Phil, the happier I am.
• Julia Rosen at ABC points us to a recent election piece by Dan Walters, who is always a reliable source for conventional wisdom.
• Schwarzenegger’s team of Bush Republicans tries to attack Phil’s reform stance, but it, ah, kinda backfires.
• Ah, perks given to the Schwarzenegger administration team by corporations. And I bet that the seats next to the Schwarzenegger people were corporate lobbyists. That’s, wossname? Bribery, innit? Well, that’s a strong word, but seriously, goodies given to people in government always come with strings.
• Schwarzenegger pal managing Schwarzenegger personal finances also appointed by Schwarzenegger to help manage UC’s finances. No conflict there, no cronyism, no sirreebob.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• Voter Registration Drive, August 12.
• Interesting piece from PomboWatch on the slice of Santa Clara County in CA-11.
• Similarly, this piece on voter registration in San Joaquin County.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• Dump Doolittle has a couple great LTEs from disappointed 15% Doolittle constituents.
• Is 15% Doolittle a “Devoted Friend of Sex Slavery“?
• A friend of sex slavery, sure, but “devoted”? I suspect it all depends on his campaign contributors.
• I guess you really can judge a man by the friends he chooses.

Propositions

• Frank Russo: Exhibit 1 in the Case for Prop 89.
• California Labor Federation opposes Prop 85’s anti-choice agenda.
• Here comes the flood of initiative advertising: big business vs. everyone else.

The Rest

• Daraka at Hoverbike has a nice piece up on the need for (and right kind of) party unity.
• Here’s what Fabian Nunez says he’s thinking.
• Looks like Jerry Brown is well on his way to crushing Chuck Poochigian.
• Summer health care issues roundup.
• RIP, Esther Snyder. Thanks for everything.
• OC Mayor shows his stripes — the species seems to be “nativist skunk”.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry McNerney, Charlie Brown, John Doolittle, Brent Wilkes, Republican corruption, Proposition 89, minimum wage, prisons, environment, redistricting reform.

Governor’s Race

• Phil comes out in favor of the redistricting reform embodied in SCA 3 [Warning, PDF]. Combine that with his support for Prop 89, and we’re looking at a real reform candidate.
• Phil steps up to support working Californians — backs a hike in the minimum wage and periodic increases to keep up with inflation. Schwarzenegger, on the other hand… tried to slide the question through the Industrial Welfare Commission he controls, but even that dodge didn’t really work.
• Berkeley Bubble likes Phil’s energy plan.
• Schwarzenegger’s campaign manager, Steve Schmidt, tries to pull the same thing he did as a part of Bush/Cheney ’04, and dump facts down the memory hole. Steve Maviglio steps up to refute Schmidt’s lies.
• Maybe not everyone likes Schwarzenegger as much as he thinks they do.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

Randy Bayne attended the opening of Jerry McNerney’s Stockton office and reports back.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• firedoglake has a great post up by Howie Klein making the case for Charlie Brown (honestly, it’s not that hard, but Howie really sells it), and CB answers questions in the comments.
• 15% Doolittle apparently senses an opportunity to funnel government cash to his cronies and pick up his 15% of the campaign contribution kickbacks — concrete pays, canyons don’t.
• Here’s another view of this 15% Doolittle photo-op, with some background on the Auburn Dam. Also, video.
• If anyone is curious about what kind of world 15% Doolittle wants, it’s a world where poor women are exploited and abused, and the rich pay off politicians like Doolittle to keep it that way.
• The Left Coaster points us to a SacBee Page One article on 15% Doolittle’s corruption.

Other Republican Paragons (Brent Wilkes Edition)

• California Republican taught Brent Wilkes how to bribe. Awwww… isn’t that sweet?
• Ah, the top tier of Wilkes “transactional lobbying” recipients (purty euphemism for “bribery”, ain’t it — lots of California Republicans. Makes one proud.
• Down With Tyranny: You simply can’t walk away from the [article] without wondering why Randy “Duke” Cunningham is the only Republican in prison for the widespread corruption that virtually defines the GOP political culture of the last half dozen years in Washington, from lowlife slimeball congressmen to a lowlife slimeball president and vice president (yes, Wilkes gave BushCheney hundreds of thousands of dollars in quasi-legal bribes too).
• Apparently, corruption is what you get when you put Republicans in positions of power. Of course, since they don’t believe in government, they probably don’t think they did anything wrong.

Propositions

• The CDP Executive Board votes to remain neutral on Prop 89, defying its rank and file.
• Why this is a bad decision.

Prisons

• Politics in the Zeros: Take control of the prisons away from the Schwarzeneggers and prison guards, and force reform.
• Don Perata: what we’re doing with the prisons isn’t working. Time to try some actual rehabilitation.
• Schwarzenegger’s last-minute election year stunt, calling a special session to deal with the prison crisis he’s known about for years, is pretty much guaranteed to fail. No matter what the Bush Republicans say, you don’t just whip up a solution to problems of this size, just in time for an election.

The Rest

• Alicia of last left turn before Hooterville explains how she became politicized, and what she wants to do with that energy.
• We at Calitics are not huge fans of Diane Feinstein, but we recommend you give her a call and thank her for this:
  

  Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) called the [Republican] proposal [to legalize Bush’s domestic spying] “worse than no bill at all,” arguing that it would weaken current surveillance law and would “allow the president to exercise unchecked authority.”

  Her office #’s are here.

• Classic Republican move: pull money out of public schools, complain about their failings, respond by pulling more money out with vouchers for religious schools.
• Debra Bowen presses onward, trying to make sure Californians’ votes matter. We are huge fans.
• Howard Smith of the Ojai Post gets involved locally, and his side makes some progress.
• The feedback spiral of rising foreclosures and falling housing prices may have started in CA.
• Politics in the Zeros has links to the LAT’s five part series on our oceans. It’s not cheerful reading, so be warned.