Tag Archives: Open Thread

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Tuesday Open Thread

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• Do you have a question for the two announced CDP Chair Candidates? Well, Alex Rooker and Eric Bauman will be accepting questions at the CDP’s Rural Caucus website here. There are a lot of issues to discuss in the context of next year’s Chair race, so this is a great start.  Good work, Rural Caucus!

UPDATE: The questions are not limited to the two announced candidates and will be asked of any CDP Chair candidate. My apologies for the error.

• Seriously, Asm. Parra? Are you for real with this ultimatum thing? Apparently, Parra won’t support any budget, unless there is a water bond. Yes, during a budget crisis is an excellent time to cram in the water bond. Why didn’t Speaker Bass think of shoving some other long-term life-or-death infrastructure issues to throw into the budget mess? Oh yes, because it is a bad idea. Fran Florez, mother of Sen. Dean Florez, is our nominee to replace her.  By the by, I can’t seem to find a webpage for Florez at all.

• AG Jerry Brown says that Prop 8 would not be retroactive. So, my marriage would last beyond the November election if Prop 8 passes.  Of course, the state courts are the ultimate arbiter on that, but hopefully, they won’t get to address the question.

• Desert summer storms are something, aren’t they?

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Monday Linky Thread

• Prop 2, the factory farm measure, was the subject of a favorable op-ed by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. Prop 2 would likely end the use of cages for hens in egg production. In very quick terms, it would require that the animal (e.g. chickens, pigs, and baby cows) could stand up and turn around in its cage.

• The lobbyists are gearing up to fight AB 583, Asm. Hancock’s (D-Berkeley) bill to make the 2014(?) Secretary of State race a publicly-funded clean campaign. AB 583 was originally intended to fund the 2010 governor’s race and some legislative races, but it was amended down.  Either way, lobbyists just aren’t thrilled about the increase of their fee from $25 to $700.

• A good story about Jackie Speier’s first few months in Congress.

• The SF Chronicle reads far, far too much into the VP selections of both candidates. Once again, I strongly disagree with former Lieberman for President strategist Garry South. The VP pick is a public executive decision and gives an indicator of who the candidate is, but a good pick can’t save a campaign. And a bad pick won’t kill it either. I refer you to Lloyd Bentsen v. Dan Quayle.

What’s on your mind?

California

Sunday Open Thread

14 Comments

Well, I’m back. The wedding was by all accounts an excellent party. Married life is great (and of course the first week is surely an indication of the many years to come…). Seattle was lovely as always, the Oregon Coast was spectacular, Humboldt County is still suffering under the US occupation, and Mendocino is doing well now that the air is clear and the fires contained.

One thing that stood out to me on my travels in Washington and Oregon is how well governed those states are. Roads, schools, parks, even health services – they all work well. Each could be improved in their own way, but the contrast with California was striking. After 30 years of conservative-dominated politics we have grown too used to a state government that has to make do with too few resources and often fails at its primary mission. WA and OR face many of the same problems we do, including a strong anti-tax mentality and conservatives who want to break government. But their experience shows that they don’t have to succeed, and that we can and must insist that our government services are properly funded and administered.

Plus it was nice to be in states where the governor isn’t carrying out a pogrom against public workers.

Some items for a lazy Sunday afternoon:

  • Nancy Pelosi is pushing Rep. Chet Edwards (TX-17) to be Obama’s running mate. I don’t know much about Edwards but someone who voted for the Iraq War, for drilling in ANWR, and for CAFTA isn’t quite the direction I want Obama to be going with this. It’s depressing that the conventional wisdom and even many bloggers are accepting that he needs to pick a moderate Blue Dog type as the veep.
  • Library patronage is soaring in CA and the US but libraries also face ongoing budgetary problems. Libraries are often an easy target for local politicians seeking cuts, despite the myriad of basic services they provide to residents. Still, it’s good to see libraries getting a shout-out from the Gannett papers.
  • The SacBee’s Marcos Bréton has some depressing personal stories of workers whose lives have been upended by Arnold’s despicable mass firings. 24-year old Josh Patterson, who was laid off from a job at the state printing office, explained:

    “I had just gotten my health care through the state and now that’s gone,” Patterson said Friday. “I’m out of my pocket now. I’ve cut out my cable, Internet, cell phone. But I can’t cut back on health care for my family.”

    Bréton concludes “There must be a special place in purgatory for politicians who inspire such questions among people who want to work.” Amen to that. Fuck you, Arnold.

  • Dan Walters says it’s time to end the 2/3 rule and shows that Republicans have little to fear – if Dems “spend the windfall” then they would still be held accountable at the ballot box. It’s good to see more of the state media accepting the need to get rid of the 2/3 rule – is is the #1 problem with our state’s budget process and even our state’s entire system of governance. Too bad that Common Cause and others aren’t focusing their efforts on this than on yet another flawed redistricting measure.

Feel free to add to this or to expand on any of these in a separate post  – Walters’ column in particular deserves more attention than I can give it today.

And pictures over the flip:

The wedding ceremony in Seattle.

The toast!

Goonies!

Who knew that Crescent City could be a perfect honeymoon stop?!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Prisons

Tuesday Open Thread

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  • Following up on Dave’s post below, take a look at the delegation for the Republican National Convention (PDF). Wow, real grassroots there guys. Check out CA-18, where the delegats are, drumroll please, Jeff Denham and his wife Sonia. Or CA-19, where Sen. Dave Cogdill and former SoS and gubernatorial candidate Bill Jones are the delegates.  Good work on getting the activists inspired, GOP!
  • To your right, you’ll see an ad against the “bag tax.” Just a reminder that an ad on Calitics does not mean we support the message. Speaking for myself, I’m pretty comfortable with an outright ban on plastic grocery bags. We should all be using reusable and other more sustainable options, but plastic bags, with their devestating impacts on wildlife and the ocean, are a particularly bad choice.
  • John Myers has a written and audio story about the plan to raid the lottery. Long story short: it’s an extraordinarily bad idea. It counts on huge growth in the lottery despite a worsening economy. Furthermore, the lottery is essentially a tax on the poor who dare to dream. It’s regressive and a poor way to be financing our state. As the late, great TX Gov. Ann Richards said at a debate against W, “It’s just a cheesy way of making money.”
  • Cap Alert, has a poetry contest for Arnold’s 61st b-day. I must say, I was into the sample one.
  • Not really politics, but I am sorry to see Scrabulous be pulled from Facebook. There goes one procrastination option.

    • Anything else?

    UPDATE by Dave: Yes I have a few more.

  • This is astonishing.  LA home prices are falling TWENTY-FOUR PERCENT year over year.  That’s the fourth-largest decline in the country (and San Diego is fifth), and a whole lot of lost equity.  The acceleration of price drops has been dramatic over the last year, too.
  • California is starting to integrate their prisons for men for the first time.  Given overcrowding they probably have no choice.  I actually think this is a good idea – the segregation probably did more to INCREASE tensions than defuse them.
  • PG&E has really stepped up, donating $250,000 to the No on 8 campaign.  As they have a separate ballot measure with respect to public power in San Francisco, the move to curry favor with the LGBT community makes sense.  But for businesses to contribute to stopping the measure is something very new.
  • Something to watch: the Central Valley version of the Terri Schiavo case.

    The family of Janet Rivera, 46, wants to keep her alive in a Fresno hospital. The county, acting as her legal guardian, wants the issue decided in court.

    Among the questions her situation has raised: Should a government agency be able to overrule family members and withhold life support when the patient’s wishes are unknown?

    The Schiavo family has taken an interest in this case. The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation helped find a lawyer to represent the Rivera family, said Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler.

    • Uncategorized

    Tuesday Open Thread

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    Seems about time to have one of these open thread thingys.  Some interesting stuff I saw:

  • Swing State Project upgraded CA-50 (Bilbray-R vs. Liebham-D) from Safe Republican to Likely Republican.  Liebham’s fundraising was fairly good, and the district is only R+4.6, certainly not out of the realm of possibilities.
  • Check out a nice SacBee interview with Sen. Darrel Steinberg about revenue.
  • The FBI is continuing its focus on public corruption, its 4th highest priority. Once again, Oakland seems to be in the crosshairs. sigh…

    • What else is going on?

    education

    Thursday Random Links & Open Thread

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    There are some other items of note going on beyond the Democratic Party (or at least somewhat beyond the Democratic Party). Some items of note:

  • SEIU to endorse Prop 11? The redistricting initiative was loudly opposed at the Democratic Party e-Board, but it’s going to a second ballot for SEIU. I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but this is the wrong reform. It unfairly puts Republicans at equal footing with Democrats and can’t actually accomplish much of substance.
  • Willie Brown testified on behalf of Julie Lee in her federal corruption trial. She was the center of the case against former SoS Kevin Shelley.
  • Another big city former mail was in court. This time it’s former LA Mayor James Hahn denying that he knew of commissioners taking bribes.
  • Eighth graders will be required to take Algebra I in order to comply with No Child Left Behind. State Superintendent Jack O’Connell was very, very opposed to this because he feared that it would increase dropout rates.
  • The delta smelt might end up on the endangered species list. This is a big, big deal as much of their habitat is affected by our water pumping projects in the Delta. How this is dealt with will affect our water supplies for years.
  • The high speed rail line between SF and LA will go through Pacheco Pass. HSR must happen if we are to succeed in the new economy. While the route matters, its importance is secondary to the fact that we must get Prop 1 passed.

    • Anything else?

    [UPDATE by Dave]: I have a couple:

    • Here’s a Republican being a Republican.  Classy as hell.

    Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante has quietly resigned from two state commissions he was appointed to by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, after his published remarks last month suggesting that a male candidate for Orange County sheriff could’ve gotten the job if he had breast implants […]

    After the Orange County Board of Supervisors appointed Sandra Hutchens over Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters as the county’s sheriff on June 10, Bustamante joked to a blogger: “I kept telling the chief [Walters]: ‘Maybe we should get you some implants. Or a water bra.’ “

    • More coverage on John Garamendi’s speech at the launch of Health Care For America Now.

    • TChris at Talk Left looks at the death penalty in CA.  This is pretty shocking:

    Since 1978, the federal courts have ordered new trials in 38 of 54 death penalty appeals in California, an unacceptable 70 percent error rate.

    Read the whole thing.

    • And this is a few days old, but just so you know, the yacht economy is rocking!!!  Thanks to that avoidance of sales tax, I’m sure!

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    Open Thread: 2nd Primary Election Night

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    Ok, I think some people may have some random things to say and no thread to say them in as we wait for the CA polls to close.

    I will start.  Good lord McCain put up a stinker today.  The advance job was terrible.  The old white man candidates, spoke roboticly to a lackluster all white crowd waving all white signs.

    And yes we finally have a nominee.  Let the healing and unifying begin.

    [UPDATE] FYI Charlie Brown will be liveblogging at FDL tonight starting around 8 PM.

    [UPDATE by Dave] OK, this is hilarious.

    He literally swept McCain off the screen.  Talk about your foreshadowing.

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    Memorial Day Weekend Open Thread

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    We here at the No on 98 Campaign have released the winner of the No on 98 Video Contest.  The winner is Sara Skelton of Hollywood with a nifty little ditty.

    We haven’t done an open thread for a while, so, what’s on your mind this weekend? Are you going to do some GOTV?

    [Update w/ a little Calitics digest by Lucas]

    LA Times blog makes note of the DNC blog credential dust-up which the editors of Calitics have taken some issue with.

    Capitol Alert at the SacBee runs down Sen. Maldonado’s attempt to muscle out Democratic opposition with an appearance by Robert.

    And perhaps most silly, at America’s Finest Blog Chris Reed tries defending poor minorities from crazies like Caliticians who support Prop 99. I don’t know why I didn’t turn to Reed in the first place for a definition of progressive…

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    Roger Water’s Lost Pig Found/Open Thread

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    Consider this an open thread…

    This weekend I went with my three younger sibs to the Coachella Music and Art festival in Indio.  It was three days of more live music than most people see in a lifetime.  In one stretch I got to see Architecture in Helsinki, Vampire Weekend, Tegan and Sarah and the National back-to-back-to-back.  Freaking phenomenal.

    Sadly I left Polo Field blissfully unaware that Roger Waters lost his giant inflatable pig, that came filled with Obama fliers.  Evidentially, concert officials had told Waters that he was not allowed to release the fliers.  Guess he didn’t listen.  That might not have been that big of a deal, if the fliers had actually landed over the concert grounds.  But alas the wind had other plans.

    “I think he missed” the field, Walker said. “They landed everywhere.” The wind appeared to catch the papers, shortly after an inflatable pig was released into the air during Waters’ set, she added.

    When she returned to her home near Avenue 47 and Madison, the entire neighborhood had been sprinkled with the papers, which resemble pro-Obama fortune cookie messages.

    Some people were not big fans, as the fliers covered the gated communities by the field.

    Indio resident Carol Davison, who lives two blocks from the Polo fields, said the display defiantly changes her thoughts on Obama, calling the incident a “derelict action.”

    “I am just appalled. All of our gardeners will now have to spend the whole day trying to clean this up. It’s going to be in our pool filters clogging them up,” Davison said.

    Yes, giant inflatable pig from Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters is pissing off people because their pool filters are now clogged, forcing their gardeners to remove them.  The horror.

    Perhaps my favorite moment was the drunk girl who decided that “I’ll show you my 501c3” was a fantastic rejoinder.  Then again she also seemed to think saying “f#(# the cops” was also a good idea.  Heh.

    For your listening enjoyment a few Coachella music videos on the flip…

    Vampire Weekend “Mansard Roof”

    Sia doing “Buttons” live in the same outfits she opened her Coachella set.

    Here are a few songs from the Cold War Kids’ set.