There are a lot of interesting things going on that should be mentioned, but that I couldn’t quite generate whole posts out of – so here they are for your Friday reading pleasure.
Karen Bass will become the Speaker on May 15, meaning she will play a central role in the upcoming budget negotiations this summer. I’m guessing she won’t be as frequent a guest in Arnold’s smoking tent as was her predecessor.
Civil Rights groups have come out swinging against the redistricting reform plan – MALDEF, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, and the William C. Velazquez Institute held a news conference to explain their belief that redistricting reform will produce many fewer elected officials of color and weaken the voting rights of those communities. It’s especially ironic that these criticisms are made against the backdrop of Fabian Núñez getting ready to hand off power to Karen Bass – redistricting reform is low enough on the state’s list of priorities, and if it is going to reduce the representation of California’s communities of color, it needs to not be passed.
The Department of Managed Care is going to reexamine thousands of “rescissions” of health insurance made by insurers AFTER the patients got sick. When 90 of these rescissions done by Blue Cross were sampled by the agency, all 90 were found to be flawed. While this process holds out some hope of recovery of costs and insurance by those victimized by this practice, it also simply reinforces the point that health insurers have no place in the delivery of health care in our state and in our country.
I watched Blue State a few nights ago, after receiving a copy from the director at TBA. A cute little road-trip flick. Certainly not a hard-hitting documentary or an emotional thriller, but, if you have a couple of hours to spare, it’s worth a rental.
The Bee takes a look at some of the loopholes that Legislative Analyst (and “Budget Nun”) Liz Hill is eyeing to make up for the remaining $8B or so in budget deficit. A nice quote from Professor Alin Auerbach at Berkeley:
“If you’re thinking about cutting spending, you’re also thinking about cutting benefits,” said Alan Auerbach, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “It would be worth thinking about programs that are running through the tax system – whether they’re meeting social objectives.”
Dan Walters on again/off again love affair with the Governator is apparently off these days. Now, Walters’ heart is broken because it seems that Arnold is just a politician after all. The “dean” is secretly crying for the demise of post-partisanship.
Weekend’s coming up, and we’re only one week from the CDP Convention. Oh, and the Republicans still want to cut $4B in education funding. A few other stories around the state:
Arnold got mad and didn’t reappoint his brother-in-law Bobby Shriver and super-actor/director Clint Eastwood because they didn’t want to build a toll road through San Onofre state beach. So much for independence on state boards.
Arnold also vetoed SB 867 to allow organization of workers in the subsidized childcare industry. Apparently, Mr. Schwarzenegger isn’t a huge fan of some of the lowest paid workers bargaining on an equal playing field.
Squabbles between federal, California, and Nevada agencies charged to protect Lake Tahoe made it tough to actually protect the region.
Hey You, especially you in the Bay Area, are you busy March 28-30? Want to help out at the California Democratic Convention? Well, grrreat, because apparently they need 800 of them. There will be opportunities for volunteers to attend General Session and hear some of the speakers.
If you are interested in volunteering, please complete the volunteer form by March 12, 2008 for best availability.In order to volunteer at the State Convention, you must sign-up in advance. There will also be a mandatory meeting for all volunteers Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center.
If you have any questions, please call Christopher Guerrero, Volunteer Coordinator at (916) 442-5707 x 318 or email volunteer AT cadem dt org.
Obama needs to learn how to actually defend the term “liberal.” Hey Barack, being “liberal” is a good thing, not a slander. Yes, it is liberal to want to protect the health of all Americans. Yes, it is liberal to want to to do something smarter with our health care system. Hey, why don’t you think about single payer out there in DC? It’s the system that actually works.
Hey all you studentspeople out there, if you look at the ad to the right, you see that the Capital Fellows applications are due on Feb. 27. That’s next week! Although I’m intrigued by their use of the word “capital” as opposed to “capitol”, it’s still a great program. (By the way, it’s a reasonable use of the word capital, I just would have gone for capitol becuase of the place, but it’s your call Sac State). And, if there happen to be any readers who are currently in the program or have been in the program, do you have any thoughts?
Apparently the Draft Lessig movement in CA-12 is picking up steam. Apparently, he has an official campaign account now, via OpenLeft. I believe the last day to file for the ballot is Monday, so we should know soon.
Tom McClintock is considering making a run at CA-04, according to the AP.
So, it’s Valentine’s Day, and the CDP is doing a push to send SoS Debra Bowen a “kiss” for the occasion. Any other thoughts about who else deserves such an honor?
I have some thoughts on who doesn’t. Every now and again in my inbox I receive press releases from groups which are pretty anti-progressive. I trash them and move on usually. But today I got one attacking my relationship, on Valentine’s Day, yet! So, who is this grinch? Well, I give you the so-called Institute on Religion and Democracy, ie people who think they are holier than thou. I won’t include any of their press release or the link, but suffice it to say that they are opposed to churches acknowledging same-sex relationships at all. So, to spite them, how about everbyody click through on the ad to the right for Equality California’s Let California Ring campaign.
Any other thoughts, say on the Calderon flower campaign or the Planned Parenthood condom drop on the legislature?
