The California Blog Roundup is back, baybee. Teasers: Presidential primaries, Nancy Pelosi and the First 100 Hours, Merced, Los Angeles, Ojai, San Diego (Carol Lam), Davis, Mark Leno, Carole Migden, Iraq, John Doolittle, CA-11, Gary Miller, CA-42, Ken Calvert, CA-44, Global Warming, Health Care.

The Silly Season is upon us

• At The California Progress Report, Kenneth Burt of the CTO opines that the 2008 Presidential Race will be focused on the West, and that’s a good thing.
• I don’t always agree with Joe Scott, but I almost always enjoy reading him. Here he’s discussing the possible move of the CA Presidential Primary all the way up to February as (my paraphrase) another Schwarzenegger power grab.
• D-Day says moving up the primary will increase the importance of the money race above all else. Isn’t that just what we need, though?

Boy, Nancy

• Mark Kleiman (two K’s) responds to the First 100 Hours. He’s pretty happy with Pelosi’s performance.
• Marc Cooper (two C’s) is not as happy — he wants more.

Local Politics

• I don’t know as much of the backstory here as I should, but BadLands Journal has an interesting piece up about the failure to plan in Merced, revolving around UC Merced and House Member Dennis Cardoza.
• Fascinating. Jaime de la Vega, Transportation Deputy for LA Mayor and presumed gubernatorial candiate Antonio Villaraigosa, apparently drives a frickin’ Hummer. Look, nobody, and I mean nobody, who lives full time in LA needs an SUV. And a Hummer just basically shouts “I’m a tool!” at the top of its lungs.
• The Voice of San Diego has some thoughts on Fmr. United States Attorney Carol Lam, apparently pushed out by the Bush Administration mid-term.
• The Ojai Post opposing additional gravel truck traffic on the local artery. Local politics is all about this sort of thing: it ain’t sexy, but it’s important.
• Eric Kirk’s SoHum Parlance discusses the Eureka Reporter’s submission to the hecklers’ veto of a Muslim voice. The comments are, ah, instructive.
• The Davis Vanguard has a local politics roundup.
• Hooooh, boy, SF politics are going to be interesting over the next couple years.

Republican Paragons

• 15% Doolittle: “I am not a crook!. Bob Ney, now he’s a crook!”
• Howie Klein on CA-42 and CA-44 as wastelands, scoured clean of morality.
• SteveAudio on why we could call the homeless “St. Ronnie’s Army“.

Iraq is Here

• Crosses in Lafayette, sorrow across the country.
• Does anyone else remember the late-season M*A*S*H when Hawkeye had a nightmare about floating, armless, in a lake filled with amputated limbs? Maybe we should all try to think about that a bit more.

The Rest

• Donald Lathbury on the Berkeley Governor’s race recap that took place at Cal this weekend.
• Frank Russo’s initial impressions of the same event. He promises more soon.
• One of our friends, Wu Ming of Surf Putah, goes into a bit more detail on global warming and California.
• The Brad Blog watches Jeff Stone, Riverside County Supervisor, back away from a bet on the security of the paperless, untrackable, unverifiable Sequoia election machines Riverside County currently uses. I’m hoping Sec. Bowen makes this a moot point soon.
• Oh, yeah, we’re all meta ‘n’ stuff now. Frank Russo on Bob Brigham on Lisa Vorderbrueggen on bloggers on Ellen Tauscher.
• paradox at The Left Coaster is pessimistic about any real progress on universal coverage with Schwarzenegger at the helm.

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The Washington Post did an investigation into some of the real estate sales made by members of Congress.  The targets in this article are Ken Calvert (R, CA-44), Gary Miller(R, CA-42) and Denny Hastert.  Calvert first:

Last year, Calvert, the California Republican congressman, and a business partner bought a four-acre parcel near the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., for $550,000. He then secured $8 million for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles away, an additional $1.5 million to support commercial development around the airfield, and sold the property less than a year later for almost $1 million.(WaPo 6/22)

Wow, that’s a pretty sweet deal.  He makes almost a half of a million buck just for slipping in a few earmarks.  Miller’s story is pretty much the same:

Miller, the other California Republican, helped secure $1.28 million in last year’s highway bill for street improvements near a planned residential and commercial development in Diamond Bar, Calif., that he co-owns with a top campaign contributor.

Ho-hum, Ho-hum, what’s a few million amongst great friends, especially when it’s taxpayer money.  Good Work guys, you are the best taxpayer-fleecing Reps since, well, uh, Duke Cunningham.