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.

Just in time for the weekend, today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry McNerney, Paid-For Pombo, 15% Doolittle, Dan Lungren, Republican corruption, Proposition 89, Proposition 90, minimum wage, infrastructure bonds, prisons, global warming.

Governor’s Race

• A lot of people are writing about Phil Angelides’ support of Prop 89:
• Frank Russo from California Progress Report: once, and twice
• Randy Bayne (with bonus summary of Prop 89)
• Jack Ryan of Berkeley Bubble
• D-Day (who is now on someone’s “On Notice Board” — welcome to the club)
• Down With Tyranny

• Julia Rosen reminds us once again: Schwarzenegger can try to pretend he’s not a Bush Republican, but his campaign staff tells us different.
• The tension between who Schwarzenegger really is and who he pretends to be is catching up with him. Schwarzenegger is flip-floppy on steroids.
• It’s election time, so Schwarzenegger pretends to care about working people and the minimum wage. But even his pretending is half-hearted. He couldn’t be bothered to even shoot off one of his strongly worded protest letters to Congress when Schwarzenegger’s fellow Republicans tried to lower the wages of working Californians. (For someone who actually gives a damn about working people, see Fabian Nunez.)
• You would think that a man with ties to Enron could have done something about the California energy situation… Sorry, no.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• Progressive 11th’s CA-11 News Roundup.
• PomboWatch raises a good point: paying off Paid-For Pombo may seem like a half-decent short-term strategy for everyone except Big Oil, but it’s a bad call in the long term.
• Wes Clark has endorsed Jerry McNerney + a great LTE (click all the way through — it’s worth it).
• A group of Paid-For Pombo’s constituents-in-theory (actual people who live in CA-11) would like to get a meeting with him when he’s in town for the August recess. I suspect they’ll have far less luck than Paid-For’s industry backers real constituents.

Charlie Brown / 15% Doolittle / CA-04

• The spokesman for 15% Doolittle has got one of the highest Republican-buzzword to sentence ratios I think I’ve ever seen. But calling Charlie Brown what he thinks is names is no substitute for actual policy positions (or actual thought, for that matter).
• dengre at Daily Kos is making predictions about 15% Doolittle’s immediate future — dengre thinks it starts with “indict” and ends in “ment”. dengre also has some things to say about Paid-For Pombo.

Other Republican Paragons

• Carpetbagger Dan Lungren (CA-03) is dodging Bill Thurston (and the Bee’s coverage is pathetic).
• Bill Cavala on Richard Mountjoy: It is possible to be personally pleasant and a rabid extremist — don’t confuse the two things.

Propositions

• Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata challenges the recent Field Poll resulds on the Infrastructure Bonds.
• Tom Adams of the California League of Conservation Voters on Prop 90, the bait-and-switch proposition.

The Rest

• Jack Ryan at Berkeley Bubble is not yet divorcing his car, but is seeing a bicycle.
• Hard: Putting up enough canopies and having enough water for your field labor. Not hard: letting them die of heat exhaustion.
• What is one of the hallmarks of a Republican administration? Enriching private contractors at the expense of the citizens, who don’t get what they pay for. This time, it’s Schwarzenegger’s Department of Corrections medical services contracts.
• Divesting California assets from companies who do business in Sudan.
• Dunner makes a good point: California has 1 in 9 Americans living here, a population bigger than most countries, and the fake federalist Republicans are constantly trying to prevent us from doing the right thing by our people.
• Assembly Member Fran Pavley on the case for state action on global warming.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Phil Angelides, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-04, CA-11, Jerry McNerney, Richard Pombo, John Doolittle, Republican corruption, Proposition 90, Proposition 89, Proposition 87, voting, prisons, health care, immigration.

Governor’s Race

• Schwarzenegger really is a Bush Republican — just like Bush, he’s used citizen money to require official web pages to harmonize with his campaign.
• Joe Scott on politics and power (of both sorts).
• Angelides stumping in the Central Valley late last week.
• Angelides’ challenge: move from great retail politicking to mass media.
• Phil is hanging tough in the money race.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

• McCloskey on today’s Republicans, especially Paid-For Pombo and 15% Doolittle.
• The Progressive Alamedan is hosting a big ol’ house party for Jerry McNerney in September.
• Paid-For Pombo: stripmining the planet.
• PomboWatch: What will Paid-For tell his grandchildren about his efforts to help global warming along?

15% Doolittle / CA-04

• I knew something was bothering me about the concept of a “Leadership PAC”. It’s a fancy name for “slush fund“.
• Bribery and betrayal of the citizens is a moral issue, something that 15% Doolittle forgets, or rather, ignores.
• 15% Doolittle abuses his franking privilege, pimps anti-immigrant talking point for his campaign using official House email.
• 15% Doolittle makes late night Paris Hilton booty call. (Get your minds out of the gutter.)

Other Republican Paragons

• A bit more on Jerry Loot Lewis, from Down With Tyranny.
• Brian Bilbray hearts Paris Hilton too.

Propositions

• Proposition 90: One of many run from New York by a wealthy developer. As if he has anyone else’s best interests at heart.
• Proposition 89: Power brokers line up to stop clean money. Russo says hooey.
• Proposition 89: A glance at Arizona shows the effect this system has on democracy. The number of minority candidates tripled. The number of women candidates has increased every year since 1998. Voter turn out is UP 20%.
• Proposition 87: it’s a very good thing. Oh, and this helps to explain exactly why.
• Infrastructure bond propositions not as popular as they could be. Frank Russo has more, especially noting Schwarzenegger’s opportunistic abandonment of the housing bond.

The Rest

• Whaddya know! Undocumented immigrants not responsible for overloading health care system.
• Randy Bayne (and California Progress Report) point us to single payer healthcare, explained.
• Today’s minimum wage is worth almost 12% less than it was 4 years ago. We index income tax brackets against inflation. Why not the minimum wage?
• Concrete proposals for fixing our broken prisons.
• One of the very few areas in which libertarians are even close to right is on civil liberties issues like drug usage and imprisonment (pity most of them hate taxes more than they love actual freedoms).
• DRE voting machines: irreparably broken. Seriously, completely, totally broken.
• Jane Harman: responding to her constituents, or “The Power of a Primary”.
• Surveillance of Californians, from CA Progress Report.
• Q2 California foreclosure rates more than doubled compared to the same period last year.
• Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) on energy policy.

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

Governor’s Race — Poll Stuff

• Bill Cavala’s take on the Field Poll.
• Julia Rosen’s take on the Field Poll.
• Randy Bayne on the Field Poll.
• PowerPAC on the Field Poll.
• Julia Rosen on the PPIC Pool.

Governor’s Race

• Riffing off of the PPIC Poll, Frank Russo has a great post on the popularity of the solutions proposed by AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, and the perils of Schwarzenegger’s proposed end-run around it.
• Angelides on Energy.
• Does anyone seriously think that Schwarzenegger will do anything that actually addresses the public’s need for affordable and universal health care? Me neither.
• D-Day is a bit off in his interpretation of this Angelides statement, but he’s right that Schwarzenegger is a tool of big oil.
• Even better from D-Day, a history of Schwarzenegger’s involvement with Ken Lay during the 2001 Enron fleecing of California.
• From ABC, looks like it might be tough for Schwarzenegger on immigration. Can’t get Latinos and please the nativist base. More here, from PowerPAC.
• Fudgsicles for the little people, Arctic AC for Schwarzenegger. Leading by example is so passé.
• Why Latinos are electorally important, and why Schwarzenegger fails them. For more, see Bill Cavala with some context on the California Republican history with Latinos.
• This is a good question. What are Schwarzenegger’s core values?
• It’s hard to say, because he keeps changing his positions, depending on whether it’s an election year or not.
• What we do know is that it’s an election year, so it’s time for Schwarzenegger to pretend to care. More pretending to care.
• P.S. This is what actual caring looks like.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

In a nutshell, it appears that Paid-For Pombo’s killing of a buffalo was worth about $5K, which he didn’t repay or document. Mmmm… buffalo meat, seasoned with bribery.

15% Doolittle / CA-04

• Time to rewrite the civics textbooks. Local governments hire lobbyists who give money to 15% Doolittle as campaign contributions (with the 15% kickback), junkets and fancy dinners, then local governments get earmarks. That’s how it works.
• 15% Doolittle: I would save the freezer. Real people with real illness don’t matter to me.
• Do Republicans like 15% Doolittle seriously believe that morality is only a below-the-waist as defined-by-them issue? Never mind, stupid question. Of course they do.

Propositions

• Common Cause and the League of Women Voters say Yes on Prop 89.
• mathature at Daily Kos says Yes on Prop 89.
• s9 at MojoWire says Yes on Prop 87.

The Rest

• Update on AB 2987, the statewide video & internet franchise bill. Some progress has been made.
• This is a really interesting piece on increasing investment and stability in the grid over the long term.
• Ferial Masry (Dem Candidate, AD-37) is opening up a campaign HQ in Thousand Oaks.
• Assembly Member Dave Jones on why Sacramento should not impose a regressive sales tax to subsidize the billionaire who will benefit most from a new Kings stadium.
• Sheila Kuehl on prisons and transportation in the most recent budget.
• Bob Brigham is not all that happy with Barbara Boxer.
• Shorter Dianne Feinstein: I don’t have a clue about why people are concerned about the integrity of their vote.
• One more convert to the popular presidential vote plan.
• Dan Gillmoor thinks the Hearst involvement in the Merc takeover smells fishy.
• Not California, but I have a soft spot for Alaskan politics.

Today’s California Blog Roundup is on the flip. Teasers: Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA-04, CA-11, CA-41, Jerry Lewis, John Doolittle, Republican corruption, clean money, voting, lots of other stuff.

Governor’s Race

• Look, Schwarzenegger’s occasional mild, inconsequential letters of mild protest are hardly “distancing himself” from George Bush. Maybe Schwarzenegger could put his money where his pen is.
• Schwarzenegger: Minutemen are terrific. So is George Bush.
• If Schwarzenegger really wanted to distance himself from George Bush, maybe he shouldn’t rely on the Bush family connections to fill the Schwarzenegger campaign coffers.
• Will some enterprising soul ask Schwarzenegger if he still thinks the Minutemen are doing a “terrific” job?
• Schwarzenegger is opposed to universal healthcare, might be OK with half of the current uninsured population getting some kind of insurance, but has opposed efforts consistent with even the anemic goal he’ll cop to. Schwarzenegger is a “compassionate conservative” in the George Bush model.
• You judge a man by his actions, not by his words. Schwarzenegger has consistently refused to support the moderates in his party, letting the Republican extremists dominate. Draw your own conclusions.
• BTW, here’s Frank Russo’s take on Schwarzenegger’s running mate, Tom McClintock. There could have been a moderate in that slot, but Schwarzenegger didn’t really have any interest in helping out with that.
• Once more, you judge a man by his actions, not his words. Schwarzenegger talks a good “moderate” game, but either does nothing or plays extremist hardball, depending on whether it’s an election year or not.
• We need clean campaigns. You know it, I know it, and the American people know it. Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t know it, though.

Jerry McNerney / Paid-For Pombo / CA-11

SNTP has a rumination on the McNerney / Filson fundraising dead heat. Filson was the Democratic institutional “moderate” candidate who was supposed to be able to really get funded, but McNerney picked up the grassroots support and ran even with Filson. Now if only McNerney could get a little institutional help, maybe we could narrow the gap with Paid-For Pombo. You’d think there’d be a lesson here for the institutional committees.

15% Doolittle / CA-04

• 15% Doolittle cuts through red tape for folks, if (purely by coincidence) they’re paying his wife a lot of money for services she didn’t actually provide.
• California is a community property state. That means that half of every dollar that someone pays 15% Doolittle’s wife actually belongs to 15% Doolittle. So in Q2 2006, 15% Doolittle personally took in more than $17,500 from campaign contributors.
• One MIL-yon Dollars! That’s what 15% Doolittle spent on his primary bid alone. If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance… Seriously, think about this. There are fewer than 650,000 people in CA-04, and the most expensive media market is Sacramento. And 15% Doolittle spent a cool million to defend himself against a Republican challenger.

Other Republican Paragons

Jerry “Loot” Lewis: earmarks for political supporters seem to turn into business opportunities…

The Rest

• Dear Republicans, we really like the immigrant-bashing. Please continue.
• Paper ballots. It’s just that simple, and it works.
• Oy. Every time you look at the Department of Corrections, it just gets worse.
• I wonder if the anti-tax crowd will rally round to protest spending money on a new arena for the Sacramento Kings. I have never seen a cost-benefit analysis of goverment sponsorship of professional sports that showed the investment was anything but a money pit for the government.
• Good for the California Young Dems — voters are where you find them.
• Sheila Kuehl on social services in the most recent budget.
• Let’s be perfectly clear. The insurance industry is behind the push to demonize plaintiff’s lawyers (folks who represent individuals). And yet, they’re perfectly happy to use their own lawyers to sue to block the will of the people from regulating them. What’s the word for that again? Greed? Politics? Hypocrisy? Yes.
• Poor Abel Maldonado — caught between his leader and his constituency. Leader wins, Abel loses!
• Housing bubble updates from Calculated Risk: Inland Empire, Los Angeles, SF Bay Area.
• No, there’s no bias on Fox.
• Cab Drollery points us to “Cows With Guns“.