It's all just shades of Gray

Dan Walters asks if anyone else notices that Arnold is looking an awful lot like the man he replaced lately?

Just a bit:

A few days after winning re-election to the governorship in 2002, Gray Davis declared that the state faced a $35 billion budget deficit and proposed spending cuts and new taxes to close the gap.

Although Davis insisted that his plan contained "no gimmicks, no tricks, no evasions," it soon became apparent that it was one gigantic gimmick, that he had hyped the supposed deficit by many billions of dollars to make his supposed spending cuts look larger and his supposed $8.3 billion in new taxes look smaller. . . .

Five years later, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who succeeded Davis on a promise to end "crazy deficit spending," is dramatically increasing the budget deficit number again, jumping some $8 billion over the figure that the administration had been citing.

And wasn't there something quietly done to raise VLF fees again?

Any time you need your spokesman to insist your budget figure is "not hyperbole" - isn't it time to reevaluate your talking points?

Everything old is new again, it just the publicity that changes.

Next!

The line of succession to governor may get longer if a basically overlooked bill passes. Apparently, the line of succession currently contains some average joes. That's crazy ridiculous, though. Let's add more electeds to the list. After all, citizens and elected officials are different and of no relation at all.

There's nothing obscure about it

Pay and performance should not be tied when it comes to elected officials' salaries. For reals, y'all, let's not debate that.

If you tell elected officials they aren't worth their money anymore, they'll start voting with their own financial interests in mind. That's not good.

A push to cut the salaries of California's statewide elected officials shines a light on an obscure fact in the state constitution: Pay was not meant to be tied to performance.

Nor were the salaries of legislators or other top elected officials designed to be swayed by state budget crises, such as this year's projected $10 billion deficit.

The 1990 constitutional amendment that created California's independent, governor-appointed salary commission did not address the possibility of reducing pay.

We've had bigger deficits. Twice as big, as I recall.

But Roberti said he intended to limit the commission to narrow criteria, largely job duties and comparable salaries, rather than allow politics to creep into salary setting.

Guess what the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association thinks, though.

Anyway, at least one commissioner says, rightly, that the commission's job isn't to evaluate electeds' salaries. That's the voters' job.

Right! So stop cutting in on my turf!

Raises are good

I'm not going to run into a burning building. They deserve to be well paid.

Don't mess with the bull

I'm not sure who is more the bull in this story, but, rightfully, Jeff Denham is taking whatever shots he can at the man who's out for his head.

State Sen. Jeff Denham's campaign filed criminal complaints Thursday with state and local prosecutors, accusing Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of illegally pressuring Senate aides into working to recall Denham.

Perata, D-Oakland, is trying to unseat Denham, R-Atwater, who angered Perata during last year's 53-day state budget stalemate when he joined his GOP colleagues in voting against the spending plan.

Thursday's complaints, filed with the California Attorney General's Office and Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, stem from a letter and an e-mail sent to Senate aides last week by Perata and a firm owned by his political consultant.

In the letter, sent by Perata to a handful of Democratic senators whose chiefs of staff did not attend a planning meeting for the June 3 legislative races, Perata made clear he expected the aides to work on political campaigns.

Well, honestly, Perata, we all know that staffers take vacation time and campaign, but don't write it down.

These squabbles really don't make anyone look good, do they?

You ARE a politician, duh

Talk to Jay Leno about his future out of the horseshoe, Arnold told Jay Leno one of the great lies politicians tell themselves (via the Roundup):

"'I see myself as a public servant, not as a politician,' the one-time bodybuilder explained.

Oh please, you're a politician. You can serve the public in that role. In fact, you serve the public more effectively if you can play the game.

And if you live in the state capital in a hotel room paid for you by other people who are only paying for it because you are the Governor, guess what, you ARE a politician.

Seriously.

Who said this?

The commission that determines public officials' salaries has asked for a legal position on whether they can cut salaries, having decided that a not-raise isn't enough. Says one commissioner:

Sands, a retired banker and former mayor of Auburn, said a vote to reduce top government officials' salaries would send a message about their performance.

"We don't have a budget and they're not working any overtime to get it done," she said. "People have said that to me. They're not doing their job.

I hate "people" who say "people" but don't identify those people. People, please.

Don't cut their salaries, don't cut anyone's salaries.

So what does a recession look like?

Bush doesn't think that the U.S. economy is in a recession, we're just having a bad week.

For reals? I mean, I know it's a committee decision and they probably won't say we're in a recession until after we're recovering - at least, that's what the post says - but man, could this guy fess up about ANYTHING? I'm sure it's a bit much to expect that he would, say, admit to having cooked the books on Iraq. But we have actual data for our sorry economic state.

About that Debate Thing...

The Nation wants you to know that they're appalled, just appalled...

Yes, that really is an 'open letter' to ABC News

We, the undersigned, deplore the conduct of ABC's George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson at the Democratic Presidential debate on April 16. The debate was a revolting descent into tabloid journalism and a gross disservice to Americans concerned about the great issues facing the nation and the world

Um, ok.

PICNIC DAY!

Don't forget, up in Davis, this weekend is PICNIC DAY!

Obama 1: HRC 0

So far in the debates out of PA. . . .

The moderators are totally lame - asking way too many questions about the stupid Wright comments. A moderator asks if the Wright comments will be a liability during the general. Obama says no, Americans are better than that, better than being easily distracted.

But Hillary responds by saying that Americans have a right to ask these questions and be concerned. And she said in a really bitchy way. YouTube-it.

Ugh - not a fan right now.

And her explanation of her misstatements about Bosnia and sniper fire started with "I'm not dumb" when they should've started with "I have moments when I'm dumb."

Yet somehow George Stephanopoulos manages to ask a question to follow up that even dumber than what either candidate says. Magic! Obama smacks down another question aimed to get him to engage in some petty squabbling (that Hillary has no problem with, it seems) by saying, let's not get hung up on gaffes. Get over it!

Amen.

I don't believe for a second his campaign will totally operate that way, but as much as I can give either credit right now, I'm giving it to him.

Is a designer license like a designer drug?

No? Okay.

Seems that interior designers want themselves professionalized. And that gets done if you are required to have a state license.

Seriously? A license to design. Rhetorically, sure, I've seen enough pooly designed spaces to make me think a license would be good, but, really? Hey, guys, if you've been in a regulated profession you know that regulations really don't do much to control quality (See eg: Lawyers). They control quantity, which might keep your prices up. Ohhhh, I get it. Noble.

Like Dan Walters says:

There is an underlying philosophical point in this duel, as in all of the political struggles over scope of practice: Is there any real public interest at stake here, or, as is so often the case, is it merely an economic rivalry?

It's been evident in the medical scope of practice battles that the potential effect on patients' health of allowing someone to perform some medical procedure was the least influential element in the outcome.

In this case, one must wonder whether licensing interior designers is of any material benefit to the public or, as Indiana Gov. Mitchell Daniels said as he vetoed a similar bill last year, "the principal effect … will be to restrain competition and limit new entrants into the occupation."

Uh-huh, ya think?

Use your Legislature for good, not evil!

No more regulation.

U-Haul Candidate?

Residency schmesidency? Well, that's what Doug Ose has a problem with. So, as we've mentioned, Tom "I believe in limited government, and by limited government, I mean limit it to me" McClintock, is running in a NorCal congressional district, despite being a SoCal State Senator currently.

The above-linked article's main source of humor, I think, comes from the fact that McClintock's main rebuttal to carpetbagging charges is based in his being a career politician. Pick your cardinal sin of Republicanism!

See, he's been representing a SoCal district for so long that he's maintained a household in Elk Grove for nearly a decade. He knows the community. And knowing the community is why we have residency requirements at all. Except we don't for congress. But anyway . . . .

If you take a moment to ponder that it's Tom McClintock - freakin' conservative-er than conservative Tom McClintock - making these arguments. It's goofy, isn't it?

I think the best point in the article, and one that will be lost on most people, but that I'd do my best to jump all over, is that Tommy's been collecting his per diem for all these years too - and that's a payment meant to compensate for members having to maintain two households. McClintock's argument seems to be that he can run in NorCal because he's been here the whole time. Does he need a SoCal house then? He hates spending. Why take the per diem?

I know, I know - hey, I'd take it too. But if you're gonna be all not-voting-for-a-budget, then put that money where your mouth is.

Just pick a different data set!

Want to make crime look better or worse in Sacramento? Just choose the right data set! Kevin Johnson did, when he used crime stats from not-this year and not-last-year to highlight a rise in violent crime during Heather Fargo's tenure in office. Eh, whatever, technicality, right? Paper caught it. That oughtta cover it.

Johnson cited statistics, culled from local reports to the FBI, showing that violent crime in Sacramento is up 55 percent since 2001 - the year Mayor Heather Fargo took office. He said that assaults increased 74 percent in the same period.

Johnson did not mention the most recent FBI crime stats, however - numbers that Fargo cites in her campaign literature. Last year, there were significant decreases in most violent crimes, including a 21 percent drop in murders, an 8 percent drop in robberies, and a 7.6 percent drop in aggravated assault.

The trend seems to be continuing this year, with the number of homicides down about a third compared to this point in 2007.

Sgt. Matt Young, spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the ups and downs in the city's crime rate reflect national and regional patterns.

"The fact is that crime is an epidemic across the country," Young said Wednesday. "Sacramento is not any different than any other big city."

Shrug.

Coniferous crime!

A woman in Lake Tahoe is facing possible jail time for chopping down federal trees blocking her view of the lake.

If she really wanted to chop stuff, I hear there's still plenty of mismanaged forest that needs clearing before the next fire season.

I challenge you to duel!

No, no, not another Zell thing: it's just Mayor Fargo challenging Kevin Johnson to a debate.

Seems that Johnson hasn't really be returning calls about debate times or places. Not that he's not paying attention:

Earlier, Alex Traverso, a spokesman for Johnson's campaign, said Johnson is committed to debating Fargo and is in the process of sorting through 100 debate requests. He said they would be contacting the mayor's office to discuss which events to choose and how the debate would be structured.

"Kevin is committed to letting the people of Sacramento hear a spirited debate between himself and the mayor," Traverso said.

Later on Wedneswday, Johnson didn't answer directly whether he would participate in "Mayoral Race '08: Candidates Face the Voters," a forum sponsored by The Bee, The California Museum and News 10 on May 7. So far, Fargo and challengers Adam Daniel, Leonard Padilla, Muriel Strand and Shawn Eldredge have agreed to participate.

This forum also will provide Sacramento voters with chance to ask the candidates questions themselves via videotape and live online.

Meanwhile, Johnson has been using his time to become familiar with city issues.

"Our candidate hasn't had 20 years of public service -- this is familiar territory for her," Traverso said. "We've been campaigning for about a month."

Say what? Why would you highlight your opponent's long record of public service? I mean, okay, I guess it's an attempt to play the oooh, evil career politician card, but really, it kinda sounds more like "dude, we're, like, totally new here, wait, where's city hall?"

Flame On

The torch relay (taking place in SF tomorrow in case you haven't turned on the news in a week) will NOT be cancelled.

Probably. Maybe. At least, for right now.

The craziness surrounding this primarily symbolic event is getting ridiculous. But, there will be 4 Sacramentoans and a Beninician joining in the torch-carrying fun. See a complete list of the torchbearers here.

C-Day

Prepare yourself. I-5 around Sacramento will be closing. And you're being advised to try different routes. Now. Practice people, practice.

The closure will start May 30th and reopen 4th of July. The schedule can be found here.

Sometimes there is justice

Guilty verdict in CHP slaying case

From every possible perspective, this case is tragic. And I'm glad there was a guilty verdict. Nothing could ever repair what was done, but at least there was an arrest and conviction.

Reactive legislation: we love it!

I'm not saying this was motivated by recent horrific videos, but this was motivated by horrific videos.

Maybe even rightly so.

It just seems like we don't get much done actively, do we?