Random Thoughts On The Passing California Political Scene…
- Sometime in the not-so-distant past, some smart people at the San Francisco Chronicle decided that in order to try and make more income from their website, they would start to charge a fee to read some of the online articles. For our purposes, this has meant that as I we compile political stories from over 80 websites for the FlashReport main page, we regularly have to skip stories from the Chronicle (supposedly these stories get unblocked a couple of days later, when our readers no longer care about the news of a couple of days ago).
- It is amazing to me that only now, almost two years after many of them voted to put it on the ballot, that state legislators are starting to realize how terrible Proposition 14 actually is — and understand that it actually makes things worse in California (if that is possible).
- Before the passage of Prop. 14, we had a primary election so that political parties could determine nominees through a broad process that included all party members, and a general election for those nominees to face off against one another. With the passage of Prop. 14, we now have a general election taking place in June, and a run-off occurring in November. What happened to the primary, you ask? So much for empowering voters — now political parties cannot use the ballot box to pick their nominees.
- Maybe the Chronicle is making a few more bucks by requiring payment to read some of their online content, but what is being lost in the process is that political stories penned by Marinucci, Lagos, Buchanan, Matier, Ross, Garofoli, Lockheed and the other very capable reporters is that these articles, published and available right away on the web, don’t just report on government and politics, they actually help to shape the public policy and political discussions as they are taking place. That said, a void is created as political leaders go to the Chronicle website to see these stories, or to a news aggregator such as Rough & Tumble or the FlashReport — and they can’t be read in a timely manner.
- While the political reporters at the Chronicle are talented, they are not writing in a vacuum. Their colleagues from other newspapers are often writing about the same topics. Very few people I know pay the fee to read the Chronicle’s big political stories, in fact I may not actually know of anyone who does. But even fewer people go back to check out what those stories said days later — an eternity in the era of speedy internet use. The Chronicle needs to lead by opening up their breaking stories of the day to online readers without a fee. At least the ones on California politics.
- While Arnold Schwarzenegger was motivated to raise money into the coffers of the California Republican Party when he was a candidate, he otherwise was not motivated in the slightest to help his party. The last time that Schwarzenegger showed up at a fundraiser for the State GOP was back in mid-2007. I guess the definition of "post partisan" is no longer having to help your party. Jerry Brown, back in office for less than a month, has already dropped by the State GOP’s Back To Session Bash — an annual fundraising event for the CRP — and he’s from the other party!
- While there has been a lot of MSM (main stream media) attention on the question of whether and which Republican legislators might vote with Democrats to place yet another tax increase proposal before voters, seemingly lost in the ether is the fact that legislative Democrats have yet to commit to making the specific cuts proposed by their own party’s Governor.
- Not only will Democrat legislators not commit to voting for the spending cuts in the Governor’s proposed budget, but they are also unwilling to specify what they would cut if there is no tax increase (whether because it never gets on the ballot, or it does and is rejected by voters). In fact, the Democrats have gone so far as to request that the non-partisan Legislative Analyst, Mac Taylor, put together a list of potential additional cuts that could be implemented if there is no increase in taxes.
- It’s no wonder why the legislature has such dismal approval numbers. These guys ask the voters for full budgeting authority by a majority vote, and get it. And still they aren’t willing to be forthright about what they will cut. They certainly had no trouble talking about how to increase spending when tax revenues were more plentiful.
- Governor Brown has become a fixture at GOP events, having spoken several times to the Senate and Assembly Republican caucuses. But as a GOP legislator told me last night, following Brown’s talk to the GOP retreat yesterday, the novelty of having Brown speak in person wears off quickly when you realize he’s not coming to work with you at all, but to dictate terms of your surrender.
- Its been reported in the Sacramento Bee the last couple of days that pay raises are taking place all around the State Capitol. Apparently this is a "recession-free" zone. Must be nice.