The Ninth Circuit has reversed an earlier panel decision byholding this morning that recall petitions do not have to be in multiple languages.

Under today’s ruling, recall petitions only need to be circulated in English. The earlier panel decision (which ruled that recall petitions had to be circulated in Spanish as well as English) had caused some confusion among election lawyers and recall and initiative proponents. Following the panel decision, several initiatives were circulated in multiple languages, at significant cost to the petition proponents. In some jurisdictions, like Los Angeles County, as many as 6 languages could be required under the earlier decision.

Today’s ruling means that recall petitions need not be circulated in languages other than English. The Ninth Circuit stated:

"A requirement of translation for recall petitions is far more likely to be used as a sword than a shield, as in the case of the plaintiffs here, who brought their suit to stop an election for which sufficient signatures had been collected. The plaintiffs complain that they were deceived as to the nature of the petition, and this deception… Read More

Dan Walters is right, the clock is ticking, and Phil Angelides doesn’t appear to have a rabbit he can pull out of a hat to make thiselection close. Stunningly, he doesn’t even appear to have a campaign anywhere, erasing from memory the Gubernatorial campaign of Dan Lungren in 1998 as the worst statewide effort in history.

Angelides incompetence has allowed the Governor to ignore conservatives, sign offensive legislation and occupy the entire center left spectrum – leaving only room to his right, where Angelides cannot tread. Union contracts have been signed, education is fully funded, the State is running billions in deficits, the minimum wage is being increased, greenhouse gas bills are being signed, transvestites have new rights in the workplace and billions more in borrowing are on the November ballot. The only antidote to this is conservatism, and it is nowhere to be found in the choice for Governor.

With the signing of the bill handing Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa control of LA unified the Mayor’s silence is all but assured this fall – offering only the "headfake" level of support for his fellow… Read More

NEED MORE REASONS TO REJECT THE BONDS? You will hear plenty between now and election day about why it is important for Californians to REJECT efforts by the Governor, liberals in the legislature, and special interest groups to get voters to approve tens of billions of dollars of bonded indebtedness. We have already talked plenty here in this site about the big-picture, and the idea that by approving this borrowing, we are letting the Governor and the Legislature off of the hook. Right now, California taxpayers are sending a record amount of funds to Sacramento — the most recent state budget was well in excess of $100 billion! There is more than enough money going into the coffers of state government to pay for a significant infrastructure investment program on a pay-as-you-go basis. But sometimes the devil is in the details, too. That is why I would like to encourage all FlashReport readers who see this in time to participate in a virtual press conference taking place today, from 10:30am – 11am. At this press event,… Read More

NEED MORE REASONS TO REJECT THE BONDS? You will hear plenty between now and election day about why it is important for Californians to REJECT efforts by the Governor, liberals in the legislature, and special interest groups to get voters to approve tens of billions of dollars of bonded indebtedness. We have already talked plenty here in this site about the big-picture, and the idea that by approving this borrowing, we are letting the Governor and the Legislature off of the hook. Right now, California taxpayers are sending a record amount of funds to Sacramento — the most recent state budget was well in excess of $100 billion! There is more than enough money going into the coffers of state government to pay for a significant infrastructure investment program on a pay-as-you-go basis. But sometimes the devil is in the details, too. That is why I would like to encourage all FlashReport readers who see this in time to participate in a virtual press conference taking place today, from 10:30am – 11am. At this press event,… Read More

Here are the numbers from Datamar on the statewide….

Schwarzenegger, Feinstein Enjoy Comfortable Lead Propositions 1A, 1B, 1E Passing, 1C, And 1D Failing Propositions 83, 84, 85, 86, 90 Passing, 88, And 89 Failing Proposition 87 Too Close To Call San Diego – A poll released today (9/18)by Datamar Inc., shows Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 53.6%, and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, 49%, each with a comfortable lead among high-propensity voters who voted in the 2002 gubernatorial primary and general elections, and the 2004 Presidential primary and general elections.

In the California Governor’s race Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger leads with 53.6%, Democratic challenger Phil Angelides trails with 31.4%. Other candidates have 11.4% of the vote, and the undecided vote stands at just 3.6%.

See it all here.… Read More

What happens when the big hitters like Senator John Kerry come to California to start bringing the Democrat faithful home for Angelides? They stay home.

Only 75 people showed up for this rally at a half-empty West Hollywood gymnasium.

We all know that Angelides is only getting only 55% – 60% of Democrat voters and he needs to be in the mid 70 range to be competitive. Everybody is anticipating those voters to come home for him, but when? Time is winding down.

If somebody could get a picture of the empty gymnasium, I’d be happy to share it.

A hat tip to Bill Bradley’s New West Notes for the link.… Read More

You have to love the internet and the creative team over at the California Republican Party.

We all know that the major defining issue between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Angelides is that Republican Schwarzenegger has made a strong a firm commitment against raising taxes or fees on Californians while Democrat Angelides has already pledged to raise over $18 billion in new taxes as Governor (and that number is probably low).

So now you have to check THIS out. There is a new perfect "mascot" for Phil Angelides!

No, mascot isn’t the correct term. What they have come up with is Phil Angelides’ alter-ego: The Tax Man!

He’s a caped crusader out there fighting "the dark forces of low taxes," as it says on his Myspace page (add him as your friend on Myspace).

This is one of those silly and fun things that pop up during… Read More

I represent the Apartment Association of Orange County on the board of the Orange County Taxpayers Association. I want to share with FR readers OCTax’s excellent appraisal of Proposition 89, the nurses union-sponsored measure that would tax corporations tofund political campaigns.

OCTax’s position: Proposition 89 wins the Huey Long Award as the most blatantly political initiative on the ballot. It’s 55 pages long. The first five pages purport to document the “corruption” of the present electoral system, apparently because anti-business zealots and public employee unions lack the ability to appoint the state’s legislators without the annoying interference of competing views from businesses and taxpayers. The remaining 55 pages would limit business participation… Read More