The Governor’s Veto of SB 815 today, which would have rolled back a significant source of savings in the Workers’ Compensation system, was a necessary veto to preserve the economic gains made in his historic signing of SB 899 in 2004. SB 899 is the Governor’s (and Chuck Poochigian’s) greatest public policy achievement to date – Workers’ Compensation reforms that have saved California businesses over $15 billion in two plus years.This can be considered the single greatest tax cut in California history, as Workers Compensation is essentially a payroll tax on employers.

It’s not just business that has saved money. State, County, Local and School Governments and Districts have also saved billions of dollars in their self funded Workers’ Compensation pools, freeing up taxpayer money for more productive purposes. I am one that has done much criticizing of this Administration, but this veto of SB 815 is time to acknowledge, again, the importance of these significant reforms.… Read More

On the premise that President Bush is incredibly unpopular in this state, Phil Angelides’ campaign has spent millions of dollars in a to-date failed effort tomake the Governorand the President seem like one and the same.

I can do you one better, let’s tie every Democrat running for any office this year to a prominent politician even more unpopular than the President.

WHO? You might ask.

Why, Phil Angelides.

Mattier and Ross, in yesterday’s SF Chron, report findings of a Dem survey on the bonds that has the President’s approval rating in the state at a predictable 38%.

However, noteworthy in the survey that has Arnold running 20 points ahead of Angelides, 55-35, is that Angelides’ approval rating is a downright pathetic 29%.

To be the Democrats’ nominee for Governor, and for your approval to be 9-points below the President in a state with 1.3 million more Democrats than Republicans, 7 weeks before the Election…That’s got… Read More

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